More Questions for John and Pastor Eric

Was it a sin for Pharaoh to hold Israel captive?
Why did he do it? (Exodus 8:15, 32; 9:34)
And why did he do that? (Exodus 4:21; 7:3; 9:12; 10:1, 20, 27; 11:10; 14:4)

Was it a sin for the King of Heshbon to refuse Israel passage through his land?
Why did he do it? (Deuteronomy 2:30)

Was it a sin for Samson to take a wife from among the Philistines?
Why did he do it? (Judges 14:2-4)

Was it a sin for the Canaanites to go into battle against Israel?
Why did they do it? (Joshua 11:20)

Was it a sin for Eli’s sons to ignore his rebuke?
Why did they do it? (I Samuel 2:25)

Was it a sin for David to number the people? (II Samuel 24:10)
Why did he do it? (I Chronicles 21:1)
And why did he do that? (II Samuel 24:1)

Was it a sin for Ahab to listen to false prophets?
Why did he do it? (I Kings 22:20-23)

Was it a sin for the Jews to disbelieve Christ?
Why did they do it? (John 12:39-41)

Was it a sin for Pilate, Herod, the Gentiles and the Jews to crucify Christ?
Why did they do it? (Acts 4:27-28)

Answer to Pastor Eric's Most Recent Question

Ultimately the Pharisees rejected Jesus because they had been foreordained to do so (Acts 2:23). But humanly speaking, I think one of the important catalysts in their rejection of Christ was that Jesus was insufficiently anti-gentile for their tastes.

First of all he was perceived to be from Galilee of the Gentiles, from whence everyone knew no real prophet was to arise (John 7:52).

Second, he made them murderously upset, to the point of trying to throw him off of a cliff, when he said things like:

I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian (Luke 4:25-29).

Or when he said:

I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. (Matt 8:11)

But especially when he said things like:

Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. (Matthew 21:43-46)

This failure to adequately hate the gentiles was also a key reason for the Jews continuing to reject Christ even after his ascension. As Paul found out when he told the Jews that Christ had said to him,

'Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.'

Luke relates that,

Up to this word they listened to him. Then they raised their voices and said, “Away with such a fellow from the earth! For he should not be allowed to live (Acts 22:21-22).

The Pharisees wanted a Messiah, not to save the Gentiles, but to destroy them. And when it appeared that Jesus had other plans, they wanted no part of what he was offering. The idea of Gentiles inheriting right along with, or even in place of any Jews, was anathema, and no one who held such ideas could possible be sane, much less the true Messiah.

Replacement Theology: A Satanically Inspired Sign of the Last Times.

No posts of my own lately, so I thought I'd link over to a discussion I'm having with the good Pastor Eric. I don't think he'll mind.

All Right....I'm In.

Friday Night at the BRDhouse

Curt, Tom and I are performing live at the BRDhouse again this Friday evening, December 21st. We'll get started around 8 and play till around 10. For those who have heard us in the past...well, we are getting better! The BRDhouse is on 48 just about a mile south of the Englewood Meijer. They have really yummy coffee.

You Alone Are God

There is none like you among the gods, O Lord,
nor are there any works like yours.
All the nations you have made shall come
and worship before you, O Lord,
and shall glorify your name.
For you are great and do wondrous things;
you alone are God. (Ps. 86:8-10)

No Longer Strangers and Aliens

The second chapter of Ephesians has been the source of much debate (especially between dispensationalists and covenantalists) as to the exact nature of the relationship between Israel and the Church. The specific question I’d like to address in this post is one that I’ve recently been batting around with the good Dr. Shearer; that is, as gentile believers, are we biblically warranted in considering ourselves citizens of Israel? Dr. Shearer has said that we are not; I believe that we are.

I begin with Paul’s expression in Ephesians 2:19, where he tells his gentile readers, So then you are no longer strangers and aliens… Here Paul indicates what we presently are not. We are not strangers and aliens. What he does not answer in this sentence, however, is the question, strangers and aliens from what? We are given a little help, however, in the phrase no longer. That from which we are no longer strangers and aliens must be that from which we previously were strangers and aliens. And what was that?

Here, Paul is very clear; for he has already specified in verse 12 that, before Christ, gentiles were alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise. The commonwealth of Israel was that in which Israelites were counted citizens. The covenants of promise were that which defined what Israel was to inherit. Being alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, then, we gentiles were excluded from citizenship therein, and being strangers from the covenants of promise, we were excluded from inheritance thereunder.

If then, this is the sense in which gentiles were strangers and aliens at one time, it is precisely in this same sense that we are strangers and aliens no longer. Therefore, viewing verses 12 and 19 together, we must conclude that gentile believers are no longer strangers and aliens specifically with respect to the commonwealth and covenants of Israel. And here, then, is the point: if we are no longer strangers and aliens with respect to the commonwealth of Israel, how can we be other than citizens thereof? And if we are no longer strangers and aliens with respect to the covenants of Israel, how can we be other than partakers therein?