Elder C. C. Morris, Editor
P. O. Box 1004
Hawkins, Texas 75765-1004
E-mail: ccmorris@the-remnant.com
NOVEMBER-DECEMBER, 2001
CONTENTS
By C. A. Dirkes
By Elder Bruce Atkisson
by Elder C. C. Morris
By C. A. Dirkes
I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, that you tell him, I am sick of love (Canticles 5.8).
The daughter of peace, who has been so enamored with her beloved and her spouse that she could think of nothing else but being with him and sharing their love, here gives a charge to her sisters. She feels and believes that she is in a place apart from her beloved. She feels so helpless and alone that she pleads with her family, her sisters of Jerusalem, for help. They alone can understand what she is experiencing for they have experienced it too, and they alone can help comfort her.
She has been through a very difficult ordeal. For the second time, she had an encounter with the watchmen of the city at night. In the first encounter, she was full of energy and love and said, “I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not (Canticles 3.1).” She had found neither rest nor comfort on her bed without him near, so she ventured into the night, seeking him in the city streets, and there engaged the night watchmen. She had a need for the comfort and a longing for the presence of her beloved and was led to seek after him. “I am sought of them that ask not for me; I am found of them that sought me not (Isaiah 65.1).” The only way that this one could seek her Lord was that he had led her to seek him and had drawn her out after him.
The watchmen find her in the streets of the city and she asks them, “Saw ye him whom my soul loveth (3.3)?” They apparently have no idea who she is speaking of, and there is no record of any response from them. They are of the world and, even though they are the watchmen upon the wall and are there to warn the inhabitants of danger, they have no understanding of the spiritual experience that this one was having. She has found, like her sisters and everyone else of the household of faith, that those around her do not understand, for the drawing of the spirit is concealed from the eyes of flesh and the carnal mind cannot comprehend the activity of the Spirit. The watchmen had no common ground, no point of reference, no like precious faith and no mutual experience from which to draw any comparisons or similarities. They do not and cannot know anything of what has transpired within this vessel, for they cannot know the things of the spirit.
She leaves the watchmen and finds her beloved. She finds him and ardently embraces him. She vows that she will never let him go (3.4), and when she had found him they went off together into her mother’s house and into the chamber of her that conceived her. Here she is at rest and she is enraptured to be with him. What a wonderfully peaceful picture of love without the cares or concerns for the world or the things of it. In the midst of this comfort and peace she charges her sisters not to stir him nor awake him until he pleases. She knows that he is the Lord of Hosts and the King of Kings and that nothing in heaven or on earth will cause him to move. He is governed only by the will of his Father and when he pleases, his work shall be done.
The second time she encounters the watchmen the circumstances are a bit different. She was again asleep in her bed but this time her heart woke her. Something had stirred her heart and caused her to awake from sleep. Her beloved had come to her. His head was filled with dew and his locks with the drops of the night (5.2). Even though he was the Lord of the house, he knocked on the door and called for her to open unto him. But she had a most peculiar response and an excuse for not opening the door. She invokes some good old fashion legalism and says, “I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them (5.3)?” How absurd! What does she mean she can’t put her coat back on or get her feet dirty? This is the one whom her soul loves! This is the one who is hers, and she is his and the one with whom she pleads for him to remain with her (2.16). Where did such a statement as this come from?
“The Lord said in his revelation to John that he stood at the door and knocked and that he that opens to him the same would the Lord come in to and sup with. This one did not open the door and her Lord did not come in to her so she has lost out on a temporal blessing because of her disobedience. Of course she does not lose any eternal blessings or grace because she was secured from eternity in her eternal salvation but due to her inability to surrender to his will, she has abrogated this temporal blessing. She has been deprived of a communion with her master due to disobedience.”
This is the sentiment and teaching of the Conditionalist. Time salvation and the blessings, which accompany it, can be missed, forfeited or lost when one grieves the spirit through disobedience or rebellion.
But ye have not so learned Christ.
This is another example, recorded in the truth of the gospel, of how the children, “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and the sprinkling of the blood of Christ (1 Peter 1.2),” are forced to live by faith. To those whom he has loved with an everlasting love, the Spirit daily reveals the weaknesses of the flesh and the frailty of our existence. This one was going through the refiner’s fire and the fuller’s soap. The Lord God was causing her to walk this path, going through tribulation that patience might have her way. And, being compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, who themselves were tested after the same manner, they are forced to lay aside every weight, and the sin, which so easily besets them. All this is for their good and for their glory that they may run with patience the race that is set before them.
She was so moved by his irresistible grace and love that when he put his hand to the doorknob, her bowels moved within her and she forgot her reasons and excuses and opened the door. But he had withdrawn himself, so she went looking for him. Had he bid her thus to do? No! He had withdrawn himself and her soul failed. She sought him but could not find him and took it upon herself to venture into the night to seek him—and there she meets the watchmen. These watchmen did not care about her or why she was out and about. They did not ask nor could they understand what was going on in her heart and mind; but they fulfilled a purpose. They found her and smote her, and the keepers of the walls took away her veil from her.
“Oh what a sorrowful sight and a sad experience that she has had. Surely her beloved would not allow this to happen to her. Surely he would not leave her in such a vulnerable condition, exposed to the world, and helpless. There is no way a God of love would ever lead his children into such a devastating situation! I could never love a God who would punish someone like this or cause such hardships and trials.”
Have you ever heard that said? Rest assured that unless those who say such were blessed from eternity past to love our God, they are absolutely correct. They could never love such a God.
Have you ever considered this veil? How it not only hides the face of the wearer but also obscures the sight of the eyes it covers? Moses had to put a veil upon his face after coming down off the mount so the children of Israel could not steadfastly look upon him as the glory of the first covenant that faded away. His face shown as a testimony of his being in the presence of Almighty God but that glowing faded away signifying that the glory of the law would be done away with. The veil was so that the people did not see it fade away. But it also distorted the view that Moses had of his people until the effervescence was gone.
The veil also acted as or represented a division or a wall. The veil or curtains between the outer court and the Holy of Holies was to prevent those who were unauthorized to enter from coming in and to prevent any one from outside from seeing in. The mountain of God was veiled with the clouds and smoke to prevent the children of Israel from approaching unto His Holiness.
This veil she had on was something that had to be removed, and she was not of a mind to do it herself. It was of the flesh, an inhibitor, which must, for the health and welfare of the subject, be removed. Nowhere do we have a record of her beloved telling her to do away with it, but the fact that it was taken away indicates that it was unnecessary to her. It was harmful and encumbering to her.
