“He came unto
his own and his own received him not.
But as many as received him, to them gave the power to become the sons
of God, even to them that believe on his name:
which were born, not of blood, not of the will of the flesh nor the will
of man, but of God.” (John 1:11-13). In the ongoing search for truth the open and receptive
heart must be always ready to receive and embrace each new
insight which makes a contribution to the whole body of truth. It
becomes evident from the early portion of John’s first-hand account of the
ministry of Jesus Christ that he came to bring the message of the fulfillment
of the Old Testament scriptures to the Jews (Israel) and introduce them to
salvation in His own person. A
significant majority of them did not embrace or receive Him or the message
which He brought from God. What were the attitudes, prejudices and contributing
factors which were in the minds of “his own”, i.e., the Jews which caused so
many among them to react to Jesus negatively rather than to respond to Him and
receive His message? I believe more than
one important factor was involved. The
Jews were prejudiced by a self-righteous religiosity. An attitude of superiority and spiritual
elitism controlled their thinking. They, after all, were the seed of Abraham
which in their view placed them in the lineage of inheritance, blessing, and
spiritual dominion. Thus, their conception of a Redeemer was necessarily one
who would demonstrate a compelling interest in their political condition of
subservience to the domination of the Romans. He would be a powerful political figure
advocating their political liberation and reemergence to a position of power.
Their conception of the kingdom was rooted in history and that kingdom
established by King David in defeating all of their enemies and reaching
earthly glory and dominion. So it should
not be difficult to understand why a man of Jesus’ meek and humble spirit and
absence of political stature, offering nothing to satisfy their aspirations and
perceptions would be offensive to them. The attitude held strongly by the
Pharisees and Sadducees concerning their presumed spiritual election and
mistaken self-serving religiosity was anathema to their perceived end.
As these attitudes held
by the Jews were prevalent at the time of Jesus’ earthly ministry it is not
completely surprising that a vast majority of today’s evangelical Christians hold
similar attitudes concerning the Jews.
That is to say that they beehive the Jews are God’s ‘chosen people’
destined to prevail and establish an earthly kingdom to reign on the earth for
a millennium. This critical theological error results from fundamental
misinterpretations of several portions of Scripture. The very first question that needs to be
answered and resolved is who from God’s perspective is an Israelite and
consequently which people collectively comprise Israel? Jesus very early on in
His ministry directs us towards the accurate answer. At John 1:47 Jesus
encounters a man named Nathaniel coming to Him and addresses him. “Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no
guile.” Noting that the Lord
identifies Nathaniel as an Israelite indeed (or surely) and with the further
character distinction of being free from guile.(fault, deceit, Vine’s Expository
Dictionary). So the Lord distinguishes Nathaniel by an inward condition (the absence
of guile) and not the obvious outward identification as that of a Jew. Is the
Lord a respecter of persons based on ethnicity or does He make judgment based
on His perceptions of the inward condition of men’s hearts? I believe the answer is obvious. All of the
New Testament Scriptures support the identity of Israel or saying it another
way, who is a Jew from God’s perspective?
The Apostle Paul understands and helps us out with a clear explanation
at Romans 9:6-8. “Not as though the word
of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel which are of Israel.
Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children. That is, they which are the children of the
flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of promise are
counted for the seed.” Also compare Romans 2:28-29 and Galatians 6:16 for
further verification of this truth. The erroneous doctrines held by many in the
evangelical Christian world are both deceptive and dangerous. Why? Because they
lead people into false perceptions of security as well as God’s covenant
dealings with people in both the old and new testaments. Their understanding of
eschatology and significant end time prophecy is twisted and distorted into a
state of compete confusion by faulty application of Scripture. These errors are explained and
corrected along with many other prophetic truths in my two important titles: These
Prophets and the Revelation and The Israel Deception. Bringing the reader to an accurate
understanding of end time prophecy as well as explaining many other important
developments in the secular world is the goal of these two must reads. Obtain either or both at Amazon.com, Barnes
and Noble and other book sellers.
David Lance Dean
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