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ship > Salvation is of the Jews by Tom Stewart |
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Salvation is of the Jews
Or, Pray for the Conversion of Israel
"Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for Salvation is of the
Jews"
(John 4:22).
by Tom Stewart
Preface
e, the Church, are bondservants of the LORD Jesus
Christ, "Who gave Himself a ransom for
all" (1Timothy 2:6), and we owe
the Gospel to all men-- "to the Jew first,
and also to the Greek" (Romans 1:16).
But, especially do we owe the Gospel to Israel, for they transmitted to us Jehovah's
"Covenants of Promise" (Ephesians 2:12)-- "unto
them were committed the Oracles of God [the
Scriptures]"
(Romans 3:2)-- that pointed us to Jesus Christ. Israel will soon be converted to
Jesus the Messiah, Who is the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem" (Psalm 122:6). Pray that the LORD will fulfill His Word that Israel
will again know Him, i.e., "thou
shalt know that I am the LORD" (Isaiah
49:23). "22 Thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I will lift up Mine hand
to the Gentiles, and set up My standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons
in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders. 23 And kings shall
be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down
to thee with their face toward the Earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou
shalt know that I am the LORD: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for Me" (Isaiah 49:22-23).
The Woman at the Well
he LORD Jesus journeyed from Judea to Galilee by
way of Samaria. "6 Now Jacob's well was there.
Jesus therefore, being wearied with His journey, sat thus on the well: and it was
about the sixth hour [noon]. 7
There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink" (John 4:6-7). When the LORD Jesus spoke with the Samaritan
woman, He desired more than to demonstrate the intellectual superiority of the Jewish
position over the Samaritan, but to give the Samaritan woman New Life, i.e., "11 And this is the record, that God hath given to us Eternal
Life, and this Life is in His Son. 12 He that hath the Son hath Life; and he that hath not the
Son of God hath not Life" (1John 5:11-12). "Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest
the Gift of God, and Who it is that saith to thee, Give Me to drink; thou wouldest
have asked of Him, and He would have given thee Living Water" (4:10).
After hearing the woman question that He had nothing with which to draw the water
nor did He seem to possess the greatness of spiritual character of Father Jacob to
give that Living Water, the LORD Jesus began watering the woman with His Word, i.e.,
"For I will pour water upon him that is
thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour My Spirit upon thy seed, and
My blessing upon thine offspring" (Isaiah
44:3). "13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of
this water shall thirst again: 14 But whosoever drinketh of the Water that I shall give him
shall never thirst; but the Water that I shall give him shall be in him a Well Of
Water springing up into Everlasting Life"
(John 4:13-14).
Intrigued with Jesus' response, the "woman
saith unto Him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to
draw" (John 4:15). At a previous time,
Jesus explained to another seeker of the Truth (Nicodemus), "Except a man be born of water
[the first birth-- the physical] and of the
Spirit [the Second Birth-- the spiritual], he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God" (3:5). Since Jesus understood that the Samaritan woman
could not receive the Living Water without admitting and turning away from her sins,
He brought up the subject of the woman's adulterous lifestyle, i.e., "except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish" (Luke 13:3). "16 Jesus saith unto
her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither. 17 The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said
unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband: 18 For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast
is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly"
(John 4:16-18).
Turning the conversation away from her sin, the Samaritan woman complimented Jesus,
i.e., "Sir, I perceive that thou art a
prophet" (John 4:19), and attempted to
embroil Him in the Jewish-Samaritan debate, i.e., "Our
fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where
men ought to worship" (4:20). Jesus ended
the attempted debate by assuring her that the location of worship was unimportant.
"Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when
ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father" (4:21). But, He then added, "Ye [Samaritans] worship
ye know not what: we know what we worship: for Salvation is of the Jews" (4:22). "Salvation
is of the Jews" is a fact that Jesus declared
and did not debate. "And the servant of
the LORD must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient" (2Timothy 2:24).
True worship was and is required by the Father. "23 But the hour cometh,
and now is, when the True Worshippers shall worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth:
for the Father seeketh such to worship Him. 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship
Him in Spirit and in Truth" (John 4:23-24).
