Ep. 14 - Israel, the Church, Their Futures
Episode Description
Have you ever wondered why so much space in the Bible is given to the nation of Israel? Why most of the Bible is not written directly to you? What is Israel’s purpose, and how is that distinct from what God is doing today? And what does any of this have to do with how you live as a Christian?
In this episode, Pastor Josh continues the series on rightly handling the Word of God by examining the two great peoples in Scripture — Israel and the church — and the futures God has appointed for each. Israel was promised by God to be a great nation, the head of the nations, with an earthly kingdom established through the seed of the woman, the Lord Jesus Christ. The church, by contrast, was a mystery hid in God and revealed to the Apostle Paul — a body comprised of Jew and Gentile alike, no longer under the law but under grace, with a heavenly rather than earthly calling. Pastor Josh walks from Genesis 12 through Daniel 2 and into Ephesians 3, distinguishes Peter’s apostleship from Paul’s, and shows why this distinction matters profoundly for daily Christian living: you don’t want to apply to yourself what was revealed for a different people in a different time.
Key Scriptures
Genesis 12:1–3 — The Promise to Abram
Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
Deuteronomy 28:13 — The Head, and Not the Tail
And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them.
Deuteronomy 4:5–8 — Your Wisdom in the Sight of the Nations
Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the LORD my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for? And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?
Genesis 3:15 — The Seed of the Woman
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
Daniel 2:44 — A Kingdom That Shall Stand For Ever
And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
Ephesians 3:1–7 — The Mystery Revealed to Paul
For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel: Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.
Ephesians 1:22–23 — Christ the Head of the Church
And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.
Romans 6:14 — Not Under the Law, but Under Grace
For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
Ephesians 2:14–15 — The Middle Wall of Partition Broken Down
For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace.
Ephesians 1:10 — The Dispensation of the Fulness of Times
That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him.
Colossians 1:20 — Reconciling All Things Through the Blood of His Cross
And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
Galatians 2:7–9 — Two Apostleships, Two Ministries
But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter; (For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles:) And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave me the right hand of fellowship; that we might go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision.
Episode Outline
The Opening Questions — Why so much of the Bible is about Israel, and why most of it is not written to you
Israel’s Heritage — From Abram in Genesis 12 to Jacob to the twelve tribes
A Great Nation and a Blessing — The promise that all families of the earth would be blessed through Abraham
The Head, Not the Tail — Israel’s greatness conditioned upon obedience to the law
A Sliver of Grace — David and Solomon as the one window of Israel’s glory, given by grace and not performance
Daniel 2 and the Kingdom — The God of heaven sets up a kingdom that shall stand for ever
The Seed of the Woman — Genesis 3:15 traced through Noah, Abraham, Judah, David, to Christ
Ephesians 3 and the Mystery — A revelation given to Paul that was not made known in other ages
The Church — Jew and Gentile in one body, Christ the head, the fullness of Him that filleth all in all
Under Grace, Not Under the Law — Romans 6:14 and the believer’s daily walk
A Heavenly Calling — Distinct from Israel’s promises concerning this earth
The Dispensation of the Fulness of Times — All things gathered together in Christ
Peter’s Apostleship and Paul’s — Galatians 2 on the two ministries
Why This Matters — Don’t apply to yourself what was revealed for another people in another time
Questions Discussed
Have you ever wondered why so much space in the Bible is given to the nation of Israel?
Have you ever wondered why most of the Bible is not written to you?
Why is Israel in the Bible — what is their purpose?
How is what God is doing today distinct from what He was doing with Israel?
Do I even have a role to play?
If Israel was promised to be the head of the nations, what changed with the revelation of the mystery to Paul?
What is the difference between being under the law and being under grace?
What is the difference between Israel’s earthly calling and the church’s heavenly calling?
Why does it matter that Peter and Paul were given two different apostleships?