Consider this also. The veil, or the fleshly attributes, was part of the body that had been prepared for her. When she became a partaker of flesh and blood, that body or vessel, being afore prepared unto glory, was equipped with this veil. She did not acquire it along the way, and it did not attach itself to her parasitically. Her vessel was prepared to travel through this world, before she was born, before her parents were born, and their parents, and their parents, all the way back to before the formation of Adam from the dust of the earth. Her preparation was according to the purpose of God, which is as eternal as He is. Therefore, God had afore ordained that she should be encumbered with this veil and that according to His mercy and His love for her, it should be removed in this fashion. “The Lord hath purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion: he hath stretched out a line, he hath not withdrawn his hand from destroying: therefore he hath made the rampart and the wall to lament; they languished together (Lamentations 2.8).”
When Paul asked the Corinthian brethren, “what hast thou that thou didst not receive (1 Corinthians 4.7)?” he indicates to them that what they had and what they received was from God, the Lord and giver of all things. And what they had not or what is taken from them was not needed, being withheld and/or removed by the same who gave, for the perfecting of the saints. Did not Christ teach His disciples that their Heavenly Father not only knew all of their needs but also richly supplied them? “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And one of them shall not fall to the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are numbered (Matthew 10.29).” “Consider the lilies of the field how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothed the grass, which is to day in the field, and tomorrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith (Luke 12.27)?” These and many other references give clear evidence that what one has is given for a purpose and need, and what is withheld or removed is done so for good, “And we know that all things work together for good, to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose (Romans 8.28).”
What of the watchmen? Are they not the powers that be, which were ordained of God for good? Could they have smitten her if they had not found her? Could they have found her if she had not been out and about? Would she have been out and about if she had opened the door and her beloved had come in to her? Would she have opened the door if she did not hear him knock? If he did not knock would she have been awakened? Could she have been awakened if she had not been asleep? Where is the break in the chain of events ordained of old? Where is the free will of these barbarous guards who beat this poor helpless woman? Could they have taken the veil from her if she never had it or if she had removed it herself? Did not the Lord God Almighty raise up these men for that purpose? Did He not raise up the armies of the Philistines, the Egyptians, the Babylonians and the Romans, to do His bidding and fulfill His purpose? Is not the heart of the king, even evil king Cyrus and every other potentate the world has ever known and will ever know, in the hand of Almighty God and does He not turn it whatsoever way He desires? Does He not rule in the armies of heaven and perform whatsoever His heart desires upon the earth? Is not all His work honorable and glorious and his righteousness endures forever (Psalm 111.3)? Does He not clothe Himself with righteousness and justice? Is there one who would dare say that these watchmen have acted independent of the divine will of God? Can you not see that the Lord God Omnipotent ordained from before the foundation of the world, in full agreement with the Son and the Spirit, that these earthen vessels, which he outfitted for destruction, would be raised up, born at the proper time and in the exact place, and that they would be elevated to the position of authority and command? That they would be placed on duty this very night, having been dressed, fed and prepared of the Lord, and in this frame of mind and disposition so as to fulfill the purpose of a loving and merciful Father and remove this weight of sin, this veil, from the one he so dearly loves? That she would be led into this by His kind and caring hand for her good? Is the way of man in himself? Is it of him that walketh to direct his own steps? No! O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps (Jeremiah 10.23).” Are the steps of the righteous man ordained by himself and dictated by his environment and surroundings? Or are they ordained of the Lord? “The steps of a good man are ordained by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way (Psalm 37.23).”
All praise to the Father and the Son and the Spirit for each and every step that a child of grace takes has been expressly ordered for his good by an all knowing, all seeing and all-powerful creator. He controls the rising up and the falling down. He alone ordained the times of plenty and time of want so that His children would not trust in the flesh but live by faith, and that not of themselves, but it is a gift from God. Consider the words of the Apostle Paul to the Roman brethren in chapter 9. Since these vessels were afore prepared unto glory, we must ask, before what? Before their birth? Before the birth of each of their parents? Or before the foundation of the world? Since God be God and there is no other, when He declared the end from the beginning, then all things must have been concluded in the beginning. When He declared that His Word would not return unto Him void but would accomplish all that He purposed for it to do, He must have purposed it before He sent His Word forth. Shall He not perform the intents of His heart (Jeremiah 31.24)? Since He is eternal and without beginning or end, His wisdom, foreknowledge, purpose, and intents are eternal. Even though events happen in time and space they have been eternally ordered and sure for the glory of His name and His Holy family.
“What is thy beloved more than another, O thou fairest of women? What is thy beloved more than another beloved that thou dost so charge us (5.9)?”
These daughters of Jerusalem have just been charged with a mission by this fairest among women, that if they find the one whom her soul seeks, they should tell him that she is sick with love. But first they need to know who it is that she is seeking. They need for her to tell them why he is any different from another. They want to know if he is the same one whom they seek. These two cannot walk together in looking for him unless they are agreed, and the confession from the heart as to his true identity is paramount to the search.
The whole family of the redeemed has a common lineage and a mutual faith that binds them together as one, and it is that they are born of incorruptible seed and stand firm on the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. They do not care for those who would claim Abraham as their father. They have no kinship with those who have been secured by a covenant ritual performed by their parents when they were young and innocent. They were not born into this family by earthly means. They did not exercise some mysterious and mythical free will by asking Jesus into their hearts, surrendering their minds to his will, or making him lord and master of their lives. These are Egyptian carvings and Babylonian tapestries. These are the works of the flesh and the desires of the world. No, these frail wandering strangers desire to know only one thing, and that is Jesus the Christ and Him crucified. They seek those of like precious faith and a kindred spirit because they have been hewn from the same rock, and that rock is Christ. They know that they have all been dug from the same earthly pit, from the same lump of clay and that they are weak in the flesh. They know all too well, and are reminded every waking moment, that in them, that is, in their flesh, dwelleth no good thing. They groan because their frame is frail, for it is dust; and they are in constant conflict between the law in their members which wars against the law of their mind, so that they walk this temporal plain as strangers and sojourners, seeking a city not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. So, while wandering alone in this solitary, dry, thirsty land, when they meet one who is “after its kind” who charges them in the way that this sojourner has, they inquire, “Who is this one whom you seek? Why is he better than all the rest?”
If these sisters were the followers of today’s religious tenets, they would have quickly condemned this weak, whimpering, pathetic soul and in a very condescending manner instructed her to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” She would have been directed to a family conference seminar to learn about her problems. She would be presented with a step-by-step analysis of her wretched life and precarious situation. Learned doctors and most honorable reverends in their flowing robes and gaudy attire would bolster their egos and fuel their pride as they, willingly, showed her how weak she was and how impotent her faith was. Ritual prayers, intense Bile studies, protracted meetings, or a missionary excursion, all intending to “put on Christ,” would be the remedy for this melancholy soul. “Come to us, ye who have been taken in a fault, and we which are spiritual shall restore thee,” is inscribed on the shingle that hangs by the doorway. Just as the woman with the issue of blood, who for years had tried every remedy and every doctor, no comfort would this one find in the remedies of the world. Instead, the burdens would become heavier and the road more arduous.
