Why Every True Believer is a Dispensationalist

Please note that I am not arguing that only self-identified dispensationalists are the only true believers. What I am saying is that even those who say they despise and reject dispensationalism are, in fact, dispensationalists whether they like it or not. This is assuming they actually believe in redemption by grace alone through faith alone.

In the comments section at a news/commentary site, an atheist (who was openly politically conservative and MAGA, not just some left wing troublemaker) started posting scriptures. He was holding Christians to their stated belief that all the Bible is for them. Here is one passage he chose:

As for your male and female slaves whom you may have: you may buy male and female slaves from among the nations that are around you. You may also buy from among the strangers who sojourn with you and their clans that are with you, who have been born in your land, and they may be your property. You may bequeath them to your sons after you to inherit as a possession forever. 

-Lev 25:44-46a

I added verse 46a to highlight that this was a "forever" statute and unless you understand what "forever" means in scripture, you will have to deal with all the "forever" passages. But that's another topic for another time. And he could have picked verses even more troublesome for the "church = Israel" believer.

One believer unbelievably responded that this verse sounded like Islam not Christianity. Well, thanks for falling into his trap, my friend. 

“You shall [Thou shalt] have a place outside the camp, and you shall go out to it. And you shall have a trowel with your tools, and when you sit down outside, you shall dig a hole with it and turn back and cover up your excrement. Because the Lord your God walks in the midst of your camp, to deliver you and to give up your enemies before you, therefore your camp must be holy, so that he may not see anything indecent among you and turn away from you. 

-Deuteronomy 23:12-14

This one is also a Bible command ("You SHALL..."). Honestly, there are far more extreme examples from the Law the atheist could have chosen, but he settled for this one. Anyway, the simple explanation is that, like the Law (including the 10 commandments), these commands are for Israel and they are part of a specific, earthly covenant. 

Israel's covenant is an earthly compact which involves a specific earthly hope. This and other "commands" were not given to Adam, Abel, Seth, Methuselah, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, etc. The very foundation of dispensationalism (in general) is that while all scripture is FOR, it's not all TO us. It's not even all FOR Israel in what we call the "Old Testament."

To help illustrate this fact, let is look at a rather obvious "bible command" (a very specific one at that) that can easily be see to have limited application. It applies neither to us today nor ever to Israel (despite being part of the Pentateuch).

Make an ark of cypress wood for yourself. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. And this is how you must make it: The length of the ark will be three hundred cubits, the width of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits

-Genesis 6:14-15

No Christian sect or seminary teaches this is for all believers of all ages and applicable in our day. But we must not miss that there are THREE reasons for this.

1. God is clearly speaking directly to Noah (subject of the command)
2. There is no flood coming (condition for the command)
3. The earth is being cleansed (the focus of God's plan and action)

The same concept for certain commands works with promises such as the specific promise to the twelve in Matthew 18:28 that the twelve will sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel in the Kingdom (regeneration). Clearly spoken to them. There are not an unending number of thrones. "Twelve" is not some euphemism for "untold millions." The land and the nation of Israel in her promised earthly kingdom is in sight (the future regeneration).

Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on His glorious throne, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

This is obviously in the gospel accounts. This promise is yet future to our age today. We cannot somehow dismiss its specificity or substitute some sort of "spiritual" thrones, tribes, or Kingdom. The only way to understand the commands to Noah and the promises in the gospels to the chosen apostles is to understand them in the context of the plan in sight.  

Note what we are told in John 15:16 (which is not some Calvinistic choosing of all believers of all ages, but a specific choosing of the twelve). And despite the twelve being "chosen" by Christ himself, Judas will lose his position as elder (his office) and as a future ruler in Israel despite being chosen. How does this fit "election" as it is commonly taught? And do we really believe that the Lord will do whatever any believer asks merely if he asks in His name?

You did not choose Me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that the Father may give you whatever you ask Him in My name. 

-John 15:16

Jesus answered them, “Have I not chosen you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil?” He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. For it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve. 

-John 6:70-71

“Brothers, this Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit previously spoke by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became the guide to those who seized Jesus... “For it is written in the Book of Psalms,

‘Let his habitation become desolate,
and let no one live in it,

and,

‘Let another take his office.

-Acts 1:16, 20

The objection might be raised that the Lord Judas was a deceiver. Yet that foreknowledge does not negate that he was chosen nor that he has all the same gifts the others had and was to be treated the same as all the chosen.

These twelve Jesus sent out, and commanded them, saying, “Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, and cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. “Provide neither gold nor silver nor copper for your purses, nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor shoes, nor even staffs. For the workman is worthy of his keep. “In whatever city or town you enter, inquire in it who is worthy. And live there until you leave. When you come into a house, greet it. If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. Whoever will not receive you, nor hear your words, when you depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the Day of Judgment than for that town.

-Matthew 10:5-15

Israel had commands on how to build and move the tabernacle. Then Israel had commands on how to build the temple, etc. The commands concerning the tabernacle were put aside in light of the temple. Then Israel lived without a temple again when the first temple was destroyed. Then they built another temple, etc. Adam, Abraham, etc. had no tabernacle or temple, etc. So, even within ages "forever" commands and "You shall" commands changed.

Now, I could reference many more verses that nobody (well, almost nobody) is teaching that we should be obeying merely because "it's a Bible command!" or that the statute is said to be "forever."

The atheist in our account did not limit himself to random verses in the Old Testament. He turned to John 14 and quoted a verse similar to what we have seen in John 15.

Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. 

-John 14:13-14

For this one (John 14), the atheist asked the Christians why they're not at hospitals healing kids. We could add additional scriptures to this. Isn't this a promise made by the Lord Jesus to all his followers as some claim? This promise is found in John 14, 15, and 16. Yet those who claim the earthly ministry of the Lord to Israel and  the promises to the twelve for themselves fail to claim all the commands and neither do they claim all the promises. They pick and choose what they like as they accuse those of us who are labeled "ultra-dispensationalists" as the ones denying all the Word of God.

They choose being chosen for themselves, but ignore the fact that God does not do everything they ask in His name. The obvious "failure" of this promise to work essentially always in this age is explained away by such trite excuses that none of the billions of asks are actually "in His name." 

We look at similar "red letter" words of our Lord (again, the horrible practice of printers separating out the words spoken by the Lord Jesus by printing them in red). Why are they not in children's hospitals laying hands on the sick? We could also quote James 5:14 (an epistle specifically addressed to "the twelve tribes scattered abroad") along these lines.

And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

-Mark 16:17-18

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. 

-James 5:14

Matthew 10 states that the sent one will not only heal the sick, but raise the dead. 

And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. 

-Matt 10:7-8

The "you" here is again specific to the twelve as are the Lord's words in John 14-16.

We must also distinguish what "the kingdom of heaven" and "the gospel of the kingdom" are in Matthew (as opposed to the Gospel of Grace, etc.) and the future position of the chosen twelve. If we do not we are left with this "bible command" unanswered today. Now, the obvious objection is that he is clearly speaking to the twelve. Well, yes, but very few will apply that to the other commands and promises given only to the twelve.

To argue this is to acknowledge that not all the Bible (even the gospels) is TO us. We cannot claim all the commands or promises before the Law was given, in the Law itself, in the earthly ministry of the Lord, or in the Acts and Acts-age epistles. 

A personal favorite "command" of the Lord Jesus (in red letters):

“Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. 

-Luke 12:33-34

The generally Leftist, progressive "red letter Christians" seem to ignore that one. The other ones they conveniently ignore are the Lord's comments on gentiles in Matthew 10 and Matthew 15. The Lord clearly excludes gentiles from the preaching of the Kingdom in both chapters and agrees that gentiles are "little dogs" while Israel are the "children" and their "masters" in the latter. He clearly states he was sent ONLY to Israel and rejects the cries of a gentile who tries to call him "Son of David." 

Can we imagine that when the Lord Jesus was preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom in Matthew 4 and 9 that he was preaching salvation by grace through faith in his death, burial, and resurrection? When he tells his disciples (whom he sent out in Matthew 10 to preach to Jews only) that he must go to Jerusalem, not only do they not believe him, Peter says it shall not be so! 