Jesus declared the simplicity of a Spirit led seeking of the Father, and the Apostle
John repeated the same concept in his first epistle. "20 But ye have an
Unction [the Holy Spirit] from the Holy One, and ye know all things... 27 But the Anointing [the Holy Spirit]
which ye have received of Him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach
you: but as the same Anointing teacheth you of all things, and is Truth, and is no
lie, and even as It hath taught you, ye shall abide in Him" (1John 2:20,27).
Jesus declared to us His unique nature, i.e., "I
am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me" (John 14:6). The Samaritan woman said, "I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when He
is come, He will tell us all things" (4:25),
showing us that even the Samaritans were looking for the Messiah. To this, the LORD
Jesus plainly answered, "I that speak
unto thee am He" (4:26). More than once
did the LORD Jesus confess to man His Messianic identity. "61 But He held His
peace, and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked Him, and said unto him,
Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? 62 And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of Man sitting
on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of Heaven" (Mark 14:61-62). The question is not whether Jesus claimed
to be the Messiah, but "What will you
do with Jesus? Believe Him or reject Him?"
"What think ye of Christ? whose son is
He?" (Matthew 22:42).
For the record, the woman at the well turned in faith to Jesus as the Messiah. "28 The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into
the city, and saith to the men, 29 Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did:
is not this the Christ?" (John 4:28-29).
She openly confessed Jesus as the Messiah. "9 That if thou shalt
confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God
hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and
with the mouth confession is made unto Salvation"
(Romans 10:9-10).
A Great Wonder in Heaven
he story of Israel's birthing of the Messiah at His
First Advent is set forth in the Apocalypse. "1 And there appeared
a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet,
and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: 2 And she being with Child cried, travailing in birth, and
pained to be delivered. 3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great
red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. 4 And his tail drew
the third part of the stars of Heaven, and did cast them to the Earth: and the dragon
stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her Child as
soon as It was born. 5 And she brought forth a Man Child, Who was to rule all nations with
a Rod of Iron: and her Child was caught up unto God, and to His Throne" (Revelation 12:1-5).
A "woman clothed with the sun" (12:1) refers to Israel. "For
thy Maker is thine Husband; the LORD of Hosts is His name" (Isaiah 54:5). And, the "moon
under her feet" (Revelation 12:1) brings
to mind the dream of Joseph, where the "sun
and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance"
(Genesis 37:9) to him, which pictured Joseph's father and mother-- Jacob and Rachel--
and eleven brothers bowing down to him. "Upon
her head a crown of twelve stars" (Revelation
12:1) speaks of the Twelve Tribes of Israel in allusion to the fulfillment of the
Abrahamic Covenant, i.e., "And He brought
him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward Heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be
able to number them: and He said unto him, So shall thy seed be" (Genesis 15:5).
Israel was God's planned vehicle to give the Messiah to both Israel and the world,
i.e., "she being with Child cried, travailing
in birth, and pained to be delivered"
(Revelation 12:2). "Hath not the Scripture
said, That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem,
where David was?" (John 7:42). A "great red dragon"
(Revelation 12:3) points to the "dragon,
that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan"
(Revelation 20:2). The "seven heads and
ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads"
(12:3) are, briefly, the succession of earthly kingdoms ruled by the "prince of the power of the air" (Ephesians 2:2), the "god
of this world" (2Corinthians 4:4), who
conspires to manipulate mankind through earthly rulers. "For
we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers,
against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in
high places" (Ephesians 6:12).
Satan's rebellion in Heaven was described as the mutiny of 1/3 of the heavenly host,
i.e., "angels which kept not their first
estate, but left their own habitation"
(Jude 6). "And his tail drew the third
part of the stars of Heaven, and did cast them to the Earth" (Revelation 12:4). The destruction of the Messiah-- "to devour her Child as soon as It was born" (Revelation 12:4)-- would forfeit the Almighty's dominion
over Heaven as well as rob man of any hope of Salvation, i.e., "Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the Wise Men,
was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem,
and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time
which he had diligently enquired of the Wise Men"
(Matthew 2:16).
"And she brought forth a man child" (Revelation 12:5) was Israel bringing forth the LORD Jesus
Christ through the Virgin Mary. "7 I will declare the
decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art My Son; this day have I begotten thee.