“My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand (5.10).” He is white because he is clothed in fine linen, which is his righteousness. He is seen by John, coming out of heaven, riding a white horse. The translated word ‘white’ carries with it the idea of dazzling brilliance of pureness and holiness. This is the same garment that the saints who came out of great tribulation are arrayed in, made white in the blood of the Lamb (Revelation 7.14). He is, ‘ADOM’, red, because that vesture has been dipped in his blood (Revelation 19). He has the authority and right to lead his army as the standard bearer, because his name is Faithful and True, and He has born the sins of his people as the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world.
He is the chiefest among ten thousand, or standard-bearer, because, “And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean (Revelation 19.13f).” He leads his army forward and she is his army. “Thou art beautiful, O my love, as Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem, terrible as an army with banners (6.4).” “Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners (6.10)?” The banners above this innumerable host are the ones spoke of in the first chapter, “He brought me into the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love (1.4).” This love is found in the midst of the chariot of Solomon where she reclines and it is guarded by men of valor, mighty men of war each having his sword upon his side (3.10). He describes her as: “Thy neck is like the tower of David builded for an armoury, whereon there hang a thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty men (4.4).” He is the Prince of Peace and she is the Shulamite. “What will ye see in the Shulamite? As it was the company of two armies (6.13).” Oh the grandeur and the regal splendor of this vast host and he is the chiefest of them all and the one who carries the banners. He has led the host. He has fought the battle. He has won the victory and He has put all things under His feet, and now He says, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth (Matthew 28.18).”
He is the chiefest among ten thousand because He is the Captain of her faith. He is the first born from the dead. He is the standard bearer, and His banner over her is LOVE. He is the Author and Finisher of her faith. All that is has proceeded from Him and for Him. He began the work in righteousness and concluded it in peace when He set all things under His feet and is set down at the right hand of the Almighty and Everlasting Father. His faith is the faith of His children and they believe in Him because they are His sheep and they hear His voice. A stranger’s voice they will not follow, and their way will not be lost. They were the Father’s, and He gave them to the Son. The Son has been faithful to do the will of He that sent Him, and He has lost none save the one who was a devil from the beginning.
“His head is as the most fine gold.” The head signifies the chief, the captain, the principle and the ruler. That it appeared to her to be as most fine gold would indicate pure judgment and righteousness. No partiality or respect of person. No social status or favor-currying would influence this ruler. His rule is unlimited because on His head were many crowns (Revelation 19.12). He rules amongst the armies of heaven and performs His will here on earth. He commands the wind and the sea. He directs the course of the mighty sea and has set the limitation of the proud waves, saying, “Hitherto shalt thou come but no further (Job 38.11).” He ordained the hosts of heaven and set them in their courses. He has struck a line in the void of space and hung the world upon its axis. He performs the pleasure of His will upon the affairs of man and His fierce anger shall not be withheld until He performs all the intent of His heart (Jeremiah 30.24). He seeks the counsel of no one. He confers only with Himself, Father, Son and Spirit, these three being one, and His determinate counsel stands by His own power.
“… his locks are bushy and black as a raven.” Amidst all the power and majesty of His kingship, she sees an almost hypnotic peace and tranquillity like a tree branch, full of leaves, swaying in the breeze as evening approaches and dusk falls.
“His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters, washed with milk, and fitly set.” His eyes are a fountain by a mighty brook or a strong river. They are like doves’ eyes, warm, soothing, almost intoxicating. They are washed or bathed by Him in the finest and richest milk of the kine. These eyes are established, dwell, inhabit, and sit down, in plump sockets, full and satisfying. Such peace she experiences when she is given to gaze into and become lost in His eyes. Oh what love that He should fix His eyes upon her.
(To be continued, Lord willing)
.
—Chet Dirkes
337 Sunnybrook Road
Barrington, NJ 08007-1454
E-mail: chfmyr3011@hotmail.com
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By Elder Bruce Atkisson
For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me (Job 19.25-27).
The Bible records these words of Job, spoken long centuries ago, displaying a spiritual hope that remains an essential part of the faith of God’s elect. To the Christian, who has tasted that the Lord is good, the contemplation of a future beyond this life of sin and sorrow is a source of sweet peace and wondrous expectation.
The resurrection of the body has been one of the fundamentals of the Christian faith from earliest times. It is difficult to understand how anyone could deny such an important scriptural truth. There are some who do indeed deny this blessed fact as taught in Scripture. To take this position is to contradict centuries of sound biblical teaching upon this subject by many of the forefathers of the faith.
It is instrumental to the understanding of this doctrine to define the meaning of the word resurrection. In the Greek language of the New Testament, the word resurrection means to “rise again, raise up, or bring back again.” Many often think they know what something might mean when their understanding may be unduly influenced by human traditions.
“Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation (John 5.28,29).”
To rise again or raise up, or to bring back again, infers that that which went into the grave is brought forth again. What is brought forth? The same that went into the grave, the body. Surely any child of grace will admit that the body of Jesus Christ that went into the grave also came out of that tomb. The Scriptures testify that the Lord made himself known after his resurrection to his disciples in various ways. He appeared to them showing the wounds inflicted upon him by his enemies. He ate fish and bread with them; most importantly, the body that was laid in the borrowed tomb was gone the morning that he appeared to Mary Magdalene. The same body was alive again!
To the first century saints, the message of a glorious salvation, by rich and sovereign grace, was preached with power and conviction with the resurrection of Christ being the central theme. “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures (1 Corinthians 15.3-4).” The fact that this awesome event was witnessed by more than five hundred brethren should be positive proof of this vital doctrine.
So then, if it was preached by the saints of old that Christ rose from the dead, how can some say that there is no resurrection (see 1 Corinthians 15.12)? If there is no resurrection, it must be because Christ did not rise; the apostles were preaching a lie or a delusion if Christ did not rise from the grave. “But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. (1 Corinthians 15.13-14).” Surely no heaven-born child of grace would believe such blasphemous error. It would be the same to confess that all that they have trusted in and hoped for is nothing but empty myths. The saints who have preceded those now living have died believing in a lie; they rest in the earth, and that is their end. “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable (1 Corinthians 15.19).” Truly, to have no hope for the future would leave the existence of the saints of God without meaning. But they have not so learned Christ.
