The Messiah and the Covenants of Israel (Cont)

It is the Death of the Messiah that makes the blessings of the New Covenant available to the Gentiles

From the foregoing it can be suggested that the inclusion of the Gentiles in the New Covenant was not something initiated by the followers of Jesus, but rather the work of the Spirit of God fulfilling the will of God. But on what grounds could a righteous God include a group of people into a Covenant which did not initially name them? Let us return to the first and foundational covenant, the Abrahamic Covenant.  The Abrahamic Covenant had three main facets–dealing with the ‘Seed’; the ‘Land’ and the ‘Blessing’. The ‘Seed’ aspect dealt with the posterity of Abraham, and in particular included a particular member of his descendents who would be Messiah and King. The Davidic Covenant was the offspring of the ‘seed’ aspect in the Abrahamic Covenant which designated that the future ruler and Savior of the nation would come from the line of David. The ‘land’ aspect dealt with the homeland prepared for the ‘seed’ of Abraham, it would be the place where the ‘seed’ would be planted. The Land Covenant was the offspring of the ‘land’ feature in the Abrahamic Covenant and was used among other things to motivate the people to remain faithful to the God of Abraham. But the main feature, indeed the predominant feature was the ‘Blessing’ aspect, which declared that Abraham was to be blessed, the posterity of Abraham was to be blessed, and those that blessed Abraham or his posterity were to be blessed, indeed all families of the earth could be blessed in Abraham. The clauses that speak of blessing are inclusive not exclusive, and include Gentiles in the blessing of Abraham. Now the New Covenant is the offspring of the ‘blessing’ aspect of the Abrahamic Covenant, and if it is to be true to the intention of the Abrahamic Covenant, must likewise be inclusive and not exclusive, that is, must include all nations and families. Therefore, to understand the New Covenant as being available to all people is not to insert something foreign into its structure, but rather is interpreting the covenant in the light of its parent Covenant that was declared in the first book of the T’nach.

 It can be assumed that Peter and the other apostles that travelled with Jesus received instructions to make the New Covenant immediately available when they were taught by the risen Messiah during the period between the resurrection morning and the ascension. However, the inclusion of the Gentiles, while imposed on Peter as the keeper of the keys, seemed to wait for Saul to develop the doctrine. Saul, a man also taught directly by the Messiah, understood very early that the inclusion of the Gentiles in the New Covenant could be traced back to the Abrahamic Covenant.

 We have already considered how he described the Mosaic Covenant as a wall of separation between Jew and Gentile. That during the period of the Law it precluded the Gentiles from any access to the covenant blessings of Israel. He wrote: “at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world”. (Eph. 2:12) The Gentiles were first excluded by the Law of Moses, a wall of partition. But the death of the Messiah was the ‘end’ of the Law,[1] that is, the purpose and goal of the Law had been accomplished. ‘End’ (Gk. telos) here is usually considered to mean “termination, the limit at which a thing ceases to be (always of the end of some act or state, but not of the end of a period of time)”; or “the end to which all things relate, the aim, purpose.”[2] Here, it is suggested, it carries both meanings. It was terminated because it had achieved its goal. It was no longer needed. So the middle wall of partition became unnecessary. Paul speaks of it being broken down. “For He … has broken down the middle wall of separation” (Eph. 2:14) which means Gentiles now have access to the covenant blessings of Israel. “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God”. (Eph. 2:19)

The extent of the inclusion is spelt out for us. “For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father”. (Eph. 2:14-18) This means there is now no difference between the Jew and the Gentile in respect of the blessing of salvation that the New Covenant provides. Peter, the keeper of the keys, said it first, “So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us, and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith”. (Acts 15:8-9) And Paul confirmed it when he dealt with the place of Israel in the purposes of God (Romans chapters nine through eleven). He said, “there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him”. (Rom. 10:12)  In other words, the Church comes into blessing under the Abrahamic Covenant, because Christ, in His death, did away with the Law of Moses, the wall that separated Jew and Gentile. Paul, a Hebrew of Hebrews, wrote: “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith”. (Gal. 3:13-14) This indicates that we can share in the blessing of Abraham. His argument, of course, is that this can only be so if the Gentile has similar faith to Abraham, and the evidence of that faith, in the context of the current dispensation, is faith in the Messiah of Israel, Jesus. “‘Just as Abraham “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham”. (Gal. 3:6-7) This maintains then that we are children of Abraham by faith, and therefore have access to the New Covenant. This, of course, raises further questions which should be considered. First, if the middle wall of partition has been broken down and the Gentiles have access by faith to the Abrahamic Covenant, what does this mean for Gentile participation in the ‘seed’ aspect and the ‘land’ aspect? These questions, while important, are almost supplementary to the main question that has troubled the Church for centuries. Does this doctrine mean that the Church has replaced Israel in the purposes of God? It is to these questions we must now turn. (But next time!)

