"Thy Kingdom Come: Kingdom Promises to Israel Fulfilled" by Paul Garber

The one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him, and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to Strength to Strength. Thank you for joining us this afternoon for the fourth and final installment to Thy Kingdom Come series. Brother Paul is back again today. He shared this morning on the third installment. Unfortunately, I missed that. I'll catch the recording later. And he's back today, this afternoon, to share on Kingdom Promises to Israel fulfilled.

I'm looking forward to hearing what you have to say on this. And I have to say, thank you for all the hard work that you poured into putting these three talks together. They have been the—I listened to the first recording already, and I've listened to some of the other talks that you give. And I've been richly blessed and instructed about this topic. And thank you for allowing the Lord to use you in this way and to teach plainly about the things that are in the Scriptures.

So God bless you for the work that you put in and the effort. And God bless you as you prepare your heart and mind to share with us this afternoon. Before we get started, let's bow our heads for a word of prayer.

Eternal Father, we are so grateful for the goodness that you have shown us in sending your Son, Jesus Christ, to the earth as a fulfillment to the prophecies to your people in the Old Testament. Thank you that he lived among—walked among men, that he lived free from sin, and that he taught us how to live lives that are pleasing to you in obedience to you. Father, I thank you for the living word. And I thank you for the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and that he's seated at your right hand, interceding for us. Thank you for Brother Paul and his faith. Thank you for all the hard work he's put into preparing these talks on this series.

I thank you for the plain teaching that we receive about the kingdom of heaven and about your people and your will for your people. I just pray that you would bless his heart and mind as he shares with us today. I pray that he would have courage, and I pray that he would have clarity of thought, and that he would speak plainly to us that we can understand and allow the truth to shape our minds and our hearts. Be with each one who listens. I pray that our hearts would be attended to the teaching of the Holy Spirit. I pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.

All right. Brother Paul, go ahead. Okay. Thank you, Sam. So welcome to everyone that's listening now and later.

So this is the third of my talks here on Israel, the Kingdom Promises to Israel, and what it means for the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God established on the earth. So on this last message here, where I want to talk more about fulfillment, I'd like to mention one thing here from the start before I get started.

Inside and outside of these talks, the most common question that I get is about modern Judaism. And I especially get pushback from the statement that I make that Judaism is not a race. That seems to be one of the hardest things for some people to accept.

And so some people even start wondering whether I'm anti-Semitic or if I'm a Holocaust denier.

I could really take offense at such statements and questions, but I understand the indoctrination of dispensationalism that runs really deep and the concept that people have of the Jews and Bible prophecy that is very deeply ingrained in the minds of most modern Christians.

So I'm not an expert on modern Judaism and its development. And I'm certainly not a geneticist or a DNA expert. So I can't answer all the questions regarding the genetics of modern Jews. But I'm not really interested in the DNA of modern Jews anyways.

What percentage of Middle Eastern versus European versus African blood any particular group of Jews have? That's completely beside the point. I'm simply interested in what the Bible teaches.

And the Bible does teach that Israel was a mixed multitude from its very founding. And the Bible also gives us laws for ancient Israel concerning someone joining Israel and someone being cut off from Israel, etc. So those are things that the Bible teaches.

And so my focus is on what the Bible teaches, not absurd speculations about percentages of Jewish blood in modern Jews. That's just a distraction from what the Bible teaches and the things that really matter. There are good answers to those questions. And if somebody really wants to know, they can study more about it and learn more. So I want to make two recommendations for where I got some of my information from on modern Judaism. So the first one is a book called She Has Her Mother's Laugh by Carl Zimmer. This is a Jewish writer, and he writes a big, thick book on genetics. And he talks about Jewish genetics quite a bit there as well.

And then the second one is this book right here, The Standard Jewish Encyclopedia. So none of these are Christian books or dispensational books for that matter. They're Jewish books, and they talk about Jewish genetics, especially the Jewish Encyclopedia. You can learn a lot about Jewish history and the development of modern Judaism.

And so that's where I have gotten the information that I have. There's lots more to study about modern Judaism and the genetics and where they come from and why they're so diverse and so on. It's not really my interest, I guess. But if that is an interest for somebody, feel free to study more into it.