“But now Christ has risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept (1 Corinthians 15.20).” Notice that the Lord is compared to the offering of firstfruits. In this offering, the first produce to be harvested was offered to the Lord in thanksgiving. The small portion of the much larger harvest to come was presented to the Lord as a representation of the whole harvest: “Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest: And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf an he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the LORD. (Leviticus 23. 10-12).” Jesus was the first portion offered or dedicated to the Father; the children were all represented in him. Therefore, if the Lord Jesus Christ was raised again in his body as the firstfruits of those he represents, then it follows that all of the children of God shall also rise in like manner just as their head did. Human tradition and reasoning should be rejected, while the plain truth of scripture should be embraced by all the faithful in Christ.
The very preaching of the resurrection of Christ and the dead should be proof of the beliefs held by the early disciples and apostles. If there was no resurrection of the body of the departed saints, then why would the apostles of the Lord risk their very lives in the propagation of a lie? Paul asks this same question. “Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead (1 Corinthians 15.29)?” The constant jeopardy and danger in which the apostles and first disciples of Jesus were daily placed by their testimony of the truth of the gospel is referred to here as baptism. Baptism in the context of this portion of scripture speaks of the overwhelming danger that the apostle felt he was immersed in, each and every day, for the truth’s sake. He endured all things for the elect’s sake, even the hazarding of his own life to teach the word of God to the churches.
“But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come (1 Corinthians 15.35)?” The disbelief of a bodily resurrection is dealt with in short order by the apostle. Comparing the planting of grain to the body which goes into the grave, that which springs forth from the earth is not the dead husk which was interred there. Just as the different grains are planted as lifeless bodies, so that which rises is a new and glorious body, something of beauty, which only God can create. “So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption; It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body (1 Corinthians 15.42-44).”
Those that oppose this wonderful and sublime biblical theme fail to understand that a change shall take place with the body. “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed (1 Corinthians 15.50-51).” Although the very same natural body that is placed in the grave shall arise, it will be changed instantly into a spiritual body with properties that make it fitting to reside in heaven and immortal glory. It should be clear that it is the body that shall be raised, because there is no need for the soul or spirit to be resurrected. Upon death, the souls of the children of God return immediately to their maker; it is only the body that is left behind to decay and return to the earth from whence it came. In the day of the resurrection of the dead, the body shall be raised and immediately changed and reunited with the soul; thus the saints shall reside in glory with their God forever.
“O death where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory (1 Corinthians 15.55)?” Thus death is swallowed up in victory, because the grave no longer has any hold over the children of grace. The thought of death, which has for a lifetime been a source of fear and apprehension for the saints of God is now dissolved. The grave cannot hold hostage the bodies of the elect. They need not fear it any more. “But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15.57).”
No greater source
of encouragement can be found than this doctrine. Though the Christian may see only through a dark glass in this
life, in the life to come they shall have an eternity to speak of these wonders
of the mercies of a covenant God. The
hardships of this life, though serious indeed, will only seem momentary to the
ones dwelling eternally in the light of the Lord God Almighty and the
Lamb. May Jehovah, the eternal one,
bless each and every one of his children to view in some measure the truth of
this glorious doctrine; may it be a source of sweet comfort and strength to all
the little ones.
—Elder
Bruce Atkisson
606
Rebecca Lane
Munford,
Alabama 36268-7321
E-mail: Brukster964@cs.com
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by Elder C. C. Morris
In the last issue, we began our comments in answer to a brother’s questions about Israel. Since Brother H. asked for my views, I hope to comply with his request in the fear of the Lord and without the fear of man. What follows are indeed my views, based upon what I believe I have been given to understand from the Scriptures.
I wish to be as plain as possible, using the term ethnic or national to describe the literal nation of Israel, the literal, flesh-and-blood descendants of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob (whom God renamed Israel), and Jacob/Israel’s twelve sons who became the progenitors of the twelve tribes of Israel. I emphasize literal Israel as distinguished from any figurative use of Israel (typifying spiritual Israel, in which I do believe), understanding spiritual Israel to mean the elect body of Christ, the redeemed of all ages.
I emphasize that there is a literal nation named Israel because nowadays there seems to be a tendency among many, when they hear the word “Israel,” to think, “That’s us—the church.” There is and must be a clear distinction between the spiritual body of Christ and the earthly, ethnic Israel.
Ethnic, according to Webster, means “of or relating to races or large groups of people classified according to common traits and customs.” Israel is a race of people related by birth and blood as well as “common traits and customs.” Strictly speaking, both the Greek word ethnos and the equivalent Hebrew word gowy (often anglicized to goy), usually mean the Gentile nations; but in the Old Testament gowy is also often used to refer to Israel as a nation (e.g., Jeremiah 31.36, Ezekiel 37.22, et al). We have heard in recent years of ethnic cleansing, a euphemism for genocide, the attempted destruction of a race. National Israel is no stranger to genocide or “ethnic cleansing.”
Collectively, this race of Israelites are now generally known as Jews, which fact may be traced back to their being associated with the kings who sprang from the tribe of Judah, beginning with David. The nation has been loosely known as “Jews” at least since the days of King Ahaz, when Rezin, king of Syria, drove the Jews from Elath (2 Kings 16.6).
Although Paul wrote to the (primarily) Gentile brethren in the church at Rome, and through them to Gentile believers from then until now, he also speaks much about Jews and Israel in the book of Romans.
There is a good reason for this. Israel has had the unconditional promises of God upon them since the time of Genesis 11, two thousand years before Christ. There were valid questions in the minds of the brethren when Paul wrote, as there are now in the minds of those serious about the daily events in the Mid-east: Was the nation of Israel destroyed, or is it to be destroyed, as a nation, forever? Are the promises of God to Abraham, Israel, David, and, indeed, to all of the old patriarchs, of none effect? Paul’s answer is, absolutely not. God hath not cast away His people whom He foreknew; they are only set aside for the time being. And “His people whom He foreknew” in this context is the earthly nation of Israel.
Paul mentions Israel fourteen times in Romans 9-11, but he calls them “Jews” eleven more times in 1.16 to 10.12. The last two references to Jews (9.24 and 10.12) overlap the Israel passage of chapters 9 through 11. We mention only a few here.
Paul’s first reference to Jewry is the oft-quoted verse, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek (1.16).” Paul practiced what he here preached, going to the Jew first, literally: “…they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews: And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures, opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ (Acts 17.1ff).”
The spiritual nature of being a Jew, not merely outwardly, but inwardly—that is, in the heart and spirit—is brought out, as nowhere else in the Bible, in Romans 2.28-29: For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God. It appears from this, then, that the outward Jews are bypassed and set aside. But are they?