8 Ask
of Me, and I shall give Thee the heathen for Thine inheritance, and the uttermost
parts of the Earth for Thy possession. 9 Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; Thou shalt dash
them in pieces like a potter's vessel... 12 Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and ye perish from the
way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their
trust in Him" (Psalm 2:7-9,12). "And her child was caught up unto God, and to His Throne" (Revelation 12:5) refers to the ascension of the LORD Jesus
back into Heaven after His death, burial, and resurrection. "But we see Jesus, Who was made a little lower than the angels
for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that He by the grace of
God should taste death for every man"
(Hebrews 2:9).
And So All Israel Shall Be Saved
he Messiah was prophesied to be born of a virgin.
"Therefore the LORD Himself shall give
you a sign; Behold, a virgin [Hebrew, almah--
used to describe Rebekah before she married Isaac (Genesis 24:43)] shall conceive, and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel [literally, God With Us]" (Isaiah 7:14). Jesus "Who,
being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God" (Philippians 2:6), claimed no less than equality with the
Father. "Say ye of Him, Whom the Father
hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am
the Son of God?" (John 10:36). When Jesus
of Nazareth said, "I and My Father are
One" (10:30), the Jews that heard Him
understood that He claimed an equality and unity with the God of Israel that would
make Himself out to be the God of Israel. "And
without controversy great is the mystery of Godliness: God was manifest in the flesh,
justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on
in the world, received up into glory"
(1Timothy 3:16). He preserved both the Mystery and Unity of the Godhead. "Hear,
O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD" (Deuteronomy 6:4).
"Then the LORD
[Jesus, the Son of God] rained upon Sodom and
upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD
[the Father] out of heaven" (Genesis 19:24). "An Exposition of the Old and New
Testament" by John Gill, comments on Genesis 19:24: "This
destruction was brought upon them by Jehovah the Son of God, who had appeared to
Abraham in an human form, and gave him notice of it, and heard all he had to plead
for those cities, and then departed from him to Sodom, and was the author of this
sad catastrophe; this amazing shower of fire and brimstone was rained by him from
Jehovah his Father, out of heaven; so the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem both
call him, the Word of the Lord."
Modern Israel understands the claim that Jesus Christ was 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 5:2). Yet, understanding this precious fact of the
nativity of the Messiah did not deter Herod the Great from the slaughter of the innocents.
"Thus saith the LORD; A voice was heard
in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused
to be comforted for her children, because they were not
[Matthew 2:18]"
(Jeremiah 31:15). The obstinacy of Judaism to confess the Truth of this and other
promises concerning the Messiah, caused them-- along with all sinful men--
to have the LORD Jesus Christ crucified and to fiercely oppose any attempt to further
declare this Truth. "Blindness in part
is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in" (Romans 11:25).
Needless to say, unconverted Israel must look with great disdain at any so-called
Second Coming of Jesus Christ, if He has previously so miserably disappointed their
expectation of a conquering Messiah, who should have given them their greatly anticipated
peace, i.e., "And He [the Messiah] shall judge
among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords
into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword
against nation, neither shall they learn war any more" (Isaiah 2:4). But, Ancient Israel-- like the Modern Professed Christian
Church-- forgot that peace belongs only to those who practice righteousness. "This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD,
and their righteousness is of Me, saith the LORD"
(Isaiah 54:17). Peace has alluded Israel at the Messiah's First Advent, and continues
to evade them to the present. "There is
no peace, saith the LORD, unto the wicked"
(Isaiah 48:22). And, that righteousness only comes by an active trust in the Living
God. "For therein is the righteousness
of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith [Habakkuk 2:4]" (Romans 1:17).
Even today, the Almighty has a Remnant of Jews who have placed their faith in the
LORD Jesus Christ. "Even so then at this
present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace" (Romans 11:5). By no means should we cease to attempt to
reach the unconverted Jew, but the certain Promise is that unconverted Israel will
ultimately be converted at the Second Coming of the Messiah. "Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall
the Earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for
as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children" (Isaiah 66:8).