I do stand by the statement that Judaism, neither Judaism, ancient or modern, is a race. It's never been a race, and God never intended it to be. So no, modern Judaism is not a race. It's a religion and a culture.

But let's just stick with the Scriptures, what we know to be true and reliable, and not be caught up with unruly and wild speculations.

Let's just stick with what the Bible actually teaches. And that's what I want to do here this afternoon and always, really.

And of course, what the Bible teaches and, of course, what the historic church has taught and understood these things up until 1830 and John Nelson Darby when he gave rise to some of these new ideas.

So modern Judaism and their genetics is interesting to learn, but it's not really all that important.

So that being said, I'd like to start this discussion this afternoon talking about our starting points for interpreting the Old Testament. What is our interpretive starting point? Let's start with dispensationalism's starting point.

So the dispensational starting point for interpreting the Bible is the distinction between Israel and the church. All the Old Testament must be read with the understanding that Israel must always be a distinct physical racial nation. So when we read about land and a throne, it must mean for a nation made up of a physical people of a certain racial makeup.

And the land must always be understood as one particular piece of real estate in the Middle East. The land issue does get more complicated just because some dispensationalists also believe that the Jews will inhabit the entire earth for eternity. So in the eternal state, the Jews will inhabit earth, and the Christians will inhabit heaven.

So it's not just that piece of land in the Middle East, but it's the entire earth.

So the issue of land for dispensationalists can be somewhat complicated. But they do say that land that God promised to Abraham is for the Jewish people, for a race of Jewish people to own that land forever. So that's their lens through which they read the Bible. If you read dispensational writings or listen to their preaching, they will tell you that the difference in interpretation between them and all others, who they call amillennialists, is a literal hermeneutic versus spiritualizing or allegorizing the Old Testament.

So just a side note, you may be confused by their terminology if you're not familiar with it. Amillennialist in dispensational vocabulary is anybody who's not a dispensationalist. So you may be a historic premillennialist, but you're still an amillennialist in their view.

Not all of them are that sloppy, but many are. And the ones that I'm most familiar with that use that term a lot are John MacArthur and Hal Lindsay. So anybody that's not a dispensationalist, even if you are a premillennialist, they'll still call you an amillennialist just because you don't view the Jews the same way they do.

So here's why Hal Lindsay says about interpreting the Old Testament. The real issue between the amillennial and the premillennial viewpoints is whether prophecy should be interpreted literally or allegorically. All prophecy about past events have been fulfilled literally, particularly the predictions regarding the first coming of Christ. The words of prophecy were demonstrated as being literal, that is, having the normal meaning understood by the people of the time in which it was written.

The words were not intended to be explained away by men who cannot believe what is clearly predicted. So here he's saying premillennialists, which are dispensationalists, their way of saying dispensational, understand the Bible literally. Well, amillennialists, anybody who's not dispensational just reads it allegorically.

And Charles Ryri says something similar. He's a little bit more of a scholar than some others are. So this is what he says. Dispensational theology grows out of a consistent use of the hermeneutical principle of normal, plain, or literal interpretation.

This principle does not exclude the use of figures of speech, but insists that behind every figure is a literal meaning. Applying this hermeneutical principle leads dispensationalism to distinguish God's program for Israel from his program for the church. Thus, the church did not begin in the Old Testament, but on the day of Pentecost. And the church is not presently fulfilling promises made to Israel in the Old Testament. They have not yet been fulfilled.

So literal interpretation, he says, leads people to distinguish God's program for Israel and his program for the church. Of course, literal interpretation does nothing of the sort, distinguishing between Israel and the church. What literal interpretation does teach is that Old Covenant Israel was restricted to geographical boundaries.

New Covenant Israel has expanded and is gathering the nations, gathering all nations, just as the prophecies predicted. So their starting point for interpreting the Bible is the distinction between Israel and the church. They'll say their starting point is a literal hermeneutic, but their starting point is really creating this artificial distinction between Israel and the church, which they say is a literal hermeneutic.