The apostle next raises the question, “What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision (3.1)?” We might expect him to answer, “None whatsoever.” Instead, his answer is contrary to the Gentiles’ way of thinking: “Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.” Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live? Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes (Deuteronomy 4.33f)? God’s oracles were by His miracles, by His speaking and writing prophets, and by the visible manifestation of Himself, the invisible God, and in many other ways.
In 3.9 he says, “we have before proved [in chapters 1 and 2] both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin.” In 3.29, he says, “Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also.”
Paul does not mention the Jews again until 9.24: “Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles,” in parallel to 3.29. The last mention of the Jews, per se, in Romans, like his first, links them racially with the Greeks, who, in this connection, represent all the Gentile races: “For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him (10.12).”
Israel is a literal nation, as much so as England,
Spain, or any earthly nation. She has
existed from ancient times, and she is with us today. She provides countless spiritual lessons for the church: “Now all these things happened unto them for
ensamples: and they are written for our admonition (1 Corinthians 10.11)”; “For
whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we
through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope (Romans 15.4).”
Although earthly Israel provides the church with
countless spiritual object-lessons, the church and Israel remain distinct from
each other. The church is not Israel or
a continuation of that nation, although “figurative applications” of Bible
texts seems to have left that impression with many.
Making “Israel” in these three chapters to mean “spiritual
Israel,” the church, cannot be done successfully. The most straightforward way to prove this statement is to
examine in context all fourteen uses of the name Israel in these
chapters. If singly the references to
Israel do not mean the church, then they cannot somehow collectively add up to
“spiritually” “figuratively” being the church.
Applications, there are, and lessons to be learned, certainly; but the
figure’s being its literal countepart? Never, for a figure is never the thing
it represents. An olive tree is not really
Israel, and the Lord’s people are not literally four-legged wool-growing
sheep; at least I don’t think they are. And Israel is not the church.
In Romans, some form of the word “Israel” occurs
fourteen times in twelve verses, all of them found between Romans 9.4 and
11.26. Of these fourteen mentions, I
understand thirteen of them refer to literal, national, ethnic Israel, and one
to apply to spiritual Israel. May the
Lord bless us to prayerfully consider each use of Israel in these twelve
verses:
1. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh: Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen (9.3ff).
Paul defines these brethren not as brethren in the church but as his kinsmen according to the flesh: ethnic Israelites, linked with the covenants, the law, the service of God, and the ancient promises, among other things. It is a fleshly relationship, even of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came. Can there be any serious doubt it is ethnic Israel of which he here writes?
Paul loves his nation and his own natural family, his kinsmen according to the flesh who are, nationally, Israelites (9.1-5). He loves his native people, his nation, their rich national and spiritual heritage, as much as all patriotic people love their country and their people. It is plain that it is the national level on which he is speaking, as he emphasizes throughout these three chapters. They are his brethren and kinsmen according to the flesh and not necessarily spiritual brethren and spiritual kinsmen. Paul knows his nation is presently to be destroyed by the armies of the Roman Empire. Millions of his friends, neighbors and countrymen after the flesh will soon be slaughtered unmercifully. Because some of them are “non-elect,” does this mean he has no love at all for them as a people? Surely not.
Paul is not at all being “carnal” in his concern for his nation. He has not softened his doctrine. He is gravely concerned about the nation of his nativity and upbringing. God’s work of grace in the hearts of His people does not make them love their neighbors, kindred, and country less. You who know that all men have their appointed time and way to die, and that God “doeth according to His will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay His hand, or say unto Him, What doest thou,” does this mean that you love America any less, and that you could casually dismiss the thousands killed at the World Trade Center on September 11 by saying, “Oh, they were probably non-elect”?
Though Paul has a hope in Christ Jesus, which is far better, yet he cannot be separated from the love he has for the rich heritage of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and for the nation of Israel and their God, land, and people. Anyone who can be unmoved at the threat of the mass destruction of one’s own homeland and its inhabitants, whether he knows the victims personally and individually or not, must be heartless indeed.
Which of us was not moved beyond words on September 11, 2001, and the weeks that followed, as we saw thousands of our fellow-citizens attacked and killed by the senseless terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York City? Who but a graceless wretch could be unmoved by the sight of men and women, young and old, helplessly waiting for a word of hope from the rubble and dust? They stood silently on the sidewalks, choking back their tears and sobs, holding photos of their missing loved ones, asking any of the passersby if they have seen “…my husband, my wife, my parent, my daughter, my son….” I trust, dear reader, you found a prayer in your heart, especially and above all, for God’s elect who were affected by this horrid act of destruction. But I also hope and believe you were given to pray for the suffering and dying, and for those who watched over them, and for the police and fire-fighters, the doctors, nurses, and paramedics, and for the selfless and anonymous rescue workers giving of themselves to the point of exhaustion and beyond, laboring in the fire and fumes, the dust and debris, among the dead and dying.
I say that to say this: It was such a destruction and worse that Paul anticipated. He knew the city of Jerusalem was to be destroyed, which grieved him immeasurably. Whether the young men killed or the young women raped were God’s “spiritual Israel” did not enter into the equation. Who, who could see their city burned and their neighbors tortured to death and remain unmoved? True, you prayed for the trapped and for their rescuers, but you prayed, “nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.” You prayed, especially for them who are of the household of faith.
Jeremiah, in his own day, was there to see first-hand the destruction of Jerusalem. His Lamentations are an eye-witness account: “Their heart cried unto the Lord...let tears run down like a river day and night: give thyself no rest; let not the apple of thine eye cease. Arise, cry out in the night...pour out thine heart like water before the face of the Lord (2.18f).” “Mine eye runneth down with rivers of water for the destruction of the daughter of my people. Mine eye trickleth down, and ceaseth not, without any intermission (3.48f).”
Read Lamentations and weep with Jeremiah while reading. It is most doubtful that the people for whom he laments so piteously were all children of God.
Then reread Paul and weep with him: “I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh who are Israelites (Romans 9.1ff).”
Jehovah’s ancient, unconditional, gracious, everlasting promises to Israel as a nation must either be validated or repealed. But if God could repeal His promises to them, then, pray tell, why could He not as easily repeal His ancient, unconditional, gracious, everlasting promises to the church? The veracity of God is at stake in the one no less than in the other, the God who, when He “made promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no greater, He sware by Himself saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee (Hebrews 6.13f).”
Abraham has a natural seed, Israel, and a spiritual seed, the church. Both shall be saved with an everlasting salvation. “But Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end (Isaiah 45.17f).”