The Gospel of the Kingdom is not the gospel we preach to all men today.

And we don't have the space to get into the Acts and Acts epistles.

It is my contention that many people either (a) will not consider the faith or (b) that some professed believers will even leave the faith because they do not know what to do with all the commands and all the promises of scripture. They cannot possibly obey all the commands and they do not see the fruition of all the promises. 

They fail to "rightly divide the Word of Truth" (2 Tim 2:15) or "compare the things that differ" (Phil 1:10). Sadly, this is because the young believer is not taught how to rightly divide. He is often told that if he doubts a promise, God has rejected him. For some that leads to an enslavement to fear for others they recognize the almost universality of that state and determine the Bible is a lie.

Does anyone dare quote Jeremiah 29:11 (many a professed believer's "life verse") to those parents in Texas who lost their precious little girls in the recent flood? I don't know if any has done this, but that verse is plastered on many a wall in many a church and in many youth retreat centers. We ask again, how many have it as his/her "life verse"?

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Here it is in contemporary English:

I will bless you with a future filled with hope—a future of success, not of suffering.

Do you claim this for your life today, dear friend?

It is the height of cruelty to tell every believer today this future promise to national Israel is theirs to claim now. Again, such wrong division will lead unbelievers to mock God and the faith and cause some believers to fall away. 

And even when some believers, even the most hardcore dispensationalist-mocking believers, come to these scriptures they do not claim all the promises and certainly not all the commands. This makes them dispensationalists whether they like it or not. Unfortunately, having such disgust for the word, they do their best to try and wrest what they can from scripture. The convenient parts anyway.

As the original translators of the King James Bible have done in their chapter headings, many Christians take scripture and argue "cursings for Israel" and "blessings for the Church" to excuse the obvious difficulties in the text. Some use it as an excuse for their anti-Semitism. Anti-Semitism is another excuse to hate dispensationalism for them. They cannot stomach that God will fulfill his earthly promises to an earthly people (the true offspring of Abraham).

For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brothers, my kinsmen by race, who are [still] Israelites, to whom belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants [plural, old and new], the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises, to whom belong the patriarchs, and from whom, according to the flesh, is Christ, who is over all, God forever blessed. Amen. 

-Romans 9:3-5

 

Israel was not put aside at the cross. They were very much in the forefront to the end of the Acts age and they will be again when God turns his attention back to his earthly plan. 

--------------------------------------------

Israel in the Present Age

Living in the Great Parenthesis of our Age

Believers and Antisemitism Because of Wrong Division

Israel According to the Flesh

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God's Plan for Israel

The Kingdom of God, God's Plan for the Earth

Pop Culture (South Park) Unwittingly Makes the Case for Dispensationalism

The Christ-mockers at South Park have decided to make a great case for Dispensationalism in a recent episode.  In the episode, they have the character 'Cartman' as a Charlie Kirk (TPUSA) figure debating on a college campus. At one point he has Cartman quoting from the Law:  

“Leviticus 3:17 says it shall be a perpetual statute for your generations throughout all your dwellings.”

Here is the verse in full:

As a continual [perpetual] statute for your generations in all your settlements, you shall not eat any fat or any blood.

This is a perpetual statute for Israel. The text is plain. The Lord is clear It is also a command for gentiles living among Israel (while remaining separate and distinct from Israel) which is placed upon the gentiles believers in the Acts (Acts 15, Acts 21). Those claiming that they are either some "New Israel" or that they are an "Acts" church claim these clearly taught instructions (commands)? Some will call themselves "cessationists" to try and skirt the latter, but the commands in Acts 15 and 21 are not connected to any spiritual gifts, they are, in fact, commands for gentile believers living in Israel. 

Even in that age, certain practices and commands were limited to the land and distinctions we made between Jewish believers and Gentile believers. Israel did not somehow cease to be on Pentecost. But we take that matter up elsewhere.

The word translated "perpetual" in Leviticus 3:17 is עֹלָם (ʻôwlâm). 

Let us briefly look at how the Bible dictionaries describe the word.

Usage: alway(-s), ancient (time), any more, continuance, eternal, (for, (n-)) ever(-lasting, -more, of old), lasting, long (time), (of) old (time), perpetual, at any time, (beginning of the) world (without end). 

[Strong's]

long duration, antiquity, futurity, for ever, ever, everlasting, evermore, perpetual, old, ancient, worldancient time, long time (of past)
(of future)for ever, always
continuous existence, perpetual
everlasting, indefinite or unending future, eternity 

[Brown-Driver-Briggs]

If the argument is that the Old Covenant was replaced by the New Covenant, then even in that scenario (which I do not hold as I believe the NC is yet future), a change in God's commandments and direction must be recognized. Even the most dispensationalist-hating preterist or Calvinist must recognize that we no longer keep this "perpetual" statute (or other "perpetual" statutes). 

The concept of "perpetual" promises or promises and commands stated as perpetuating "throughout your generations," must be rightly divided (cp. 2 Tim 2:15) and understood as connected to a people, a land, and dispensational relationships. The land promised to Abraham and his descendants is promised "throughout your generations" long before the law. 

I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you.

 

-Genesis 17:7

How many will today run to Galatians today to claim he is of "Abraham's seed" (Gal 3:29)? Yet these same have no interest in the promises ("everlasting covenant") to Abraham's seed regarding the promised land.

Whether it be the Passover before the Law is given or in the pages of the Law itself, Israel has many things that they are promised or commanded to perform "throughout [their] generations." Those dismissing dispensational and right division truths while claiming the promises of Abraham as some sort of "New Israel" pick and choose what they want from the Law and even from the New Covenant itself (as revealed in Jeremiah 31). 

This day shall be a memorial to you, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord. Throughout your generations you shall keep it a feast by an eternal ordinance.

-Exodus 12:14

Once a year he must make atonement on it throughout your generations. It is most holy to the Lord.

-Exodus 30:10 

There are many such statements. And let us not miss that the Law addresses gentiles living among Israel. We note that these laws are not for gentiles everywhere, but those living peacefully among Israel. There is no place for such a company today if the "church" is somehow a "New Israel." Regardless, the statute is stated as being enforced "throughout your generations." These must bring an offering to the Lord. 

A foreigner who lives with you, or who resides among you throughout your generations, and would present a fire offering, a pleasing aroma to the Lord, shall do as you do.

-Numbers 15:14 

Who would this company be? Does God ask a sacrifice from unbelievers in the "church"?

All the males among the children of Aaron shall eat of it. It shall be a perpetual statute in your generations concerning the food offerings of the Lord made by fire. Everyone who touches them shall become holy.

 -Leviticus 6:18

We could quote many similar "perpetual" statutes. This is why (among other truths) we do not look to the Law (including the Ten Commandments) or to the promises to Abraham as a guide for the current age or for the Body of Christ. If we do, we will find ourselves slicing up the Law and even the Ten Commandments) opening God's word to mockery and causing many to question their own faith.

So the anti-dispensationalist must either agree that "perpetual" is time or people or condition limited OR they must agree that God recognizes different ages and different hopes for different peoples in different ages. In either case, to one degree or another, despite their protestations (and often their mockery), they are dispensationalists. That is, they recognize God has different plans, different promises, and different hopes for different people in different ages.

We could further point to other pre-Abraham figures (Adam, Abel, Noah, etc.) and recognize their hopes (etc.) also have nothing to do with Abraham or Israel or the land or the Law. 

Rifts in Christendom are created as each "scholar" decides what does and does not apply from the Law for today. People then submit their minds and will to that "authority" (this is commanded in Catholicism regarding both bishops and the Pope).  Slicing and dicing the Law, applying bits and pieces (only parts) to everybody everywhere at any time destroys more faith and enslaves more professed believers almost as much as professed Christians pretending all the Lord's ministry in the gospels is for us does.