As we have seen, it's not a literal interpretation, but a presupposition that Israel is a race, and then interpreting everything through that lens.

So now, what is the Christian starting point for interpreting and understanding the Old Testament and the New Testament for that matter? It is to start with Jesus and read how Jesus understood the Old Testament. So we're mainly talking about the Old Testament here. How did Jesus read the Old Testament?

Because if one truly knows and understands the Old Testament prophecies, if anyone truly knows and understands the Old Testament prophecies, it would be Jesus. And of course, he taught his disciples the true meaning of the Old Testament as well.

So right before Jesus ascended back to his Father, he was gathered with his disciples. And this is what he said to them in Luke 24:44 to 49. Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled." Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.

And he said to them, "Thus it is written that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead. That repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations beginning in Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you.

But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high." Why did Jesus have to open their understanding if they could just understand what is plainly written? The fact is, many prophecies are not easy to understand, especially not before their fulfillment.

And to those who reject Jesus as the Messiah, the prophecies are incomprehensible. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 3:11 to 16, "For what was being brought to an end came with glory," he's speaking of the Old Covenant.

"Much more will what is permanent have glory," so the New Covenant. Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, not like Moses who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the Old Covenant, the same veil remains unlifted because only through Christ is it taken away.

Yes, to this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.

So the unbelieving Jews could not even properly understand the Old Testament. A veil was over their eyes. They couldn't see.

They needed to be enlightened by seeing Jesus for who he truly was, who he truly is. And then their eyes are opened to see and understand the Holy Scriptures that pointed to Jesus. So we can't expect to understand the Old Testament Scriptures without understanding them through the revelation that comes to us through Jesus.

Jesus is the fulfillment, and he is the one who opens our eyes. And then we can look back at the Old Testament, and we can have a proper understanding of what they really meant.

Excuse me. So the major question for us is, how should I read the Old Testament prophecies on its own without the New Testament revelation or through the illumination of the New Testament, the teachings and interpretation of Jesus and his appointed messengers, the apostles?

Of course, you should read the Old Testament through the greater revelation of Jesus in the New Testament. It's hard for me to believe that this would even be a point of disagreement since it just seems so obvious. However, one of the rules of interpretation for dispensationalists is that you're not allowed to interpret the Old Testament in light of the later revelation in the New Testament. You can only interpret the Old Testament by itself without using the New Testament as an interpretive lens.

This is a really strange method for gaining understanding of the Old Testament and is precisely backwards since Jesus had to open up the disciples' minds to understand the Scriptures. And Paul says that only in Christ is the veil of our understanding opened.

Let me read to you a quote from John MacArthur. "It is not legitimate to interpret the Old Testament only by the New Testament. It is not legitimate to say that the Old Testament is this oblique, mysterious, hidden book with all kinds of things that you can't know about apart from the New Testament.

That is to give primacy of interpretation to the New Testament. This then means that the Old Testament can't be interpreted on its own, that people who are writing it and reading it can't have any idea what they're actually writing and reading.

If the Old Testament promises were actually for the church and not for ethnic Jews, ethnic Israel, then those Old Testament promises are meaningless. They are utterly unintelligible, and they are irrelevant to the Old Testament reader. But this is essentially what you're left with when you take an amillennial view.

The New Testament is the starting point for understanding the Old Testament." So he's quoting what the amillennial view is that he would say. "The New Testament is the starting point for understanding the Old Testament. And what you've just done is damage any meaningful interpretation of the Old Testament on its own.

And this is basically what leads to what we call spiritualizing the Scripture. That is, taking text out of its literal sense, spiritualizing them into some other than literal sense." So if I'm understanding MacArthur correctly, he is saying that all the Old Testament must be understood by itself without the New Testament as a guide to gain understanding of the Old Testament. It doesn't matter that the New Testament authors quote the Old Testament hundreds of times.

You're still supposed to read the Old Testament just by itself, disconnected from the New Testament. And MacArthur is not alone in saying this. Every major dispensational author says the same thing, that you can't read the Old Testament in light of the New Testament.

Does that sound reasonable to you?