Paul loves his nation, his kinfolk according to the flesh, to the extent he says he could wish, as it were, that he could trade places with the nation, to the extreme of his being cursed in their stead. In this Paul emulates Christ, who, in His eternal love for His spiritual Israel, bore their curse in their law room and stead.
He could wish, Paul says, speaking hypothetically, not that he actually did wish it. The nation is blinded in part (11.25). As such, the blinded ones, or the part of national Israel that is blinded, is cursed. Paul could wish it were otherwise, he says, but he is reconciled to it as he is given to see what God in His sovereign wisdom is working out on a worldwide scale: the salvation of the Lord’s people in every kindred, tribe, nation, and tongue.
2. Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel (9.6). What Paul says here is, “they are not all [spiritual] Israel, which are of [national] Israel.” There is a “spiritual Israel,” which we plainly affirm. That spiritual Israel is the body and bride of Christ, and Romans 9.6 is the one reference to her, by the name of Israel, in these three chapters.
Not every person in national Israel is included in spiritual Israel. That is, not every individual in the nation will be saved. If they were, then salvation would be of blood, contradicting John 1.12-13.
Some, Paul intimates, would superficially conclude from the partial blindness of national Israel that the word of God had taken no effect (9.6), but this is not at all the case. He continues, “For they are not all [spiritual] Israel, which are of [national or natural] Israel (9.6).” The promises of salvation reach every one of His elect, all of whom have obtained it, whether natural-born Jews or Gentiles, and the rest of both Jews and Gentiles were blinded (11.8).
3. Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved (9.27). The two mentions of Israel here must refer to national Israel, because, in contrast to this Israel, which overall is as the sand of the sea for number, there is a remnant out of them who shall be saved. But we know this remnant is a part of God’s spiritual Israel, chosen out of every nation, tribe, and tongue. I understand Paul to be saying, “Esaias also crieth concerning ethnic Israel, ‘Though the number of the children of ethnic Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant out of ethnic Israel shall be saved.’”
We cannot have God’s spiritual Israel (the remnant) within God’s spiritual Israel (the remnant), and yet standing contrasted to itself in the same verse! This text, along with many others, proves (a) only some—a remnant—of national Israel will be saved; (b) no one is saved because he is of that or any other race (else it would be of blood, a thing denied in John 1.13); but (c) a remnant of national Israel shall be saved.
Does this mean saved nationally or saved spiritually? It means both. “The remnant,” which is the elect body of Christ, is saved spiritually, of course. But even as the spiritual Israel is to be saved spiritually, so national Israel will be saved nationally. The one is as sure as the other, because the same God promised and swore in covenant to both.
4. But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness (9.31). This cannot be spiritual Israel, “because the election [spiritual Israel] hath obtained it (11.7)”! It can only be Israel the nation, as a nation, that hath not attained or obtained, as Paul explains.
5. Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. (10.1-4). He is not praying here for “spiritual Israel” to be saved, as all in this passage demonstrates. Nor is he praying for the spiritual salvation of every individual Israelite, as Arminians would have it. Rather, he knows that his nation yet has a glorious future. He desires the salvation of the Jewish nation as a nation, rather than their impending destruction (in 70 AD), which he foresees; and that is what he expresses here.
Objection: If Paul knew the nation has “a glorious future,” why would he pray for national Israel’s salvation, seeing it is predestinated anyway?
Answer 1: He prayed for the same reason Daniel prayed for the release of Israel after their seventy years captivity in Babylon, when he already knew it was predestinated they would be released anyway. “In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes…O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city [Jerusalem] and thy people [ethnic Israel] are called by thy name (Daniel 9.2-3, 19).”
Paul prayed for ethnic Israel’s salvation or deliverance from genocide, not from the pit of everlasting burnings. Even though the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 was devastating (Josephus records that the Roman army killed over 1,600,000 Jews), his prayer was answered; Israel survives as a nation. It is not unscriptural to pray for God’s will to be done (“Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven,” Matthew 6.10; see also Matthew 26.42); it is unscriptural not to so pray.
Answer 2: For the same reason the objection primarily arises, the objection makes no more sense if it is said that Paul is praying for spiritual Israel: Why would Paul pray for the salvation of spiritual Israel, the objector might ask himself, since the elect body of Christ is predestinated to be saved anyway?
Answer 3: His prayerful desire, as to that generation in which he lived and which he saw was to be soon destroyed, is a relative desire, not an absolute desire. Paul, like any other saint, did not know of a certainty what God had predestinated for the future, either remote or immediate.
Mordecai, at the moment he spoke to queen Esther, did not know what the outcome would be, or whether or not Esther would even go in before the king; but he knew the deliverance of the Jews was a predestinated fact: “For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this (Esther 4.14)?”
Esther, in turn, did not know whether or not the king would spare her when she intruded, uninvited, into his court. She said, “Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me...so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish (4.16).”
In like manner, Paul did not certainly know whether the Lord would spare his own generation of Israelites, but he did know it is predestinated that “all [ethnic] Israel shall be saved,” for that is what he concludes in 11.26.
To some, Paul’s prayer (10.1) might seem to present a problem no matter which way we turn:
1. If Paul is praying for “spiritual Israel,” then how could spiritual Israel, God’s elect, (a) have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge, (b) be ignorant of God’s righteousness, (c) go about to establish their own righteousness, and (d) not submit themselves unto the righteousness of God—as described in verses 2 and 3? Or,
2. If Paul is praying for national Israel to be saved, then is he praying for all individual people within that nation, including reprobates, reprobates whom, by very definition, we know will not be saved? Or,
3. Is he praying for Israel as a nation to be preserved and saved? And, if he is praying for Israel as a nation to be saved, will the nation indeed be saved?
Looking at the first question: This is a valid point. The text cannot describe spiritual Israel.
Conditionalists, having no notion of the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the Lord’s people, and bolstered in their blindness by their “spiritual application” of every text they see, seem to have no problem applying this type of text to the redeemed and regenerated “spiritual Israel,” the children of God. Realizing, however, that Paul means exactly what he says (it is national Israel who has a zeal without knowledge and is ignorant of God’s righteousness in Christ, etc.), the reader blessed of the Lord to see these things will not be led astray by such freewill misapplications.
The first assumption, answering #1 that Israel is the church, provides fertile ground in which the Conditionalists raise their pernicious weeds. Above all other Arminians, Conditionalists shamelessly say God’s elect may have a zeal of God but not according to knowledge, and, being ignorant of God’s righteousness, God’s elect might go about to establish their own righteousness, not having submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God, etc., etc., ad infinitum, ad nauseam. In so saying, Conditionalists unwittingly describe themselves, for their own preaching and writings abound with dire warnings of how God will punish the “unfaithful children of God” if they do not do something more, on their own, to establish their own righteousness.