Still waiting for the “red letter” Christians to sell everything they have and to start raising the dead. And they also need to start limiting their ministries to Israel only, in the land of Israel only as the Lord Jesus commanded in the red letters..

Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell all that you have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that fail not, where no thief approaches, neither moth corrupts,

-Luke 12:32-33

These twelve Jesus sent out, and commanded them, saying, “Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, and cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.

-Matthew 10:5-8

When we strive to "rightly divide the Word of Truth" and "compare the things that differ," we will start to understand God's plan for our own age. The writers at South Park mock scripture by mocking those who claim all the Bible for themselves and all the Bible as a guide for all men in all ages. 

------------------------------------------------------

• More Misrepresentations of Ultradispensationalism
• Matthew Henry's New Covenant Errors
• Old and New Covenants Veil the Truth of Grace
• Romans 9 and the Promises to Israel
• Who is a Jew - Part 3

S4 Ep3 Rightly Dividing Pentecost and the New Covenant

S1 Ep 29 The New Covenant Is Not Yet Here and It's For Israel, Not The Body

(audio only)

Examining 2 Timothy 4:22 and the Prayer for Your Spirit

Growing up in the Roman Catholic Church, I was very familiar with the response "and also with you" to the priest's statement, "peace be with you." Since I've been gone they have changed the response to "and with your spirit." I am assuming this is to line up with 2 Timothy 4:22.

The Lord Jesus Christ be with thy spirit. Grace be with you. Amen.

-2 Tim 4:22 (Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition)


The Lord Jesus Christ be with thy spirit. Grace be with you. Amen.

-2 Tim 4:22 (KJV)

Whereas I would generally be pleased that anything seeks to move toward an accurate reflection of the Word of God, there are limits. First, of course, is context. Secondly how it is being applied. As we are well familiar from the Lord's own temptation, Satan can quote scripture for his own purposes.

Be that as it may, we don't think there can be much to fault here. But allow me to suggest an issue with the use of the phrase in their rituals as well as in most Bible translations (including those based on the Textus Receptus such as the KJV above).

We have examined the word "spirit" before. It is a word that has a greater breadth and depth than we usually assign to it. Angels are "ministering spirits" (Hebrews 1:14) to believing Israel. In terms of our own "spirit" we look to the Lord who "gave up the spirit" on the cross and then died. This phrase is also used of the wicked. Ananias "gave up the spirit" (Acts 5:5) after lying to God (5:4) and Herod "gave up the spirit" (Acts 12:23) after the people cried out that he spoke like a god. 

Your spirit is your breath of life from God.

In Genesis 2:7, we read, "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being." This is the wording used in almost every English translation. The Hebrew word here is "neshamah" and means "breath [that is] life." 

Brown-Driver-Briggs' Definition

1. breath, spirit/breath (of God)
2. breath (of man)
3. every breathing thing
4. spirit (of man)

The idea is God-breathed life. Adam was formed of the dust, At that point he was a "soul," but it was not until God breathed life into him that he became a "living being" (KJV) or a "living soul" (Wtycliff) or a "living creature" (Young's Literal). The word translated "soul" in most translations is the Hebrew word "nephesh" which does speak of an individual or a creature (as it were). 

The Lord Jesus Christ is not a triune being on his own. The Lord was crucified, gave up his "spirit/life," bowed his head in death. His "body" was in the tomb ("heart of the earth" Matt 12:40) for three days and nights as his "soul" was in Hades, the state of the believing dead awaiting resurrection (1 Cor 15). 

For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 

-Matthew 12:40


Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. 

-Acts 2:30-32

Whereas Adam was a soul before he had spirit (life), the Lord was a soul after he gave up the spirit and died on the cross. Deceased believers today are said to be in Hades (state of the believing dead) awaiting their resurrection bodies.  This is the crux and final argument of Paul's chapter on the hope of resurrection for believers (1 Cor 15). There is no immortality or incorruption (lack of decay) until we experience resurrection. Paul's only use of Hades (sadly rendered "hell" in some translations) in his epistles is here and the context is believers. 

Adam BECAME a "living soul," the Lord was a "soul" who died.

So what was Paul saying in 2 Timothy 4:22? I think we get the best rendering in the Cotemporary English Version.

Do your best to come before winter. Eubulus, Pudens, Linus, and Claudia send you their greetings, and so do the rest of the Lord's followers. I pray that the Lord will bless your life and will be kind to you.

-2 Tim 4:21-22 (CEV)

Paul is praying that the Lord, in an evident way, be with these believers in their daily lives as He was in Paul's life. There is nothing mystical or religious here. As a side note, the "Linus" in verse 21 is most likely an elder in Rome that is presumed to be Peter's successor. That would be highly unlikely for multiple reasons, but simply in basic context, Paul is superior to Linus in authority. But that's another matter for another time perhaps.

If the Catholic liturgical use is from 2 Timothy 4:22, while not a horrible use, it does not fully capture the breadth of the term or the understanding of the verse rightly divided (interpreted). If one says "peace be with you" it is not wrong to respond, "and with your spirit/life," but the greater sense of the verse is that we are praying the Lord will be a tangible blessing (presence) in the life of the believer. We must take the mysticism out of our interpretations.

Tom Horn - More on the Grifting False Prophet

And after publishing scare stories about YR4 just last week, NASA updated the odds of a collision to .001% today. 

I won't go into why I lean toward all these "asteroid scares" being scams, but neither Apophis nor YR4 are not going to hit the earth. The "scientists" who ran with the scare have backed off and have distanced themselves from the fearmongering. Unfortunately,  Tom Horn ran with the original scare tactics and supposedly had his vision before the correction. Now that he is passed on, we're left with his book on the subject. 

I don't recall Horn claiming a "prophetic dream" in any of his previous grifts, but in any case, this final grift is built upon the sinking sand of his claim of such a dream in regard to the asteroid in question. We previously looked at Tom Horn's false and ever evolving "prophecies" HERE

After a long career of such false prophecies, I can't believe Gary Stearman fell for Horn's "I had a prophetic dream!" bit. I know a lot of people like Tom Horn, but he has been wrong... a lot. And when you claim your prophecies are from the Lord (although he always pulls up just short of claiming direct revelation) and they don't come to pass... well, we know... you should be dismissed as a false prophet (under the Law he would be stoned to death).

I expect Sid Roth to try and grift off of false prophecies (he's made a career of it), but Horn going on that nonsense garbage of a show speaks as much to his integrity as it does of Roth's. That is, both seem to bow down to the god of mammon over any desire to be true to the Word of God. If it is not yet evident, I have very little patience for people claiming direct revelation from God, thus calling Paul a liar. Revelation for this age ended with Paul. He "filled up" the Word of God. There are many prophecies yet to be fulfilled, but these are already given to man (for Israel, really) in the prophets, through the Lord's earthly ministry, and in the epistles. 

Sid Roth is bad enough, but Horn didn't stop there. He took the grift to Jim Bakker's show.

Tom Horn implies here that "Holy Communion" is the actual blood of Christ. he plays to any audience that will make him a buck and give him screen time.. Spoiler, Tom: Catholic laity rarely, if ever, actually drink the wine. The priest does, but the laity only get the bread. Spoiler 2: neither of the "elements" is the actual body or blood of the Lord. 

Note Horn's modus operandi, he never actually says anything. Always with the question mark. "Could this mean the AC will...?" "Could in be...?" "Are we seeing..?" This is how he gets out of being held responsible for his claims. But in doing so, he is indirectly blaming God for his false prophecies when he is proven wrong.

One of the questions my friend and I use when we see people who seem to be living a rather unproductive life... "how do you eat?"  That is, where are you getting the money to survive? Tom kept writing books that actually said nothing. That's how he eats. They're all speculative to give him an out. He uses Coronavirus as precursor for what Apophis is supposed to bring (thus assuming it is real). 

He was very wrong in his Apollyon 2012 book. Then he just kept moving the goalposts. We covered some of this in our previous post on Horn.

Remember in the Bible when Daniel set up a collection box before anyone could read his prophecies? The "prophet" who sells his prophecies should be shunned and dismissed. More "secrets" from God that Tom was selling for a quick buck. He speaks in the name of God with no sense of fear. 