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[1] Rom.10.4

[2] Strongs Greek Dictionary #5056

The Messiah and the Covenants of Israel

The New Covenant as it applies to Gentiles

The Roman Centurion. The third conversion is that of Cornelius, a soldier in the employ of Rome, who was a ‘God-fearer’.  He already had some knowledge of the Jewish religion, and demonstrated his generous disposition by acts of kindness and gifts of money to the local synagogue. Peter was instructed to visit him and preach the gospel. To overcome Peter’s reluctance to visit a non-Jew, the Messiah sent instructions from heaven. Peter had a vision of a sheet let down from heaven with many different animals in it. He was instructed to “kill and eat”. But he was an observant Jew and, as he thought, under Mosaic Law. He had been taught to discern between clean and unclean, and some of these animals were designated unclean. Peter objected to the divine command. He said, “Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean.” (Acts 10:14) Three times he received the command before the vision ended. So when Peter was asked to go to the home of Cornelius, Peter, who would normally have refused, accepted the invitation. When he arrived there, he first explained how the Lord had overcome his reluctance. Then he spoke of the person and work of Jesus, the Messiah. But before Peter came to the end of his message the Spirit of God had fallen on the assembled company, a clear witness that they had been accepted for salvation. This Gentile household was the first among the non-Jewish population to embrace Christianity. To seal their conversions they were baptized. 

 

In summarizing these three important personal experiences, there are some things to remark on. Placed as they are in Luke’s history, it suggests that they are representative of certain groups of people. These three conversions contain valuable indicators that show how the New Covenant gravitated from a national, fully Jewish environment to an international Jewish/Gentile environment.

This group is made up of representatives from the three main people groups recognized by the Hebrew nation; a Jewish proselyte (the Ethiopian statesman), a Hebrew of Hebrews (Rabbi Shaul), and a Gentile (the Roman Centurion).

They also represent the three main population streams that rose from the sons of Noah, that is, Ham, Shem and Japheth.  The Ethiopian is from Africa (Ham); the Centurion is from Europe (Japheth) and Saul is a Jew (Shem). They are evidence of the truth expressed by Paul, the gospel of the Messiah “is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek (Gentile)”. (Rom. 1:16) So that in Jesus “there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female” (Gal.3.28) for all are one in Him.

In addition, there are elements of the gospel highlighted which indicate the means by which the gospel is effected. With the African the Word of God is central, he was reading from Isaiah, giving Philip the opportunity to explain that Jesus was the Messiah predicted in the T’nach. Clearly, this feature is central to all conversions because “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God”. (Rom. 10:17) However, in Luke’s history, Saul’s experience revolved around the Lord – it was a personal encounter with the risen Messiah. Here is emphasized the centrality of the person of Jesus in salvation. Paul himself will give the only answer possible when asked “what must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16.30) “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.” (Acts 16:31). With Cornelius the descent of the Spirit of God upon the household is the dominant feature. Again, without the work of the Spirit of God there can be no salvation: “no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit”. (1 Cor. 12:3)

And could we not say that the whole salvific act of Jesus, the death, resurrection and ascension, is incorporated here. His death is evident in the Isaiah passage that the Ethiopian read, and no doubt, central in the witness of Philip. The resurrection is key in the experience that Paul had on the Damascus road. That Jesus had been resurrected and was alive was the truth that Paul had to grapple with. And while not specifically identified in the narrative, it was the ascended Christ that poured out the Spirit upon the Centurion’s household in a similar fashion to that which took place on the day of Pentecost.[1]