We understand from the Scriptures that this assumption, #1, cannot be true, if for no other reason than because of the doctrine of sanctification: The elect are taught of (or literally, by) God the Father (John 6.45 and context). They fear and shun anything that remotely smells of fleshly zeal, for they “have no confidence in the flesh (Philippians 3.3).” The Holy Spirit reproves them of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment (John 16.7-12). The Holy Spirit takes the things of Christ and shows them to His own (John 14.16, 26; 16.13f). As an ongoing experience they are “being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God (Philippians 1.11).” Their hope and confidence is, “that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ (Philippians 1.6).” Their cry is, “LORD, thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou also hast wrought all our works in us (Isaiah 26.12).” When they are blessed to do anything of a spiritual or godly nature, or even blessed to desire to do so, they count it just that, a blessing from on high; they deny that it comes from themselves, insisting that “it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure (Philippians 2.13).” Knowing they cannot even speak of God without His blessing them to do so, their confession is, “O LORD our God, other lords beside thee have had dominion over us: but by thee only will we make mention of thy name (Isaiah 26.13).” The elect are preserved “blameless, body, soul, and spirit, unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it (1 Thessalonians 5.23f).”
There is no way the thrice-blessed people of God, the blood-washed bride of Christ, could be described as in Romans 10.2-3, other than by those who are still enamored with their own “free will” and their fleshly abilities. The Israel of these verses cannot be spiritual Israel.
We also understand from the Scriptures that answering the second assumption in the affirmative, that is, saying Paul was praying for the salvation of reprobates, also cannot be true. No saint of the Old Testament or the New is on record as praying for the reprobates. Typically,
(1) Jeremiah was bid three times (Jeremiah 7.16, 11.14, and 14.11) not to pray for Jerusalem and the land of Judah, as a nation, who, in his day, were being carried into Babylonian captivity because of their sins. This, even though there were God’s elect among them, such as Daniel and his friends (Daniel 1.1-7);
(2) Jesus specifically said, “I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine (John 17.9).” The example of Christ is by itself sufficient example for us not to pray for the salvation of reprobates;
(3) there are no scriptural examples in either the Old or New Testament to teach us to pray for “the unsaved” (a term which in itself is unscriptural);
(4) Your detailed reading of Genesis 18.17-33, for one example only, will reveal that Abraham did not pray for the wicked;
(5) After Judah’s king Jehoshaphat had gone to battle on the side of wicked king Ahab, the prophet Jehu told Jehoshaphat, “Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the LORD? therefore is wrath upon thee from before the LORD (2 Chronicles 19.2).” There is no excuse for helping reprobates, let alone praying for them; and,
(6) Paul never prayed for the reprobates. He often points out that he did not even pray for the members of the churches to whom he wrote, before their conversion, but only after it: “We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus (Colossians 1.3f).”
This leaves alternative 3, that Israel as a nation is to be preserved, as Paul verifies in Romans 11.26.
6. But I say, Did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you (10.19).
The answer to Paul’s rhetorical question is an implied yes, national Israel in some measure did know, because Moses, whom they revered, had told them so.
Again, this must be, “Did not [ethnic] Israel know?” because the New Testament church is the “foolish nation” the Lord is using to provoke national Israel to jealousy.
“But I say, Did not Israel know?” Paul asks. “First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you (Romans 10.19).”
The reference is to Deuteronomy 32.21, “They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.” This “foolish nation” is a prophecy of the church, God’s spiritual Israel among the Gentiles.
Look a moment at what God said at the foot of Mount Sinai, as He was establishing the conditional law covenant with the nation of Israel through Moses: “Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel; Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself. Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel (Exodus 19.3-6).”
The law covenant could not be kept by any man, Jew or Gentile. It was given to prove that man in the flesh cannot keep a spiritual, holy law. “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh (Romans 8.3).”
Man thinks he can keep God’s law. “And all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD hath spoken we will do…(Exodus 19.8).” From the standpoint of grace, the entire history of Israel from Sinai forward is a dark canvas upon which God displays the blazing glory of His free, sovereign grace in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
In the Old Testament, God first demonstrated in Israel what sinners could not do through the external works of the flesh. In the New Testament, He demonstrated in spiritual Israel (the church) what He could and would do in and through fallen sinners by the internal work of His Holy Spirit. Peter says that in God’s spiritual Israel, the Lord has made good that ancient promise: “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy (1 Peter 2.9f).” A royal priesthood is a kingdom of priests, royalty having to do with politics, priesthood with religion. They are united with Christ as Priests and Kings.
Return to Deuteronomy 32.21, “…and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.” Peter demonstrates it is a spiritual nation, not a fleshly one; i.e., Israel after the flesh was not replaced with another fleshly nation or a people, such as the Chinese or the Irish. This nation of which both Moses and Peter speak is “redeemed [us] to God by thy [Christ’s] blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; And [Christ] hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth. (Revelation 5.9f).” To the mind of the worldly-wise, that is about as foolish a “nation” as can be.
How foolish, then, is this spiritual nation, the church? They are so foolish they have no wisdom of their own, other than Christ Jesus, who is their wisdom: “…unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1.24).” They do not know everything there is to know about God, salvation, and religion. They know only in part and prophesy in part. They do not “know” they are saved. They live in hope and are saved by hope. They “hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1.13).” They “know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered (Romans 8.26).”
Again we must ask: Does this mean Israel has been set aside forever? God forbid. Because He is the God of all creation, the God of the physical or natural world as well as of the spiritual world, He has provided for His pleasure both a physical nation, Israel, and a spiritual nation, His church. Never will the nation of Israel perish, as long as God is on His throne and He has made unconditional promises of grace to Abraham and his descendants, including to the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Paul makes this increasingly clear in chapter 11 of Romans.
7. But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people (10.21). He quotes here from Isaiah 65.2, as that prophet spoke to Old Testament ethnic Israel. To apply this text (in Isaiah, or as it is quoted in Romans) to the church, saying “Israel” is the church and the church is Israel, not only muddles the terms and fails to rightly divide the word of truth; it also plays into the hands of the Conditionalists and other Arminians who forever harp on “disobedient children of God.” This was addressed at Romans 10.1-4, above. For now, we add that both the Hebrew and the Greek words for people herein means a tribe or nation, collectively, and not individual persons. The Lord always had, and still has, His elect in that disobedient nation and in all nations, kindred, tongues, and peoples.
8. I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin (11.1).
Again Paul shows he is speaking of national Israel. True enough, he as plainly says to the Galatian Gentiles, “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise (Galatians 3.26ff).”