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• What the “People of the Name” covenant is
• AND MUCH MORE!

I'm still recovering from the Tribulation that started in 2012. These is so much blasphemy in just those bullet points from Horn and his publishers. Again, I expect men like Sid Roth and Jim Bakker to hitch their wagons to Horn's grift, I'm just very disappointed when men like Gary Stearman fall for it. It casts a dark shadow on everything else he seeks to teach. 

The only big "prophetic" names that I think are worse than Horn are Paul Begley and Steve Quayle. These men are blots on the ministry of Paul and on the name of Christ. 

When we understand the biblical principles of "Right Division," we quickly spot these (alleged) charlatans. But as I look around and see professed believers grabbing any verse from anywhere in scripture, fawning over men and women who claim to revelations greater than Paul's, and men and women taking upon themselves titles that God did not grant them, I realize the grift will continue until the epiphenea of the Lord and then his final revelation to Israel.  

Related posts:

• Tom Horn's "Prophecies"
• Christmas is About Israel
• What is Our Hope Today - Part 2

My Right Division Podcast:

• Video Playlist
• Audio Version

Another Look at the Future of Israel - Part 1

I found the following 1918 entry in The Berean Expositor by Charles Welch to be rather interesting:

We believe that one of the results of the taking of Jerusalem from the Turk, will be a great return of the Jews to Palestine.

Rather prescient. But then again, all Mr. Welch was doing was taking Bible prophecy as literal, just as Daniel took Jeremiah literally (Dan 9:2) and knew that Israel's captivity in Babylon would be limited to 70 years (Jer 29:10). Mr. Welch was not alone in his expectation. Over the history of the true church, there has always been some expectation of Israel's regathering. This expectation gained prominence in the 19th century and the early 20th century because of men like Darby, Kelly, Gaebelein, Bullinger, Anderson and other dispensationalists.

No people, in the history of the world, have been removed from their land, scattered to all corners of the globe, maintained their identity, and returned two thousand years later to reform their nation as the Jewish people have.

As we look at the great wars facing Israel (outlined in Psalm 83 and Ezekiel 38 & 39 as well elsewhere among the prophets), we see that the nations noted and the conditions of that future day are lining up with what we see in our day. The great regathering of Israel, assumed by Mr, Welch and others many years before it would happen, has blossomed before our eyes (and Jews continue to flock to Israel daily). We may very well see the expected wars break out before our eyes as well.


As Daniel read the signs of the times and as the Lord Jesus called on those in his days to read the signs of the times, let us carefully consider the world around us in light of scripture as they sit today at this writing.


Israel Is Not in the Land in Faith

Although I support Israel, and believe that Christians should do the same, we cannot deny Israel's continued rejection of God as a nation. Surely Israel is in the land in unbelief. In general, it is a very carnal nation with little concern for God. But within her is a remnant that God will use in the age to come to evangelize the world (in the name of her Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, the only name by which any are rescued). Acts 4:12

Two women are contrasted in the Revelation. One a Bride, the other a Harlot. The figure of an unfaithful wife is constantly used in the O.T. to describe Israel in apostacy.

Mr. Welch (quoted above) sees believing (overcoming) Israel as the Bride contrasted with harlot Israel as the Scarlet Woman. Not all Israel is Israel (Rom 9:6). In the near future, all true Israel will be rescued (delivered) when Christ finally turns all ungodliness away from Israel (Rom 11:26-27; Is 59:20-21) and destroys her enemies.

As the Revelation is the future of story of Israel, his words should be considered soberly. Believing Israel is destined for a great future, yet there are some terrible times ahead before she realizes those promises.


Israel's Future is Not the Future of The Body

In Part 2, we will look at Israel's deliverance and how Christians who supposedly reject Replacement Theology (the idea that "the church" has replaced Israel in God's plan) blindly teach that the current church has replaced Israel in the New Covenant! As we have noted in other studies, the New Covenant is for Israel and is not what we are under in the current age (Jeremiah 31, Hebrews 8, etc.).

I referenced Romans 11 in the last section. To whet our appetite, I will quote it here and ask the reader to note the future nature of the promise and the subject of the promise:

The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins.

The Lord WILL (future) take away ungodliness from JACOB (Israel, not the Body of Christ). Why? Because the New covenant (like the old, again read: Jeremiah 31, Hebrews 8) is with THEM. He will, at that time, take away THEIR sins. Paul is quoting from the prophecy of Isaiah which continues:

“As for Me,” says the Lord, “this is My covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants’ descendants,” says the Lord, “from this time and forevermore.”

Isaiah 59 is clearly a prophecy for Israel. Paul's use of it, long after the cross, tells us that it has not yet been fulfilled. The pronouns refer to ISRAEL, back in the land, in a future age. We will see in Jeremiah and Hebrews how the New Covenant is for a future, fully restored, believing israel and not for the The Body of Christ.



Just as the Old Covenant was never given to me, neither is the new.

Things to Consider:

• Israel is back in the land as prophesied (although in unbelief)
• Israel is separate from The Body
• Israel is yet to play a key role in the plan of God
• The New Covenant is not yet in effect
• The New Covenant is not for The Body, it is for a redeemed Israel

Checking on the False Prophets (Tom Horn's Prophecies)

The late Tom Horn was another "prophet" who kept moving his goalposts. Now, I'm not opposed to some speculation on a biblical timeline for the events of the Revelation (I've written a couple of posts on it here myself). But there are some men who have made a small fortune on their prophetic takes. We've discussed my thoughts on, in my opinion, the charlatan Jonathan Cahn, but here we turn back to Tom Horn. The man who hawked his books anywhere he could, even along side the professed Christian's charlatan's greatest friend, The Sid Roth Show. 

In his book Apollyon Rising :2012, Tom speculated using the Mayan calendar. 

This could mean the end of the Mayan calendar—December 21, 2012—is the very day the two witnesses are killed by Apollo, as this Mayan ending-date is three and one-half days before Christmas. This would also indicate that the middle of the Great Tribulation period is December 21, 2012.

On the other hand, people who believe in a pretribulation Rapture would point out that the “catching away” of the saints did not happen in 2009, and therefore the Masonic date 2016 might better represent the “midst of the week” (see Daniel 9:27; Revelation 11–13) when Apollo (Antichrist) presents himself as God and sets up the “abomination” in the temple in Jerusalem. Under this scenario, the year 2012 would represent the beginning of the Great Tribulation period, three and one-half years before mid-2016.

That the year 2012 marks the beginning of the Great Tribulation not only could fit with Bible prophecy, as it is in the “midst of the week”—three and one-half years into the Great Tribulation period—when Antichrist enthrones himself as God in the temple, this would also conform well with the Masonic and Great Seal prophecies forecasting the return of the Great Architect and Hiram Abiff (Apollo/Osiris/Nimrod), who enters the finished temple as god, in this case, mid2016, which is three and one-half years following 2012.

In what could also be a related fact, June 21, 2016, is exactly three and one-half years after the Mayan ending-date of December 21, 2012, and June 21 marks the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere and the winter solstice in the Southern Hemisphere when a cusp line is created between Gemini and Cancer, signs that David Ovason referred to as having deep astrological significance to the founding and secret destiny of America.

It is also very important to recognize that, based on Daniel chapter 9 and related texts, scholars believe a period of not more than seventy years (a biblical generation) will elapse between the reformation of Israel as a nation and the return of Jesus Christ. When seventy years is added to 1948—the year Israel was formally recognized as an independent nation by the United Nations—it brings us through the year 2018. Does this mean that the year 2019—exactly seven years after 2012—would mark the year that Jesus Christ returns with the armies of heaven to establish His rule over earth?

Learn more at www.ApollyonRising2012 .com

-Excerpt - "Apollyon Rising 2012" by Tom Horn

Warning: the website seems to now be malware now

OK. That book, at least, regularly claims it's all speculation. But in The Wormwood Prophecy [2019] he claims to have been given a vision from God of the destructive asteroid hitting the earth. That is a far more serious issue. His vision would place the "rapture" (for those who hold to that) in 2025. This is that timeline:

Tom has Wormwood catastrophically hitting the earth around March 2029 (via a vision, remember). In any case he has the Tribulation starting October of 2025, and the "rapture" some time before that.