A last comment on these significant personal encounters – the personnel involved were Peter, the individual who had authority from the Messiah to open the door of salvation to Jew and Gentile, and who later became the apostle to the Jews; Philip the evangelist, a man gifted of the Holy Spirit, who was himself a gift to the Church;[2] and of course the one person who will dominate the second half of the book of Acts and begin to take the gospel to the ends of the earth – Saul, later known as Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles. This particular conversion was of such importance that the Savior took personal control of the event, and Saul’s meeting with the resurrected Christ became a cornerstone of his defense of his apostolic commission.[3] Let us tabulate these truths and see them all side by side.

Acts 8.26 ff              Acts 9.1 ff                 Acts 10.1 ff

Personal Details                     Personal Details                        Personal Details

Ethiopian Statesman               Jewish Rabbi                              Roman Centurion

Jewish Proselyte                      Jew (Hebrew of Hebrews)         Gentile

Descendent of Ham                Descendent of Shem                  Descendent of Japheth

Emphasis:                              Emphasis:                                 Emphasis:

Word of God &                      Person of Jesus &                       Spirit of God &

Christ Crucified                      Christ Resurrected                     Christ Ascended

Result:                                    Result:                                       Result:

Saved and Baptized                Saved and Baptized                   Saved and Baptized

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[1] Acts 2.33

[2] Eph.4.11

[3] 1 Cor.9.1

The Messiah and the Covenants of Israel

The New Covenant as it applies to Gentiles (Continued)

The Jewish Rabbi. Saul of Tarsus, Rabbi and special envoy of the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem, was given letters of authority to extradite and imprison any followers of Jesus who had fled to Damascus. He himself was to execute the extradition warrant. He was on this mission, and had almost reached Damascus when he had a traumatic experience. He was blinded by the glory of God, and heard a voice speaking to him out of heaven. It was Jesus Himself, asking “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” (Acts 9.4) He fell to the ground and acknowledged that Jesus was alive and the true Messiah of Israel.  “So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” Then the Lord said to him, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” (Acts 9:6) What did the ascended and glorified Messiah commission Paul to do? Ananias, a disciple of Jesus, living in Damascus, was given the first intimation of the high profile mission that Paul was to undertake. “He is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel.” (Acts 9:15) Note here that it is the risen Messiah that authorizes the widening of the New Covenant to embrace not only the children of Israel, but also Gentiles. The offer of the gospel to non-Jewish nations was not an initiative thought up by the early Church leaders – it was an initiative imposed from the throne of God.

This should not have been a surprise to those who were students of the T’nach. Isaiah had already indicated that the suffering servant of Jehovah should not only be the Savior of Israel but also a light to the Gentiles. “It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob, And to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.” (Isa. 49:6) This was a great support and strength to the Savior, especially in the garden of Gethsemane when He faced His final rejection with its associated death sentence. To limit the benefit of the sacrifice of the Son of God to just the Hebrew race is, in the words of Scripture, “too small a thing”. His sacrifice and the salvation it purchased must be available to all peoples, that is, “to the ends of the earth”. Matthew, when he wrote his gospel, understood that the Gentiles were included and wrote of another prophetic utterance from Isaiah. The curious quote was inserted in the narrative of the twelfth chapter of his biography when the official rejection of the Messianic claim of Jesus was about to be confirmed. The Isaiah prophecy was, “Behold! My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased! I will put My Spirit upon Him, And He will declare justice to the Gentiles. He will not quarrel nor cry out, Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets. A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench, Till He sends forth justice to victory; And in His name Gentiles will trust.” (Matt. 12:17-21) Matthew, writing for a Jewish readership, is indicating that if Israel would not receive Jesus as Messiah, many of the Gentiles would. Luke’s writing also made the point. When he gave the history of the birth of Jesus, he recorded the event that took place in the Temple when the infant Messiah was presented to the Lord. An elderly Israelite Simeon took up the baby into his arms and said to the Lord, “my eyes have seen Your salvation which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel.” (Luke 2:30-32)