I don't know about you, but if Jesus or John or Peter or Paul spiritualized the Old Testament, then you better believe that that's what I want to do as well.

If they allegorize the Old Testament, then I want to do the same. To me, it's the height of hubris and pride to think that I can understand the Old Testament prophecies better than Jesus and the apostles. And to say that it is illegitimate to give primacy of interpretation to the New Testament is just beyond prideful, I would think. Who in the world do you think you are?

So for the rest of this talk, I will read the Old Testament through the lens of the New Testament. I will assume as my interpretive starting point that the New Testament authors were accurate in their understanding about the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies.

So let's start with the throne of David, the kingdom that was promised to David. This is a very important theme in the biblical storyline. God promised to David that his dynasty would last forever.

And behold, so this is in Luke 1:31 to 33. This is when the angel Gabriel came to Mary, and he made the announcement to Mary. And he said, "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 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."

This morning, I read the promise that God made to David, that God would raise up one of David's offspring to rule on his throne forever. I won't read it again, but it is found in 2 Samuel 7. This promise is the backdrop for all the subsequent prophecies about the throne of David and the Messiah who would sit on that throne.

Let me read to you a prophecy from Amos and see what you think about it. Amos 9:11 to 15. "In that day, I will raise up the booth of David that has fallen and repair its breaches and raise up its ruins and rebuild it as in the days of old, that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations who are called by my name," declares the Lord who does this. "Behold, the days are coming," declares the Lord, "when the plowman shall overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes, him who sows the seed. The mountains shall drip sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it.

I will restore the fortunes of my people, Israel. And they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them. They shall plant vineyards and drink their wine, and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit. I will plant them on their land, and they shall never again be uprooted out of the land that I have given them," says the Lord your God.

What do you think of that prophecy?

And how do we understand this? What do we understand this prophecy to mean? Clearly, this prophecy is this passage is referring to the restoration of Israel in their land. They're going to be planted in their land, never to be uprooted again.

However, is this how we should understand it? Let's see how James at the Jerusalem Council understood and applied this passage.

In Acts 15, James says, "Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles to take for them a people for his name. And with this word," excuse me, "and with this, the words of the prophets agree," just as it is written. "After this, and I will return and rebuild the tent of David that has fallen. I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord and all the Gentiles who are called by my name," says the Lord, "who makes these things known from old. Therefore, my judgment is that we should not trouble those Gentiles who turn to God."

So James is quoting this very prophecy that speaks of the restoration of Israel to their land. And James understood the conversion of the Gentiles and them being brought into the church as David's dilapidated empire, which he calls the tent or the booth that has fallen.

So this prophecy about the restoration of Israel, James understands it to be talking about the ingathering of the nations into this New Covenant Israel.

Are you or I going to correct James and say, "Oh, no, no, James, you're understanding it all wrong"? This is speaking about the end times when God will bring the Jews back to their land, the land of Israel.

I think I'll go with James's interpretation rather than a dispensational one.

Let's read a few more prophecies very similar to the one we just read that was interpreted by James. As we read these prophecies, we will read about Israel being gathered to their land. But let's read the same way that James would and not insist that the land has to only mean dirt.

But it can also mean a secure dwelling place, a place of refuge and security.

Ezekiel 37:21-28. "Then say to them, 'Thus says the Lord God, behold, I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone and will gather them from all around and bring them to their own land. And I will make them one nation in the land on the mountains of Israel. And one king shall be king over them, and they shall no longer be two nations and no longer divided into two kingdoms. They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols and their detestable things or with any of their transgressions, but I will save them from their backslidings in which they have sinned.

And will cleanse them, and they shall be my God, and they shall be my people, and I will be their God. My servant David shall be king over them. They shall all have one shepherd. They shall walk in my rules and be careful to obey my statutes.

They shall dwell in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children's children shall dwell there forever. And David, my servant, shall be their prince forever. I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them, and I will set them in their land and multiply them and will be my sanctuary in their midst forever. My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel when my sanctuary is in their midst forever."