From Horn's book, The Messenger:

Assuming for the moment that I am right, and that the asteroid Apophis is biblical Wormwood and therefore 2029 represents a time around the middle of the Great Tribulation period when the trumpet judgments begin, Monday**, October 13, 2025 (April 13, 2029, minus three and a half years), would be the approximate start date of the seven years of Tribulation foreseen in Scripture** (see Matthew 24:21; Revelation 7:14; and Daniel 12:1).

Just as Sid Roth been exposed as a charlatan, and popular false prophet, Paul Begley, claimed his demonstrably false prophecies were given to him by God, so we must conclude that Tom Horn was a charlatan at best and a false prophet at worst.

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears. And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

-2 Tim 2:2-4 

 

Now, I am one who believes we are approaching the culmination of the current age, but I claim no vison and I would not try to derive spiritual truth from things like the Mayan Calendar or the caves of Qumran. I have laid out possible (stressing the word "possible") scenarios for events remaining to be fulfilled, but as a member of The Body, and not a son of Abraham, the full revelation of those events will be for a restored, believing Israel some day.

My revelation ended with Paul's final revelation.

I am a minister, according to the dispensation of God, which is given me unto you, to fulfill the word of God

-Colossians 1:25

I realize this is a paraphrase, but The Living Bible sums up Paul's ministry well. While it does complete the thought regarding Paul "filling up" and "completion" of God's full revelation, it does summarize well Paul's calling in the Mystery for this Gentile age.

God has sent me to help his Church and to tell his secret plan to you Gentiles.

Does the Lord Command Sinless Perfection ("Go and Sin No More')?

Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “See, you have become whole. Sin no more lest something worse happens to you.”

-John 5:14

 

When Jesus had stood up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are your accusers? Did no one condemn you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.” Again, Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life.”

-John 8:10-12 

Most believers are familiar with the account in the life of our Lord when he tells the woman caught in adultery to "go and sin no more." We also have quoted a similar instruction in John 5 where the Lord heals the man at the pool of Bethesda who had been sick for 38 years. He says to the man, "Take up your bed and walk.” It is not at that time that the Lord instructs to "sin no more," but only when the Lord Jesus sees him in the temple after.

A few things we need to note before we try to put some greater contexts to these instructions. First, we only find these statements in the Book of John. This is an account of the Lord's ministry to Israel (both people addressed are Jews) in his deity (the focus of John's Gospel, John 1:1). Secondly, we note that the Lord does not give this admonition to everyone he heals or to everyone whose sins he forgives.

In this same book, in chapter 4, the Lord meets with a Samaritan woman (remember that his disciples, Apostles to the Circumcision were forbidden to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom in Samaria, Matthew 10:5-6). The Lord reminds her that "salvation is of the Jews" (John 4:22) after he has confronted her with her sin.

Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” The woman answered, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband,’ for you have had five husbands, and he whom you now have is not your husband. So you have spoken truthfully.”

-John 4:16-18

The woman became a strong witness for the Christ of Israel. 

Many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me all that I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to Him, they asked Him to remain with them. And He stayed there two days. And many more believed because of His word. They said to the woman, “Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this Man is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.”

-John 4:39-42

They recognized Jesus a both "Christ" and "Savior of the World," not just the Savior of Israel. As we have seen in our look at the Canaanite gentile woman in Matthew 15 who is told by the Lord that he was "sent to none except to the lost sheep of the House of Israel" (Matthew 5:24), the Lord Jesus, while Lord of all, is not the Son of David to all men, but only to Israel.

So, while the Lord Jesus is both Christ and Lord of all people, his ministry as an earthly king and as the Son of David is unique to the earthly calling for the nation of Israel. 

With that in mind, we note that he does not tell the woman in Samaria to "go and sin no more," nor does he warn her some calamity would befall her if she returned to her sin (as he did with the man at the pool of Bethesda). Is the Lord thus giving her sanction to sin? God forbid. The Lord is never the author of sin nor can a thrice Holy God condone sin. She will, as we all will, answer for her life in faith.

But there is a juxtaposition here. She is not instructed as the woman caught in adultery in John 8 nor are others whom the Lord heals in the other gospel accounts.

Certainly, the two gentiles the Lord heals in Matthew 10 and Matthew 15 are given no such instruction. In fact, he neither sees nor touches either of them. They are healed on the basis of the faith of gentiles from a distance. We note that in the gospel of the King and Kingdom in Matthew, gentiles are treated differently and separately from Jews, but the Lord is still Lord of the Gentiles.

In chapter 9 of Matthew, we see the blind men healed along with the mute man. And after these accounts we are told by inspiration:

Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people [Israel]. But when He saw the crowds, He was moved with compassion for them, because they fainted and were scattered, like sheep without a shepherd.

-Matthew 9:35-36

As the Christ King sent to Israel, the Lord Jesus serves Israel as a Shepherd guards, tends, protects, and feeds his sheep. Whereas sin is always a problem in man, we do not see the Holy One of Israel preaching that they "go and sin no more" in Matthew. 

If I have not been clear, I say again, sin is never commended by the Lord and the Lord has always called men to turn from sin unto Himself. But we must recognize the different aspects of the Lord's ministry. In John, we see God reaching out to his people, his nation. He did not come to condemn them, but to free them.

“If anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him. The word I have spoken will judge him on the last day.

-John 12:47-48

I believe it is in John that the Lord expresses clearly to Israel that when he finally cleanses the Virgin of Israel, his call is for the nation to "sin no more," that is, "to rebel no more," "to worship false idols no more," to "reject Christ no more." 

But we must deal with the specifics in John. These people the Lord heals and forgives are expressly told to sin no more (the former being warned that something worse than his healed sickness would come upon him). I think there is a practical side to the Lord's warning.

In the case of the adulteress woman in John 8, I take the admonition to "sin no more" to mean the specific sin for which the woman was being accused. There cannot be an expectation of sinless perfection in the flesh. We have seen the level of carnality and wickedness in the Corinthian assembly. There was such wicked sin there that it was not even named among the unbelieving gentiles ("pagans" NIV, 1 Cor 5:1). Chapter 6 is a listing of the wicked carnality among believers there. 

I'm careful with the epistles written by the Apostles to the Circumcision, but there is general truth here. I believe the idea of sinning no more, for the individual, is rooted in returning to sin  from which we have been freed and forgiven or habitually sinning.

My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: and he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. 

-1 John 2:1-2

Essentially, 

"I'm writing to you so that you not habitually sin any longer. However, when you do sin, do not forget we have a mediator between us and the holy God, Jesus Christ who is fully pure and righteous. He is the the one who has fully paid for all sin, and that payment is so complete, it not only covers the sins of his own children, but all sins of all men." 

-1 John 2:1-2  (Michael's translation)

But we never lose sight of the picture and warnings for Israel in connection to the earthly plan. The Apostle to the Circumcision writes of false teachers in his epistle to the Dispersion as they awaited the return of the Lord and the restoration of the Kingdom in Israel. Israel had false prophets. He warns faithful and believing Jews not to follow these men back to the mud.

These men [false teachers, 2 Peter 2:1] are wells without water and clouds that are carried by a storm, for whom the gloom of darkness has been reserved forever. For when they speak arrogant words of vanity, they entice by the lusts of the flesh and by depravity those who barely escaped from those who live in error. Although they promise them freedom, they themselves are slaves of corruption, for by that which a man is overcome, to this he is enslaved. For if after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than to have known it and then turn back from the holy commandment that was delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to the true proverb, “The dog returns to his own vomit,” and “the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mud.”

