JESUS SAID...?

We’re exploring the miraculous survival of the Jews and what the most famous Jew said:

 So what did Jesus have to say about Israel when He was here?

He told the Samaritan woman at the well: “Salvation is of the Jews”.                  
…and don’t forget the prophecy that said the promised ‘Ruler in Israel’ would be born in Bethlehem:

“But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.”    Micah 5

Ah!…but later he said in Matthew 21: 

“The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.”        

…there you are!...gotcha!!  God has taken the kingdom from Israel and given it to the Church, described by the apostle Peter as a ‘holy nation’.

Does Jesus say forever?

Urr, no…not exactly…in fact no - not at all.

Far from Israel being scrapped, it will feature prominently in a future ‘regeneration’:

“…ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”  Matthew 19 & Luke 22 .

The god-fearing remnant of Israel will get to rule the world after all!                       
No wonder the disciples stayed very Jewish in their outlook; even as apostles in the Church they obviously knew God would never give up on Israel.
At the inaugural Lord’s Supper they heard and saw Jesus symbolize the New Covenant - with Israel and Judah, as announced by Jeremiah the prophet. 

In fact, the very last thing they asked Jesus was:

“Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?”

…but He ordered them to get out there in the meantime and witness to the ends of the earth, in the power of the Holy Spirit.  Peter was so sure he went on to publicly announce:

“And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.”              

Didn’t the Lord’s brother James become an elder of the church in Jerusalem?

Yes, some people claim that his letter proves that the Church has replaced Israel when he addresses ‘the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad…’ but they ignore what he quoted from the prophets to the Church in Acts 15:

“After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up…”

NEXT: What about those prophets?

Click on: http://hotspuds.blogspot.com.au/2013/08/what-about-those-prophets.html



Image credit: faithofthefathers.blogspot.com