So here again, just a wonderful prophecy about Israel being gathered and dwelling in their secure land forever and there being a place of peace and safety and prosperity. But are we to understand that this is a physical land where they will live surrounded by other nations and so on?

I don't think that's how the New Testament authors understood it. I think they understood this as being the secure dwelling place in the kingdom of God under the reign of King Jesus, the seed of David.

I'll read one more of these prophecies.

Yeah, I think I'll have time to do this. So Jeremiah 23, I just want to read one more of these prophecies about the regathering of Israel. Jeremiah 23, "Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture," declares the Lord. "Therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people, 'You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds,' declares the Lord.

Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them. I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed. Neither shall any be missing,' declares the Lord. 'Behold, the days are coming,' declares the Lord, 'when I will raise up for David a righteous branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.

In his days, Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: The Lord is our righteousness. Therefore, behold, the days are coming,' declares the Lord, 'when they shall no longer say, 'As the Lord lives, who brought us brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt, but as the Lord lives, who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of the countries where he had driven them, and they shall dwell in their own land.'" So again, just a beautiful prophecy about the restoration of Israel and bringing them into their own land.

The apostles understood this to mean their job in going and gathering the nations, gathering the people into God's kingdom where they will dwell securely.

So how should we understand the kingdom? Has it arrived or hasn't it? Is the land that was promised only a spiritual dwelling place, or is it an actual literal piece of land? I think it would be accurate to say that it has arrived. It has not been postponed. It has arrived, but that it will also arrive in all its fullness and glory in the future.

There is a present, and there is a future aspect to the kingdom. Jesus inaugurated it at his first coming and will consummate it at his second coming. So let me read a parable of Jesus that explains this. So Luke 19:11, verse 11 to 27. "As they heard these things, he proceeded to tell them a parable because he was near to Jerusalem, and they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately."

So the kingdom of God had appeared, right? Jesus said the kingdom, actually, he said when they questioned him when he cast out demons, he said, "The kingdom of God is among you." So the kingdom had arrived, right? But there was an aspect of the kingdom that hasn't yet appeared.

And so they suppose that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately. And he said, "Therefore, a noble man went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return. Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten minus and said to them, 'Engage in business until I come.' But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, 'We do not want this man to reign over us.' When he returned, having received the kingdom, he ordered these servants to whom he had given the money to be called to him that he might know what they had gained by doing business.

The first came to him saying, 'Lord, your minus has made ten minus more.' And he said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. Because you have been faithful in very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.' And the second came saying, 'Lord, your minus has made five minus.' And he said to him, 'And you are to be over five cities.' Then another came saying, 'Lord, here is your minus, which I kept laid away in a handkerchief. For I was afraid of you because you are a severe man. You take what you did not deposit and reap what you did not sow.' And he said to him, 'I will condemn you with your own words, you wicked servant.

You knew that I was a severe man, taking what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow. Why then did you not put my money in the bank and at my coming, I might have collected it with interest?' And he said to those who stood by, 'Take the minus from him and give it to the one who has ten minus.' And they said to him, 'Lord, he has ten minus.

I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. But as for these, my enemies, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slaughter them before me.'" So there's coming a day when King Jesus will return.

He has been coronated king, but he has left his followers as stewards to take care of his business. But there's coming a day when King Jesus will return, and he will slaughter all his enemies.

So there is a past, and there's a future aspect to the kingdom. And of course, the future aspect is when the entire creation will be renewed and restored. And then you could say, "Yeah, there's a physical land where we will live. It's physical. For now, it's a secure place where we live under the kingship of Jesus."

Peter preached on the day of Pentecost, and he quoted Psalm 110. Psalm 110 is one of the most quoted psalms in the New Testament. It's quoted many times by the New Testament authors. Peter says in Acts 2:29, "Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David, who both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day, being therefore a prophet and knowing that God had sworn an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne.

He foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh seek corruption. This Jesus, God raised up, and of that we are all witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, 'The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.'

Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified."

So Jesus saw the resurrection of Jesus as being the fulfillment of this promise to David. It's not only in the future, but it's right here and now. It's not postponed. Jesus has been coronated.