-2 Peter 2:17-22

The Lord's ministry in John is generally in Jerusalem and centered around the temple. The healing of the man in John 5 is in the area in and around the temple (John 5:1, 14). The adulteress woman in John 8 is brought to the Lord in the temple (John 8:2). At the end of chapter 8, we are told that the Lord "went out of the temple" (John 8:58). Chapter 9 begins with the healing of the blind man. The blind man was told by the Lord to go to the Pool of Siloam which is just outside the temple, but still on Mount Moriah.

He answered, “A Man called Jesus made clay, anointed my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.’ So I went away and washed, and I received my sight.”

This man is not given any instruction to go and sin no more. He is a picture of a blind Israel that is given sight by the their Messiah. When the Pharisees confront the Lord, he uses the man and the healing of his blindness as a picture of the difference between believing and unbelieving Israel.

Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when He found him, He said, “Do you believe in the Son of God?” He answered, “Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?” Jesus said to him, “You have seen Him, and it is He who speaks with you.” Then he said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshipped Him. Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.” Some Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, “Are we also blind?” Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would have no sin. But now you say, ‘We see.’ Therefore your sin remains.

-John 9:35-41

And before we leave this scene, we should not miss the testimony of the healed blind man that no such thing had been seen "since the ages began" ("from the age" YLT).

from the age it was not heard, that any one did open eyes of one who hath been born blind

-John 9:32 (Young's Literal Translation)

The Lord has never promised anyone complete healing in any past age or in the present age. The parallel here is that the healings in the gospel age and the Acts age were mere pictures of an age to come in the Kingdom and beyond. In a similar way, the sinless perfection we will finally experience will be realized in resurrection. 

Surely, there are consequences to sin in this age, and if the Lord frees us from a sin or an ailment connected to sin, it is best if we "go and sin no more."  Some will ignore that warning and find the latter stare worse than the former. 

So, it is not a requirement for the gift of resurrection life that we must struggle to "sin no more" (an impossibility in these current bodies) to somehow "maintain" what Christ accomplished on our behalf. Such an idea is not only unbiblical, it is a denial of the sufficiency of Christ. What we must do is take all of the warnings in scripture concerning the negative consequences of sin (in this life and in the judgment of service) and seek to feed the new nature. 

All sickness is the result of the Fall, but not all sickness is the result of personal sin. All healing is from the Lord, but not all healing is the same in every age. We should seek to "sin no more" by seeking to walk in the holy spirit (the new nature) and by remembering what the Lord has accomplished on our behalf. In the end, obedience as an act of the will is both and act of love towards God and an acknowledgement of the damage that sin has done since the ages began. 

God is Never Without a Witness (The Witness to Gentile and Jew)

 We must walk very carefully when we speak of the gift of resurrection life ("Life through His Name," John 20:31). We are careful to say that the greatest hope for any person, and the greatest rewards, crowns, prizes are only possible for those who has placed full faith in the death, burial, lack of decay, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ (alone) on our behalf.

For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling-block, and unto the Greeks foolishness.

-1 Cor 1:17-23 (KJV)

This passage contains the English translation of a Greek quotation from the prophet Isaiah (written in Hebrew) 29:14b. Isaiah's word from the Lord was directly specifically to Israel expanded.

Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men: Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.

-Isaiah 29:2        3-24 (KJV)

Below you will see an English rendering of verse 14b from the Septuagint (Greek version of the Hebrew scriptures). I believe "hide" is a better rendering than "bring to nothing" as it is rendered in the KJV English in 1 Corinthians.  The KJV translators correctly understood this when they translated Isaiah 29, but oddly missed in when translating 1 Corinthians 1. It’s not a horrible error (and possibly defensible in one way or another), but we’re better of understanding the idea as “hid” or “hide.” The Hebrew word is çâthar which really has the idea of hiding. This can be even more clearly seen to the English eye in the Greek rendering krýptō from the Septuagint.

I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will hide the understanding of the prudent.

-Isaiah 29:14b (Septuagint) 

Another example for us to consider from the 14 times Isaiah uses the Hebrew word çâthar in is Isaiah 8:17, KJV).

"And I will wait for Jehovah, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him." 

But whether God is hiding or bringing to nothing someone's understanding, the question which cannot be lost is "who?" And the answer, as we have alluded to, is clearly Israel ("this people"). As we have seen many times in previous studies, the epistles to the Corinthians were written by Paul in the Acts age and the apostle is there still making references to Jewish believers as being distinct from Gentile believers in that age (a distinction we no longer make in the current age). 

We will not spend a lot of this study on this distinction as it is covered elsewhere, but we will divert for a few moments just to set the context for this study. We will point to a couple of verses in First Corinthians to that end. When we fail to rightly divide (or draw the lines) in 1 Corinthians, we will not see the truth God is trying to relate nor will we see God’s plan in view.

While God had created a single body of believers in Corinth (1 Cor 12:13), he continued to make a distinction within that body as we've seen in our look at Acts 15, Acts 21, Romans 9, Romans 11, and elsewhere in the Acts Age epistles. Paul points Jewish believers to their (and his) fathers and the nation; he points Gentile believers to their former practice of idol worship.

Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea... Look at Israel according to the flesh. Are not those who eat the sacrifices involved with the altar?

-1 Cor 10:1, 18

 

Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant: You know that you were Gentiles, carried away to these dumb idols, however you were led.

-1 Cor 12:1-2 

Paul refers to both Jewish and Gentile believers as "brethren" (adelphós). But outside the faith, he and the other apostles will only refer to Jews as their brethren" (adelphós). Peter refers to unbelieving Jews as "Ye Men (anḗr) of Israel" in Acts 3:12 as his "brethren" in Acts 3:17 (adelphós).  Stephen refers to unbelieving Jews as "Brethren" in Acts 7. Paul before the unbelieving chief priests and council in Acts 23 refers to these Jews as "brethren." Even to the very end of the Acts, chapter 28, Paul is calling unbelieving Jews in Rome his "brethren." 

In Acts 14, Paul addresses Gentiles as "anḗr" or "sirs" only. When Paul again uses the witness of creation in Acts 17 in Athens, he addresses his Gentile listeners as "Ye men of Athens," again using "anḗr," but not then using adelphós as Peter does in Acts 3. 

None of that is conclusive, but it is a pattern that should be noted in light of other clearly stated truths concerning the Lord's ministry to Israel and the calling of the Apostles in the Acts Age.

The Lord in John 4:22 clarifies this thought concerning those outside Israel. He speaks these words to a Samaritan to whom he is offering "living water" (v.10). We recall that the disciples were forbidden to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom in Samaria ("These twelve Jesus sent out, charging them, 'Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel'." -Matt 10:5-6). 

[The Lord Jesus said] You [Samaritans] worship what you do not know; we [Jews] worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.

-John 4:22 

A similar distinction is made to the Canaanite woman in Matthew 15.

 

He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel..." And he answered, "It is not fair to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs."

-Matthew 15:24,26 

 

When the woman takes her place as merely a dog at the master's table, and stops using his Kingdom title, Son of David, he recognizes her faith.

She said, "Yes, Lord [drops "Son of David"], yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table." Then Jesus answered her, "O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire." And her daughter was healed instantly.

-Matthew 15:27-28

Familiar territory for those familiar with this writer's ministry. However, in light of the traditions of men, we must revisit it often to set the context of the Lord's earthly ministry and the Lord's Kingdom calling and plan during the Acts Age (cp. Acts 1:6; 3:19-21; 15:15-16; etc.). The Lord uses plain and clear language concerning his calling and the mission of the twelve. 

As the Lord worked his plan for the earth through Israel (the descendants of Abraham), he had not forgotten the Gentile. When Paul speaks to Jews in  the synagogues, he points to the Law and the prophets as his witness. When Paul speaks to he Gentiles, his witness is Creation. Gentiles never had the Law.

We also are men, of like nature with you, preaching to you to turn from these vain things to the living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything that is in them, who in times past allowed all nations to walk in their own ways. Yet He did not leave Himself without witness, for He did good and gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying our hearts with food and gladness.” 

-Acts 14:15-17

The only part of the Law a gentile was required to observe were laws for gentiles living among Israel. That is, any application of the Law to a gentile could only be in his relation or proximity to a Jew. In Acts 14 Paul takes his gentile listeners, not to the Law, but to Creation. 

