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It is not only the Old testament that declares that Israel will eventually be restored. The New Testament also teaches this, both in the direct words of our Lord himself, and in the words of the Apostles. We read, for instance, that Jesus said:
Matthew 23
37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! 38 See! Your house is left to you desolate; 39 for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ”
Luke 13
34 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing! 35 See! Your house is left to you desolate; and assuredly, I say to you, you shall not see Me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ”
Jesus did not say that they would see Him no more unless they said “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” He said they would see Him no more until they said it. This word until does not imply that the event referred to might happen. It implies that the event will happen. This is not interpretation. It is the basic, that is, the essential meaning of the Greek words used in these two scriptures.
So from these two passages alone, we know that there will be a day when Jerusalem will say, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” This would be plain even if no other passage spoke of it. But that is not all we see in these passages. We also see, in the words of our Lord Jesus himself, that although Israel is now rejected, that rejection is only temporary, and will end when they say “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”
Again, we read:
Luke 21
24 “And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”
Romans 11
25 “For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.”
When these two passages are examined together, it becomes obvious that they both refer to the same time, that is, that the time when “the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled,” or the time when “the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.” So we see that Luke 21:24 and Romans 11:25 both say that Israel will be “trodden down” in one case or inflicted with a judicial “blindness” in the other case, until that time. And that time is when “the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled,” or “the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.”
We need to repeat the last passage above.
Romans 11
25 “For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.”
For this passage continues as follows:
Romans 11
26 “And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: ‘The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; 27 For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins.’ 28 Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. 29 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”
The context of these scriptures, existing as they are in immediate connection, highlights their unified message. The judicial “blindness” imposed upon Israel is only temporary, “and so all Israel will be saved.” “For the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable.” Between these statements we read that even though “they are enemies for your sakes,” they yet remain “beloved for the sake of the fathers.” That is the context of both the statement that “all Israel will be saved” and “the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable.” This message is stated so clearly that nothing but prejudice can keep a person from seeing it.
This is also stated in Romans 9, where we read:
Romans 9
25 “As He says also in Hosea: ‘I will call them My people, who were not My people, And her beloved, who was not beloved.’ 26 ‘And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, “You are not My people,” There they shall be called sons of the living God.’ ”
In the very place “where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ There they shall be called sons of the living God.” That is the context given by the Holy Spirit himself, speaking through the Apostle Paul, for the words “I will call them My people, who were not My people, And her beloved, who was not beloved.”
But we are not only explicitly told of the temporary nature of Israel’s rejection, we are also told the reason for this. The words again are too plain to misunderstand. God did not reject Israel in condemnation, but to provoke them to jealousy. This is not a tactic of someone who has stopped loving someone and turned to another. It is a tactic of one who is still in love, and who is working to win their love back. So we read:
Romans 10
19 “But I say, did Israel not know? First Moses says: ‘I will provoke you to jealousy by those who are not a nation, I will move you to anger by a foolish nation.’ ”
This is developed in more detail in the following chapter, where we read:
Romans 11
11 I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles. 12 Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness! 13 For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, 14 if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them. 15 For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?”
So God has not only clearly told us that the reason for Israel’s rejection is only to woo them back to himself. He has just as clearly told us that when he has accomplished that purpose, the result of Israel’s restoration will not mean a loss of blessing to the gentiles, but rather, as it were a very revival of “life from the dead.”
Finally, a great many Old testament passages explicitly state that God will indeed accomplish his purpose of winning back their hearts. But that is not the subject of this post.
Matthew 23
37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! 38 See! Your house is left to you desolate; 39 for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ”
Luke 13
34 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing! 35 See! Your house is left to you desolate; and assuredly, I say to you, you shall not see Me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ”
Jesus did not say that they would see Him no more unless they said “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” He said they would see Him no more until they said it. This word until does not imply that the event referred to might happen. It implies that the event will happen. This is not interpretation. It is the basic, that is, the essential meaning of the Greek words used in these two scriptures.
So from these two passages alone, we know that there will be a day when Jerusalem will say, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” This would be plain even if no other passage spoke of it. But that is not all we see in these passages. We also see, in the words of our Lord Jesus himself, that although Israel is now rejected, that rejection is only temporary, and will end when they say “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”
Again, we read:
Luke 21
24 “And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”
Romans 11
25 “For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.”
When these two passages are examined together, it becomes obvious that they both refer to the same time, that is, that the time when “the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled,” or the time when “the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.” So we see that Luke 21:24 and Romans 11:25 both say that Israel will be “trodden down” in one case or inflicted with a judicial “blindness” in the other case, until that time. And that time is when “the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled,” or “the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.”
We need to repeat the last passage above.
Romans 11
25 “For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.”
For this passage continues as follows:
Romans 11
26 “And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: ‘The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; 27 For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins.’ 28 Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. 29 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”
The context of these scriptures, existing as they are in immediate connection, highlights their unified message. The judicial “blindness” imposed upon Israel is only temporary, “and so all Israel will be saved.” “For the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable.” Between these statements we read that even though “they are enemies for your sakes,” they yet remain “beloved for the sake of the fathers.” That is the context of both the statement that “all Israel will be saved” and “the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable.” This message is stated so clearly that nothing but prejudice can keep a person from seeing it.
This is also stated in Romans 9, where we read:
Romans 9
25 “As He says also in Hosea: ‘I will call them My people, who were not My people, And her beloved, who was not beloved.’ 26 ‘And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, “You are not My people,” There they shall be called sons of the living God.’ ”
In the very place “where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ There they shall be called sons of the living God.” That is the context given by the Holy Spirit himself, speaking through the Apostle Paul, for the words “I will call them My people, who were not My people, And her beloved, who was not beloved.”
But we are not only explicitly told of the temporary nature of Israel’s rejection, we are also told the reason for this. The words again are too plain to misunderstand. God did not reject Israel in condemnation, but to provoke them to jealousy. This is not a tactic of someone who has stopped loving someone and turned to another. It is a tactic of one who is still in love, and who is working to win their love back. So we read:
Romans 10
19 “But I say, did Israel not know? First Moses says: ‘I will provoke you to jealousy by those who are not a nation, I will move you to anger by a foolish nation.’ ”
This is developed in more detail in the following chapter, where we read:
Romans 11
11 I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles. 12 Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness! 13 For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, 14 if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them. 15 For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?”
So God has not only clearly told us that the reason for Israel’s rejection is only to woo them back to himself. He has just as clearly told us that when he has accomplished that purpose, the result of Israel’s restoration will not mean a loss of blessing to the gentiles, but rather, as it were a very revival of “life from the dead.”
Finally, a great many Old testament passages explicitly state that God will indeed accomplish his purpose of winning back their hearts. But that is not the subject of this post.
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