1 Corinthians 15, Paul also says something similar, and I'll read that, verse 22, "For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order, Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming, those who belong to Christ.

Then comes the end when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign, so he's reigning now, and he will reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet, and the last enemy to be destroyed is death."

So we should read the Old Testament kingdom prophecies in light of their fulfillment in Jesus the reigning king. But of course, we shouldn't understand that everything is completely fulfilled yet because there is coming a time when the kingdom will be completely and fully in all its glory established. It has been established, but it is still coming in greater fullness.

Okay, so I wanted to cover Romans 11 yet because this is always a question of the future salvation of Israel. I think I still have time. Yeah, I'm going to go through this fairly quickly to just point out in Romans 11 what Paul is talking about. I'm not going to spend a lot of time here, but Paul asked in Romans 11, verse 1, he says, "I asked then, has God rejected his people?" He's asking the question, "Are the Jews, is Israel then rejected?" And the answer is, "By no means."

And he gives the reason for his answer, "For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew." So this is his answer to the question, "Has God rejected his people?" He's like, "No, of course not. I'm a Jew myself. God hasn't rejected me." And then he continues, "Do you not know what the scripture says about Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel?

Lord, they have killed your prophets. They have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life." But what is God's reply to him? "I have kept for myself 7,000 men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.

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. And David says, "Let their table become a snare and a trap and a stumbling block and a retribution for them.

Let their eyes be darkened so they cannot see and bend their backs forever." So here, I want to interject a little bit here. Paul is asking the question, "Has God rejected Israel?" And the answer is, "Of course not. I'm a Jew myself. And there's also many other Jews who have come to receive the Messiah and have submitted themselves to the Messiah. They are God's elect. They are God's faithful remnant of Israel." So God hasn't rejected the Jews. Paul's proof for that is that he himself is a Jew.

But he does say that there's a present time, a remnant chosen by grace. So there's a remnant of Israel that are saved.

And Paul includes himself in that remnant to prove that God hasn't rejected his people.

Let me continue reading here. Verse 11, "So I asked, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means. Rather, through their trespass, salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. Now, if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion be?"

So in these verses here, is this a promise that all Jews of a future generation will come to Jesus and be saved? I don't think so. It's certainly Paul's desire, but I don't think he's saying that it will happen. He's not guaranteeing that it will happen. He's dreaming of it. Maybe this will happen. He's like, "If their trespass means riches for the world, how much more will their full inclusion be? If there would be a massive turning of the Jews to the Messiah, like how glorious would that be?" So he's not promising that it will happen, but he's talking about, "Well, wouldn't it be great if it would happen?"

So it's not a promise that there's a future generation of all the Jews will come to know Jesus.

Okay, let me see what all I'm not going to read through all of it to save some time. But let's go down to verse 25. "Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of 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." So that is one of the key verses that is often hard for people to understand. Some other translations say, "And so all Israel will be saved." And they understand it as a promise that in the future, all Israel will be saved.

But that's not what the word "so" means. The ESV translates it here accurately, and it says, "In this way." So this is the way, the fullness of the Gentiles coming into Israel, God gathering the nations into Israel. This is the way that all Israel will be saved.

So that's Paul's explanation. This is the salvation of Israel, is the ingathering of the Gentiles into this nation and being grafted onto this olive tree, as he said just a few verses earlier.

Let's see. As regards to the gospel, so verse 28, actually, he quotes Isaiah 59 in verse 27, "And this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins." And actually, right there, Paul is applying Isaiah 59 to his present time of the Gentiles being gathered in and God making a covenant with Israel, the new covenant.

And here he's applying Isaiah 59, verse 20 and 21 here. And then he says, verse 28, "As regards to the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. For the gifts and callings of God are irrevocable. For just as you were at one time disobedient to God, but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, so too.

So they too have now been disobedient in order that the mercy shown to you, they also may now receive mercy. For God has consigned all to disobedience that he may have mercy on all. Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways."

So anyways, Paul certainly earnestly and eagerly longs for the salvation of all his fellow Jews. And he possibly even believes that it could happen. But it's not a promise that it will. But it would be certainly like the most glorious thing if it did happen. And Paul is talking in that way, how much he desires that.