If Paul is witnessing via Creation after the cross, God is still witnessing to Gentiles via Creation in the Acts Age and in the Acts Age epistles. God didn't stop witnessing the through his Creation when he chose Abraham. He didn't stop when Paul was in Athens. He has never stopped witnessing through his creation. Nothing in the revelation of the Mystery in Ephesians changes that in the current dispensation.

After Moses, the problem for the Gentile nations is not that they did not have the Law (the Law only made Israel more guilty), it is that they rejected the witness they did have: Creation and Conscience. Since the Garden, Paul teaches that "in Adam all die" (1 Cor 15). There was no Jew or Gentile until the Lord called Abraham (in uncircumcision, Romans 4:6-10) which did not happen until some 2000 years after the fall in the Garden. Prophets like Noah in uncircumcision without the Law of Moses was called. Abraham was called in uncircumcision as was Moses. And until Moses at Sinai, there was no Law and no chosen earthly national priesthood or children of an earthly Kingdom. Adam, Abel, and Noah would have no idea what any of that calling was. 

From Adam, God’s revelation, to all people, was found in the witness of creation and in the witness of the conscience. Cain knew he had sinned when he killed Abel, for example. Dr. E.W. Bullinger is often criticized for his great work The Witness in the Stars, but scripture is clear that God clearly has a witness in his creation.

Let’s look at the indictment of the nations given in Romans 1. Remember, the Gentiles, like Israel, were indicted, plural, for turning to idols, but turning to idols from what?

The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress (Greek: katecho) the truth through unrighteousness 

[The only truth they could suppress is the witness God gave them in his creation]

-Romans 1:18 

Because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him or give thanks to Him as God, but became futile in their imaginations, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 

[They could only know him through the witness of creation]

-Romans 1:21 

They turned the truth of God into [the] lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

-Romans 1:25 

 

And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not proper. [acknowledge him as Creator]

-Romans 1:28

Let us quickly let’s turn to Hebrews 3:1-2

What advantage then does the Jew have? Or what profit is there in circumcision? Much in every way! Chiefly because the oracles of God were entrusted to them [plural].

Yet God is never without a witness to the Gentile. God has always sought the reconciliation of every person, despite the plan in view and despite the dispensation. God is the God of reconciliation.

No More Jew or Gentile AND No More Male or Female?

For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek... And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

-Galatians 3:27-29 (edited) KJV

This passage is often trotted out to tray and make two related arguments.

1. The middle wall of partition between Jew and Gentile noted in Ephesians 2:14 was removed at Pentecost
2. All believers of all ages (including the current age) are Abraham's seed

The first should be readily rejected when on simply reads the entire 28th verse.

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.

I don't know anyone who we would consider a Bible-believing Evangelical believer who would hold to the idea either Pentecost or even the removal of the middle partition means we no longer should make distinctions between men and women.

While the privilege of being “one in Christ Jesus” in this context is enjoyed by all to whom Galatians was written, to both Jew and Greek, and to both man and woman, the Law was still very much a present distinction among believers.

Matthew Henry addresses the question of "neither male nor female." as we look at that part of the passage.

That this privilege of being the children of God, and of being by baptism devoted to Christ, is now enjoyed in common by all real Christians. The law indeed made a difference between Jew and Greek, giving the Jews on many accounts the pre-eminence: that also made a difference between bond and free, master and servant, and between male and female, the males being circumcised. But it is not so now; they all stand on the same level, and are all one in Christ Jesus; as the one is not accepted on the account of any national or personal advantages he may enjoy above the other, so neither is the other rejected for the want of them; but all who sincerely believe on Christ, of what nation, or sex, or condition, soever they be, are accepted of him, and become the children of God through faith in him.

-Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible 

Matthew Henry makes the case in his commentary that the reference to the difference between male and female is a reference solely to circumcision. Whereas I would agree that has an application, the problem he has is that Paul was still teaching circumcision for the Jews as late as Acts 21.

This is the greater point, that elements of the Law still applied in the Acts Age, but it was no longer a hindrance to Gentiles receiving the blessings of the promises to Abraham and to Israel, after the grafting in. Galatians are arguing on the grounds of the blessings of justification in the earthly plan. This idea cannot be a universal statement about all believers of all ages.

To our second point above we extend the argument, do we believe Adam, Abel, and Noah are "Abrahams's seed?"  

In John chapter 8:31-33 the Lord is addressing unbelieving Jews who are seeking to kill him. In his response he affirms that even though they are trying to kill him, they are "Abraham's seed." So let's break this passage down.

Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you remain in My word, then you are truly My disciples. You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s seed and have never been in bondage to anyone. Why do You say, ‘You shall be set free’?”

Remember, the Lord's earthly ministry as King was to Israel alone (Matthew 15:24) and his disciples were sent to Israel alone (Matthew 10:5-7). The Son of David came unto his own and the King was rejected (John 1:11). The Kingdom he offered was then again offered to "Ye Men of Israel" in Acts 3. We make careful note here that Acts 3 follows Acts 2 (Pentecost). That offer came by the lips of Peter, an Apostle to the Circumcision. Unironically, we turn back to Galatians chapter 2 and note this distinction.

On the contrary, they saw that I was entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, as the gospel to the circumcised was to Peter. For He who worked effectively in Peter for the apostleship to the circumcised worked effectively in me toward the Gentiles.

-Galatians 2:7-8

But let's continue in John 8, starting with verse 34.

 

Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. Now a slave does not remain in the house forever, but a son remains forever. Therefore if the Son sets you free, you shall be free indeed. I know that you are Abraham’s seed. But you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. I am telling what I have seen with My Father, and you are doing what you have seen with your father.”

No Gentile, believer or not, would be called “Abraham's seed” by the Lord and no gentile would be called a "son of the Kingdom" by the Lord, but unbelieving Jews are called both by the Lord. Here in John 8 he acknowledges the position of the Jew as “Abraham’s seed” and in Matthew 8 the Lord states, juxtaposing the faith of gentile dog (the centurion there), that the "sons of the kingdom will be cast into outer darkness." 

“Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith, no, not in Israel. And I say to you that many will come from the east and west [Gnetiles] and will dine with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom [some Israelites] will be thrown out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

-Matthew 8:10-12

The plan of blessing and redemption was always available to the Gentile. Abraham himself was a Gentile when justified. The blessings for the Gentile are not just part of the Mystery of Ephesians.

Does this blessedness [the forgiveness of sin by faith] then come upon the circumcised only, or upon the uncircumcised also? We are saying that faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness. How then was it credited? When he was in circumcision? Or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision. And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith that he had while being uncircumcised, so that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be credited to them also...

-Romans 4:9-11

A Gentile, in faith, always had Abraham as his father. And while this is true, he still could not claim the earthly or kingdom blessings promised to Israelites, the physical seed of Abraham.

Romans 15 also lays out the argument from the Hebrew scriptures that the gift of Life (resurrection) was always intended for Gentiles. Adam was in uncircumcision. Abel was in uncircumcision. Noah was in uncircumcision. And Abraham was in uncircumcision when their faith was rewarded. 

In the context of the gift of life beyond the grave, all who have faith, whether under the law or not, whether circumcised or not, whether bond nor free, whether Jew of Gentile, whether man or woman, ALL had the same free gift of justification. And during all those ages and blessings, the plan for the earth was the only hope in view. Galatians does not change any of that.

But we would never conclude from that that all, in every age, have Abraham as a father in the flesh. We could not apply that Adam or Noah. The Lord does not apply the physical relationship to the Roman Centurion or to the Canaanite woman in his earthly ministry. As the Son of David, as the coming King in the line of David, the Lord says he was "sent to none but to the lost sheep of the House of Israel."  That is a physical, racial distinction.