But that is not Paul’s point here, where he speaks of that spiritual relationship in Christ. He does not say we cease to be Jews and Gentiles in nature. Smythe is still an Englishman by birth, we’ll say, and Goodman is still a native-born Hebrew. That fact has not changed, and it does not. In Christ, however, it is Brother Smythe and Brother Goodman, and the Jew-Gentile distinction has nothing to do with their being in Christ or not; that is what Paul tells us Gentiles through his epistles to the Romans, Galatians, Ephesians, and others. Smythe or Goodman, Goldstein or McDougal; national origin matters not. Each individual was either eternally chosen in Christ, whatever the nation, including Israel, or he was not.
In Romans 11.1 and its context, Paul speaks of a different relationship entirely: God’s covenant relationship with national Israel. To establish this he points out the unavoidable fact that he is of the tribe of Benjamin. When he says, “I also am an Israelite,” he is speaking of the earthly nation. When he says, “of the seed of Abraham,” he speaks of the natural seed. When he says, “of the tribe of Benjamin,” it pinpoints the tribe within the nation into which he was born. What is his point? It is that God is not through with Israel as a nation.
It should be obvious that the Israel Paul speaks of here is the nation. Here, as in Philippians 3.5, he traces his genealogy back through the tribe of Benjamin, through Jacob/Israel, to Abraham. Genealogy has to do with genes and genetics. Why would he cite his being a natural-born Benjamite to prove he was a “spiritual” Israelite? Being such has no connection with his being of the spiritual seed of Abraham, the church. Israel in this verse is ethnic Israel. Paul’s point is that God hath not cast away His chosen race of Israel. He carries this thought forward in the next verse:
9. God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel…(11.2).
There is no question that God has not cast away His elect, foreknown, and predestinated spiritual people whom Paul has so recently discussed in Romans 8.28-39. The question in Paul’s day and in ours is, has God permanently cast away the Jews, i.e., national Israel?
And against whom did Elijah make intercession—the apostates in the nation of Israel in his day, or was he interceding (praying) against the church, the spiritual Israel of God?
10. What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election [within both national Israel and the Gentiles] hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded (11.7). Here the elect (“the election”) are contrasted to blinded, national Israel. The Israel who has not obtained that for which he seeks could hardly be spiritual Israel, since we are told that, in contrast to [ethnic] Israel, the elect(ion) hath obtained the righteousness which [ethnic] Israel had sought in vain by the works of the law.
Israel in verses 7 and 8 could not be “spiritual Israel,” for Paul’s entire point here is that, in this era of the New Testament church, it is the nation of Israel that has been blinded, made to slumber, and given eyes and ears that do not function, while for almost 2,000 years multitudes of Gentile elect have been given the exact opposite. The saints from among the Gentiles see and hear instead of slumbering. “The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the LORD hath made even both of them (Proverbs 20.12).”
As a nation Israel is not dead. They do not see, because the nation is asleep. And as this is so, the nation is predestined to awake.
11. For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in (11.25). The phrase, “the fulness of the Gentiles,” occurs only once, here, in the Bible. The fullness of the Gentiles seems to mean God’s elect from among the nations, and it is in this sense I understand it. The fullness of the Gentiles is the New Testament church.
…blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in: This text tells us at least two things:
First, only part of national Israel has been blinded. He offers himself (in 11.1) as proof that not all of the nation is blinded; there are yet elect ethnic Israelites.
Second, the nation is blinded only for a time that has a definite end, the end designated by until and what follows it: “until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.” When the fullness of the Gentiles be come in (i.e., when the last elect child of God within this church age is brought in), the blindness will be removed from national Israel.
12. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob (11.26).
As Paul has been discussing national Israel throughout this passage, he now states his position that the nation of Israel is yet to be saved. It would be folly to think he has discussed the nation for three chapters and then would say, “All of spiritual Israel shall be saved” (which would be both a self-evident fact and completely unrelated to his subject). This is further underlined by his quoting Isaiah 59.20, using Jacob, the natural name of the patriarch, instead of Israel: “And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord.” One might sometimes be confused by the name “Israel,” wondering if it is literal or figurative; but rarely if ever is the church called “spiritual Jacob.”
To summarize, these are the questions we have been addressing: We find in Romans 9.27 “a remnant of Israel shall be saved,” Romans 9.6, “not all are Israel which are of Israel,” Romans 11.26, “all Israel shall be saved.” When led, please give your views on (1) National Israel, (2) the tribes of Israel, (3) Elect Israel, (4) The Jews. –H., Texas
1. The remnant of Israel that shall be saved is the elect from among the ethnic race, or nation, of Israel.
2. Not all are Israel which are of Israel I take to mean “Not all are spiritual Israel, the elect children of God, who are born into the natural nation of Israel.” Just because one is born a Jew does not insure that one has a spiritual birth into God’s eternal family.
3. Romans 11.26, all Israel shall be saved, in my understanding, is that the nation of Israel as a flesh-and-blood natural nation will yet be preserved and restored to their God by their Messiah Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. This does not mean that every single individual Israelite will be saved.
4. National Israel is a nation among the nations of the earth; it has been since the days of the Exodus, it is now, and it will continue to be a holy nation under God as long as the sun, moon, and stars exist.
5. The tribes of Israel are the flesh-and-blood descendants of Jacob, through Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and their brothers. Together these twelve tribes are the nation of Israel. Whether or not individual Jews know to what tribe they belong is not a problem. “The Lord knoweth them that are His…(2 Timothy 2.19).”
6. Elect Israel: Elect individuals within the nation of Israel are simply part of the elect from all nations, where, in Christ, there is neither Jew nor Gentile, bond or free. The elect of all ages and nations make up the body of Christ. “Elect Israel,” as a natural nation, shall endure forever, according to the promises of God.
7. The term Jews technically means the descendants of the man Judah and his tribe, or inhabitants of the region allotted to that tribe, “the land of Judah (Ruth 1.7, et al).” In our day it is a euphemism for Israelites after the flesh, or for all of Israel collectively, and it has meant this since Old Testament times.
Some brethren may disagree with some of my conclusions. That is your privilige, as I have exercised mine; but do have a scriptural reason for your disagreeing. I trust I am not wrong intentionally or maliciously. Rather than offending one of the Lord’s little ones, I would be better off with a millstone hanged around my neck, the Lord said, and drowned in the sea—figuratively, or literally, as you like.
May God give us His Spirit to guide us in our searching the Scriptures; may He and His children be graciously forgiving of any error, is ever my hope and desire for His sake. Remember us before His throne as you are enabled. When you see Him, please tell Him I long to see him too.
—C. C. Morris
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