Q&A – WHAT IS THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL? Part 3

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Q&A – WHAT IS THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL?   Part 3

Genesis 15:18 In the same day IAUE made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:

This was our lead verse in our last post, but we did not address it at all.  It was there as a “teaser.”  Today, I want to discuss the inseparable relationship between this verse and the gospel of Yahushua Messiah, today.

Acts 1:6  When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Master, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?

Moments before the apostles watched Yahushua rise up from the earth to be received by a cloud, they asked this question.  The mindset of the apostles and the disciples related everything that Yahushua had done the past three years: his miracles, his message, his death, his burial, his resurrection, as relating to the fulfilling the prophecies of the restoration of the Kingdom of Israel. This is why they took the gospel exclusively to the Jews.  The western Christian, today, would think this awfully narrow minded; and possibly insulting; but they would be wrong.  The Gentile world that has been touched by the redemption in Yahushua has never understood the mystery of the gospel.  To understand it, we have to go back to Abram.

Genesis 15:18 In the same day IAUE made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:

Prior to this moment, the only other covenant IAUE had made with man was his covenant with Noah, his sons, and with all living creatures on the earth in which he promised never again to destroy the world by flood; and giving a token of the covenant by placing His bow in the cloud. (Genesis 9:8-17)  Here, we see IAUE singling out one man and his seed (before he ever had an offspring).  A unique covenant was cut with Abram in which there was shedding of blood; an everlasting covenant which IAUE could not and would not break.  IAUE renewed His covenant with Abram (now called Abraham) with his son, Isaac, and later, with his son’s son, Jacob.  The bloodline of Abraham as it passed through Isaac and Jacob was protected by IAUE.  An unbreakable commitment was made to Abram by IAUE. 

When Moses lead the children of Israel out of Egypt, IAUE established another covenant with the Hebrew people; a covenant which the Hebrews broke routinely.

Jeremiah 31:32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith IAUE:

Just prior to the Hebrews entering into Canaan, the promised land, Moses told them to faithfully keep the laws and commandments of IAUE; and that, despite the fact they would verbally make the commitment to do so, it would not be long after conquering Canaan that their hearts would go after “other gods.” Over several hundred years they played the harlot with other gods, and IAUE sent judges to deliver them and bring them back to Him.  Finally, when the original kingdom of Israel was established, it only took the passing of the reigns of Kings Saul, David and Solomon before Rehoboam became king and ten tribes of Israel rejected the rule of Judah over them, moved north and established their own kingdom.  This new kingdom was called “The Kingdom of Israel,” and was also referred to as “Israel,” “the House of Israel,” “Ephraim,” and “Joseph.”  The southern Kingdom ceased being called the Kingdom of Israel; because it was now divided and contained only two of the twelve tribes. It became “The Kingdom of Judah,” or “Judah,” or “the House of Judah.”  These terms are significant.

We saw in our last post that the northern kingdom of Israel was eventually “put away” by IAUE, served with a spiritual “writ of divorcement.” (Jeremiah 3:8) This spelled disaster for the unified Kingdom of Israel (and yet, the Scriptures showed prophetically, that IAUE would somehow be able to bring them back.)

Ezekiel 37:19 Say unto them, Thus saith IAUE Elohim; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.

The Jews knew this prophecy.  They simply could not understand how it could be possible.  Consider when the Jews returned from Babylon to Jerusalem and rebuilt the walls of the city and rebuilt the temple.  Under Ezra, the scrolls of the Torah were found and read aloud to all the peoples; and they wailed and lamented their transgressions before IAUE.  One transgression in particular was their having taken wives from among other nations, other peoples than the Hebrews.  As one people they put their foreign wives away and all offspring born to them by these wives.  What do you think would have happened if the descendants of the House of Israel had approached Jerusalem in this environment, having themselves been the offspring of mixed marriages?  It would have been unthinkable; hence, it was not even attempted.  In the mind of the Jew, the ten tribes were “lost,” despite the apparent promise to the contrary in Scripture.  There was just no way that a divorced bride could return to her original husband…period.  It was the law (Deuteronomy 24:1-4).

The focus of the Old Testament Scriptures, after IAUE divorced the House of Israel and they were taken captive by Assyria, became the reunited Kingdom of Israel and the coming of Messiah to reign; only the reunion part seemed more and more a very remote possibility.  The restoration of the Kingdom to Israel became more of an idea of the restoration of the House of Judah under Messiah.  Judah returned to Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity; but the kingdom was not restored.  They never had a king sit upon the throne of David after their return. This, however, was never the plan; hence Messiah’s answer to their question in Acts 1. (Acts 1:7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.)

Throughout human history from the time of Abram to today, IAUE has never entered into a covenant with the Gentiles.  Even in Messiah’s observance of the Passover with his disciples just prior to his death; his reference to a new covenant did not come as a surprise.

Luke 22:19 And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 

20 And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood. 

They may have been startled to have been there at the moment the new covenant was announced; but the new covenant was not a mystery, as such.  It had been prophesied by Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 31:31 Behold, the days come, saith IAUE, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:

32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith IAUE:

33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith IAUE, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their Elohim, and they shall be my people.

34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know IAUE: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith IAUE: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

Notice this new covenant was made with “the House of Israel,” and with “the House of Judah.”  It does not say, “and with the Gentile nations.”  Western Christianity tries to make this prophecy about them, about Gentiles coming to Messiah.  It isn’t.  It is about the reunion of the House of Israel with the House of Judah unto the restoration of the undivided Kingdom of Israel. This is why it is called the “gospel of the Kingdom.” The new covenant is all about the old covenant.  It is about IAUE’s commitment to His friend, Abraham.  To prove that point, we only need to go to the book of Hebrews…which was written to…the Hebrews, not to the Gentiles.  It quotes heavily from Jeremiah’s prophecy.

Hebrews 8:7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.

8 For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith IAUE, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:

9 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith IAUE.

10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith IAUE; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them Elohim, and they shall be to me a people:

11 And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know IAUE: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.

12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.

Verses 10 through 12, directs this portion of the new covenant specifically to the House of Israel…the lost ten tribes…the tribes IAUE divorced and put away.  They are the tribes of Jacob that rejected IAUE.  They are the ones who could not and would not keep His laws.  They are the ones who were put away and were no longer his people.  The House of Judah was not characterized by an inability to observe the laws of IAUE.  The House of Judah rejected the false gods around them.  They did not embrace the pagan idols and false worship of Babylon.  They returned to Jerusalem, found the Torah, wept in repentance and remained to keep His laws. They are not the ones who needed to be separated from the Gentile nations and from pagan worship. 

Next week:  Hosea’s contribution to solving the mystery of the gospel; how the mystery was finally revealed to Paul; and how the Gentiles fit in to this picture.