Paul is addressing the gift of justification in Galatians. Now, what is also there is the grafting in of Gentiles. That is a difference from the gospel age. Were Gentiles grafted into "justification?" No. As we have seen, Gentiles since the beginning have believed. The gift of justification has always been available to Gentiles. Jonah did not preach the Law to Nineveh (as the Law was never given to Gentiles), but he did offer them forgiveness  by faith.

Paul, in very plain terms, tells us the grafting in (which started with Cornelius in Acts 10, who was already a believer) was for the expressed purpose of making a very real Israel "jealous" (Romans 10:19; 11:11). God was not trying to make some nation that ended at Pentecost jealous. He certainly was not trying to make some "Gentile Israel Church" jealous. As we also see in Romans 11:18, the Lord warns Gentile believers (still making a distinction) not to become "arrogant" against the Jewish branches and root (Israel) lest they (Gentile believers) be "cut off." Cut off from what? A free gift of justification? No, cut off from the kingdom blessings of Israel.

For I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles [we pause to note that this office is no longer needed nor recognized Post Acts, but it is here in Romans and in Galatians], I magnify my ministry, if somehow I may make my kinsmen [Jews] jealous and may save some of them. For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead? If the first portion of the dough is holy, the batch is also holy. And if the root is holy, so are the branches. But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among them and became a partaker with them of the root and richness of the olive tree, do not boast against the branches. If you boast, remember you do not sustain the root, but the root sustains you. You will say then, “The branches were broken off, so that I might be grafted in.” This is correct. They were broken off because of unbelief, but you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will He spare you. Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God—severity toward those who fell, but goodness toward you, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise, you [Gentile believers] also will be cut off. 

-Romans 11:13-22

We ask again in this day, cut off from what? If this is the company of believers today with no more Jew or Gentile in any sense, what is the application of this warning today?

We have to see the context of God's dealings. With Adam, for example, the Lord was not dealing the promise of land or a Kingdom. The Lord was not telling Noah that he would be given a land from the Euphrates to the Nile. Noah was not told of a throne or a temple. And for those who had that hope, they still "looked for a city whose builder and maker is God," (Heb 11:10) that is, "the New Jerusalem which comes down from heaven"(Rev 21:2) to the earth. 

Now let us look back to where we started in Galatians 3:27.

For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

Could this company of believers have been baptized into the same body as the believers who entered by faith into Paul's revelation in Ephesians 3? No.  The identification (baptism) of the believers in Galatia in that age would be part of the a body known and revealed as Paul witnessed in Acts 26:22. Paul testified there that he taught nothing that was not known by Moses and the Prophets.

For by one spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one spirit.

-1 Cor 12:13

The aforementioned Romans 15 quotes from the Law, the Psalms, and the Prophet Isaiah. Paul was explaining there a mystery, but a mystery that has been revealed, jut not understood. Paul explains:

Now I say that Jesus Christ has become a servant to the circumcised on behalf of the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs, and that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy... 

-Romans 15:8-9a

Note the distinction in that age. The promises were made to Israel's fathers (not to Gentiles). Paul had affirmed in Romans 9 that the promises and covenants pertain to Israel (not some Israel-Gentile-Church). There was very much an Israel still in God's plan at the time of the writing of Romans.

They are Israelites, and to them belong the sonship, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; to them belong the patriarchs, and of their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ. God who is over all be blessed for ever. Amen. 

-Romans 9:4-5

Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which was kept secret for long ages but is now disclosed and through the prophetic writings is made known to all nations [Gentiles], according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— to the only wise God be glory for evermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.

-Romans 16:25-27 (the end of the book)

God was still calling out to a real Israel (see our study on Acts 3 in The Gentile Twelve Tribe Heresy). Gid was working his earthly plan. That is the reasoning for the grafting of Gentiles into the blessings of Israel. That is the reason Gentile believers were put under the Law in regard to the "necessary things" quoted from Leviticus in Acts 15 and Acts 21. 

Back in Galatians we are still under the earthly plan and the plan for Israel. Entrance into the Kingdom blessings for any Israelite (Jew) of any age was faithfulness. This is clearly expressed in the parables. But we note again that even the unfaithful are called "sons of the kingdom," "children," "masters," and "servants" by the Lord in the gospel while even faithful Gentiles are called "little dogs" until the grafting in.

With this context in mind, our passage in Galatians becomes clearer. In Christ, in justification, there is no Law to impose differences between Jew or Greek, Master or Servant, Man or Woman. Justification does not vary. And in the Acts age, with Gentiles being grafted in, while the difference was still recognized under the Law in terms of order, there was no difference in terms of justification or blessing. In the gospel age and prior, a Gentile might have life by faith, but he had no access to promises of the Kingdom.

As we know, the final revelation to Paul, revealed in Ephesians, and in the Post Acts epistles, eliminates any differences between Jew and Gentile, temporarily sets Israel aside, and the hope is no longer a restored kingdom in Israel on earth, but a hope in the far above the heavens. The entire setting changes. Galatians and Ephesians are acted out in two different stages in two different cities.

 

Let us go back and finish the exchange in John 8 and note what I skipped over. The Lord had affirmed that the unbelieving Jews he was addressing were part of the children of Abraham, (“I know that you are Abraham’s seed”), but the condition of faith and faithfulness was still part of the covenant God has with that earthly people.

 

They answered Him, “Abraham is our father. Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham. But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. You are doing the works of your father.” 

-John 8:39-41

 

This speaks to the "two seeds" principle which goes back to the very beginning of the ages ("I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed" Gen 3:15). We see the two seeds in the parables. Abel was of God, Cain was "of the wicked one" (1 John 3:12). This distinction does not change by one's race. The wicked ones of Israel who rejected the Lord and questioned even the story of his birth were nevertheless "Abraham's seed" in the flesh and could still obtain the promises if they would come to the Lord by faith in that age. This could never be said of a Gentile before the grafting in. The promises are for Israel (Romans 9).

Do you we the distinction? The Gentiles referenced in Galatians were indeed fully children of Abraham by faith, but that was only possible because of the grafting in. The purpose of which was to make Israel jealous (and it made believing Jews jealous as well). As we have seen, there is no distinction in justification between Jew and Gentile (and there never was), but in the Acts Age Paul was explaining that because of the grafting in of Gentiles into Israel which started in Acts 10, there was now no distinction in the kingdom blessings.

But that condition did not apply in the gospel age (the age of the Law) and it does not apply in the current age of  the revelation of Paul in Ephesians which concerns, not earthly blessings, but blessing in the far above the heavens.

Some summary context for any who might be new to Right Division:

The Apostles made clear distinctions between Jewish and Gentile believers in practice (notably in Acts 15 and 21) and among believing Jews and unbelieving Jews (would we preach Peter's message in Acts 3 today?) in their ministries, but never in terms of Resurrection Life which, from Adam, has always been a gift by grace through faith.

 
The middle wall between Jew and Greek (Gentile) did not come down until after the Book of Acts and that truth was revealed to Paul alone. Paul witnessed that he was in chains for the hope of Israel (very much at the center of God's plan) as late as Acts 28 and he stated that was imprisoned for Gentiles post-Acts in Ephesians.

Paul testified that he taught nothing that was not taught by Moses and the Prophets in Acts 26. While the blessings in the land and the Kingdom were made known to the sons of men, the revelation of the "one new man" of Ephesians was kept hidden from before the ages; unknown to the Prophets. The apostles anticipated the Kingdom in a restored Israel in the Acts (as the risen Lord taught the Apostles to the circumcision in Acts 1 who will sit on 12 thrones judging the 12 tribes in a restored Israel one day). Paul taught blessings in the far above the heavens, unsearchable riches, as the hope for in the current age.

Not essential for fellowship, but rightly dividing these distinctions will bring the different hopes and plans of God into clearer view (as best we can in these failing bodies and minds). Rightly dividing the hopes must be applied when reading the lack of distinctions laid out in Galatians. 

Thank you for your time and attention this evening. Let’s finish with a quick prayer:

Lord, thank you for the faithfulness of our apostle, Paul. We are limited creatures, and we constantly need your help as we seek to righty divide your word of truth. Bless each one here and all the families represented. We ask these things in the name of great God and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.