So that's my comment for this chapter. One could go so much more in depth and study it far more in depth than I have here. But I don't think that Paul here is saying that all Jews of a future generation will be saved.

Although that's certainly his desire. And notice what he does not say anywhere in this chapter. And this would be the perfect place for him to mention it if he believed it to be true about the Jews coming back and inheriting the land and kicking out the Romans and being reestablished in the land, the physical land where they were before. Paul says nothing of the sort anywhere, nor is it anywhere in the New Testament. It's just not there. Their interpretation of the restoration of Israel to their land was this very thing that was happening in their day, that Israel would be gathering the nations into the reign of the Messiah.

One of the reasons that dispensationalists don't see the messianic reign of Jesus as a present reality is because they don't understand the teachings of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, what Jesus taught about non-resistance, about bringing peace to peace with each other and peace with God.

An important element of some of the messianic prophecies is that the kingdom will be a kingdom of peace. So just in Isaiah chapter 9, it says, "Of the increase of his government and of peace, there will be no end."

When we properly understand Jesus' teachings on loving our enemies and doing good to those who hate us, we will be able to understand that those prophecies of a peaceful king and government really are a reality in which we can live here and now.

So another wonderful prophecy about the time of the Messiah is in Isaiah chapter 2. And actually, this prophecy is in Isaiah chapter 2 as well as in Micah. And I'm going to read in Micah the passage. Micah chapter 4, actually. "It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains. And it shall be lifted above the hills, and people shall flow to it.

And many nations shall come and say, 'Come, let us go to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways, that we may walk in his paths. For out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

He shall judge between many peoples and shall decide disputes for strong nations far away. And they shall beat their swords in the plowshares and their spears in the pruning hooks. And nations shall not lift up sword against nation.

Neither shall they learn war anymore. But they shall sit, every man under his vine and under his fig tree. And no one shall make them afraid, for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken. For all the peoples each walk in the name of its God, but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever."

This prophecy is often understood by dispensationalists to be speaking of the future millennium, where Jesus will physically and personally reign from Jerusalem, and all people will be subject to him and will serve and worship Jesus. However, if you look at verse 5 of Micah 4, "For all peoples each walk in the name of its God, but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever." That seems to me that it's not speaking of a time when Jesus is personally reigning on the earth, which is a time I believe will come in the restoration.

But this speaks of a time when there's still people worshiping other gods. There's still other people walking in the name of their own God and not serving Jesus. So I don't think this is speaking of a millennium. I think it's speaking of the time of the kingdom that Jesus inaugurated.

Okay. So anyways, when we understand Jesus' message of love for enemies and overcoming evil with good, then the eyes of our understanding are open to understand these prophecies about Jesus, not only for a future time, but also for us today who are living under the Lordship of Jesus.

In the last minutes that I have here, I want to talk a little bit about the new covenant because the new covenant is another thing that was prophesied to Israel.

And let me read in Ezekiel 16, verses 60 to 63, "I will establish for you an everlasting covenant." So here he's talking to Israel. "I will establish for you an everlasting covenant. Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed when you take your sisters, both your elder and your younger, and I will give them to you as daughters, but not on account of the covenant with you. I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall know that I am the Lord, that you may remember and be confounded and never open your mouth again because of your shame."

Now here, Ezekiel

actually gives us a timeframe here of when this covenant with Israel was to be established. Notice the next phrase here, "When I atone for you for all that you have done, declares the Lord." Let me ask you the question, when did God make atonement for sin?

We all know the answer at the first coming of Jesus. That was when the new everlasting covenant was established with Israel, with the faithful remnant of Israel. So here we have a clear statement of when the new covenant would take place is when God makes atonement for sin.

And Jeremiah 31 is the most famous passage about the new covenant. And I'm going to read it, and then I'll quote Hebrews. So the writer of Hebrews clearly states that this new covenant to Israel that was promised to Israel in Jeremiah 31 has been enacted.

Jeremiah 31, "Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. I covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord. I will put my laws within them, and I will write them on their hearts.