Adam, Abel, Seth, Noah, Abraham, etc. all found redemption from the curse of sin and death while in uncircumcision. Adam looked forward to the restoration of Paradise lost (which will be restored on the new earth).
He drove the man out, and at the east of the garden of Eden He placed the cherubim and a flaming sword which turned in every direction, to guard the way to the tree of life.
-Genesis 3:24
Then he showed me a pure river of the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb in the middle of its street. On each side of the river was the tree of life, which bore twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. There shall be no more curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him.
-Genesis 22:1-3
God has plans for the earth which includes a restoration of the Kingdom in Israel (Acts 1:6; Acts 3:21). God promised Abraham and his descendants a land, on the earth (Gen 15:18). He promised the Lord Jesus, as the Son of David, a future kingdom, on the earth (Luke 1:32). The Lord told the 12 they would one day sit on twelve literal thrones jusdging the literal 12 tribes of Israel (Matthew 19:28).
When the twelve go out in the Book of Acts they are obedient to their calling in Matthew 10. That is, they go to Jews only. Even after Gentiles are grafted in (to Israel's promises, not into salvation by grace) in Acts 10, the 12 go to Jews only in Acts 11.
The apostles and the brothers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God... When they heard these things, they were silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then God has granted to the Gentiles also repentance unto life.” Now those who were scattered by the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, preaching the word to no one except Jews.
-Acts 11:1, 18-19
When James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, understood the grace that was given to me, they gave to Barnabas and me the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised [Jews].
-Galatians 2:9
We just note here that Peter addressed his epistles to the "Dispersion" and James to "the twelve tribes scattered abroad," this is, also to the Jewish dispersion.
These are all from after the Lord ascended from the earth in the clouds (Acts 1:9). The Lord will return to the earth the same way in the future (Rev 1:7). The Lord sent his disciples to Israel. The idea of preaching the Kingdom to Gentiles was forbidden in Matthew 10 and continued until the grafting in (for the sake of making a real, live, relevant Israel jealous, Rom 10:19; 11:11).
When we back into the gospel of Mark, obviously before the ascension of the Lord, and well before the grafting in of Gentiles in Acts 10, we must understand to whom these things were given.
Afterward He appeared to the eleven [twelve minus Judas who would be replaced in Acts 1] as they sat at supper, and He reprimanded them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen. He said to them, “Go into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved. But he who does not believe will be condemned. These signs will accompany those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
-Mark 16:14-18
We saw the beginnings of all these things in the Acts age. These were earthly promises connected to the hope of an earthly kingdom and an earthly plan. They were a picture of what was to come when the Kingdom is restored in Israel and a believing, redeemed, cleansed Israel comes into her inheritance. We note that Peter preached in Acts 3 of things promised "since the foundation of the ages" (Acts 3:1). Even if you use the traditional translation "since the world began," this is something revealed from Creation and not before.
But as with all promises and commands, we must note the age and hope and purpose at hand. Just as the Lord taught Israel in Matthew 24 that a terrible time was ahead ("For then will be great tribulation, such as has not happened since the beginning of the world until now, no, nor ever shall be." - Matt 24:21), and just as Paul warned the Corinthians of hard days ahead, the full blessings of Mark 16 and other Kingdom passages will not be realized until all be fulfilled which must be fulfilled.
Those in the tribulation who stand against the forces of evil will be slaughtered. They will not be "claiming" Mark 16 or Jeremiah 29:11 or other promises in the Psalms. They can have hope in those passages for the future, but they will face terrible times before they see any fulfillment. Times so awful for Israel, the Lord offers a "woe" for women with child (pregnant or nursing) in that day (Matt 24:19).
I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. When I saw her, I marveled greatly.
-Revelation 17:6
God “can” is very different than God “must,” no matter how much faith we have. A promise of God for one purpose (or to one person, or to one group, or to one nation, etc.) teaches us that God is able to do certain things, but it does not mean the promise can be claimed by any believer in every age. We should pray that God would heal, etc., but not every promise is to us.
In regard to the promises and conditions of Mark 16, I would suggest you don’t drink anything poisonous expecting to not be harmed.
I know this could come off as harsh to some, but we must "rightly divide the Word of Truth." The atheist challenges the believer with this (and with other promise passages such as the healing teaching in James) concerning the sick and asks him why we aren’t visiting children’s hospitals healing sick kids.
When we read this in James' epistle (addressed to the twelve tribes, 1:1), we must note that this is surely not a promise for the current hour.
Is anyone sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed any sins, he will be forgiven.
-James 5:14-15
It’s not that it doesn’t “always” happen, the truth is that it rarely happens (almost never happens). We still pray because God can heal and may choose to heal. But no amount of faith will obligate God to honor every promise in scripture to every believer in any age.
And it not only makes the atheist a mocker, many have lost the faith because they never see these things. They see loved ones sick and dying, they see the righteous struggle as the wicked prosper. We see the Fortune 500 list full of the wicked as poor believers in Nigeria rea rounded up and slaughtered.
In Matthew 10, the Lord promised his disciples they would not only heal the sick but also raise the dead. We can claim none of these promises nor obey any of these commands. The Lord’s earthly ministry was to Israel and he was dealing with an earthly hope and an earthly kingdom. Many things will only come to pass when God establishes that Kingdom in a cleansed and redeemed Israel, in the land, on the earth.
I only ask that we consider the full implications of promises we claim or commands we believe are for us. The unbeliever is watching and he is ready to mock. The weak believer is watching and may walk away when he doesn’t see the promises he was told are for him fulfilled.
And it not only makes the atheist a mocker, many have lost the faith because they never see these things. They see loved ones sick and dying, they see the righteous struggle as the wicked prosper. We see the Fortune 500 list full of the wicked as poor believers in Nigeria rea rounded up and slaughtered.
In Matthew 10, the Lord promised his disciples they would not only heal the sick but also raise the dead. We can claim none of these promises nor obey any of these commands. The Lord’s earthly ministry was to Israel and he was dealing with an earthly hope and an earthly kingdom. Many things will only come to pass when God establishes that Kingdom in a cleansed and redeemed Israel, in the land, on the earth.
I only ask that we consider the full implications of promises we claim or commands we believe are for us. The unbeliever is watching and he is ready to mock. The weak believer is watching and may walk away when he doesn’t see the promises he was told are for him fulfilled.
What we can look forward to are promises, not "since the foundation," but promises sealed from "before the foundation." These are blessings, not of the earth, but set apart in the far above the heavens where Christ sits at the right hand of the Father. Tremendous blessing indeed. So we are not discouraged by the sparse physical blessings in the current age, rather we rejoice that God has even greater things utterly sperate from his plans for the earth.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world [ages], to be holy and blameless before Him in love; He predestined us to adoption as sons to Himself through Jesus Christ according to the good pleasure of His will...
-Ephesians 1:3-5
To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the incomprehensible riches of Christ, and to reveal for all people what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God, who created all things through Jesus Christ
-Ephesians 3:8-9
The vast majority of scripture is about the earth. From the restoration of the garden and access to the Tree of Life to the restoration of the Kingdom in Israel and the throne of David. So much of the Bible is built on that plan. We must rightly divide that which is for us today and follow the Lord according to our own calling.
We have no use for earthly ordinances in this age. We have covered this elsewhere on the blog and also on the video podcast. But suffice to say, we must "rightly divide the Word of Truth" (2 Tim 2:15) as best we can. God knows we are limited creatures, but that does not free us from the obligation to try.