What more could be said to plead for Israel to believe that Jesus of Nazareth is
not simply the Deliverer of the Gentiles, but Israel's True Messiah? "For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given:
and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful,
Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6). "14 And He [the LORD of Hosts] shall
be for a Sanctuary; but for a Stone Of Stumbling and for a Rock Of Offence to both
the houses of Israel, for a Gin and for a Snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
15 And
many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken" (8:14-15). Truly, Jesus Christ must clearly have understood
the mountainous difficulty of His fellow Jews to receive Him as their Messiah. "And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended
in Me" (Matthew 11:6).
"And so all Israel shall be saved: as
it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness
from Jacob" (Romans 11:26). This would
be the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy. "Thy
people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch
of My planting, the work of My hands, that I may be glorified" (Isaiah 60:21). As Israel has frustrated the grace of God in extreme,
just so she shall be "clothed with Salvation" (2Chronicles 6:41) in one miraculous day. "Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things?"
(Isaiah 66:8).
Only the Spirit of God can persuade anyone to believe. "Behold
My Servant, whom I uphold; Mine Elect, in whom My soul delighteth; I have put My
Spirit upon Him: He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles" (Isaiah 42:1). No less than the prophet Ezekiel recorded
the necessity of God's Spirit to transform Unbelieving Israel into a finally cleansed,
justified, and obedient condition. "25 Then will I sprinkle
clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all
your idols, will I cleanse you. 26 A new heart also will I give you, and a New Spirit will
I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will
give you an heart of flesh. 27 And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk
in My Statutes, and ye shall keep My Judgments, and do them" (Ezekiel 36:25-27). But, is this not just what Jesus told the Pharisee,
Nicodemus? "7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
8 The
wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not
tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the
Spirit" (John 3:7-8).
Conclusion
tanding before Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor
that could release Jesus from death, Pilate asked, "Art
Thou the King of the Jews? And Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest [or, It is as you say]" (Matthew 27:11). The evidence is great as to what Jesus
claimed for Himself. It is only left to us to answer Pilate's question for ourselves,
"What shall I do then with Jesus which
is called Christ?" (27:22). May the LORD
preserve us from answering as did the chief priests, the elders, and the multitude,
"Let Him be crucified" (27:22).
The Old Testament emphasized the necessity of blood in cleansing from sin. "And almost all things are by the Law purged with blood;
and without shedding of blood is no remission"
(Hebrews 9:22). In the New Testament, the blood of Christ is necessary to cleanse
us from our sins. "But if we walk in the
Light, as He is in the Light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood
of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin"
(1John 1:7). Pontius Pilate sensed his own blood-guiltiness in condemning Jesus to
death. "23 And the governor said, Why, what evil hath He done? But
they cried out the more, saying, Let Him be crucified. 24 When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that
rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude,
saying, I am innocent of the blood of this Just Person: see ye to it" (Matthew 27:23-24). But, the Jews who shouted for the crucifixion
of the LORD Jesus, exclaimed, "His blood
be on us, and on our children" (27:25).
The sad history of Israel until recent times has been testimony that Israel has traditionally
accepted responsibility-- without repentance-- for the death of Jesus, who claimed
to be Israel's Messiah. "Jesus said unto
them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I Am" (John 8:58).
How do we, the Church, repay our debt to Israel? "14 I am debtor both
to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise. 15 So, as much as
in me is, I am ready to preach the Gospel to you that are at Rome also. 16 For I am not ashamed
of the Gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto Salvation to every one that
believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek"
(Romans 1:14-16). Pray for Israel's Salvation. "Pray
for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee" (Psalm 122:6).
.
Related Topics:
His Resurrection Is The Highest
Proof That Jesus Is The Messiah ---New Window
by Tom Stewart
"What evidence should satisfy the most inquisitive mind that Jesus is the Messiah?
All of humanity must be born into this world, and it will be by the hand of the Almighty
that He will take us out of this world, i.e., 'And as it is
appointed unto men once to die, but after this The Judgment' (Hebrews
9:27), so birth and death are common to man. However, who but God Alone has
the Power to resurrect from the dead? 'God hath spoken once;
twice have I heard this; that Power belongeth unto God' (Psalm
62:11). Even if a questioning mind could not settle whether Jesus resurrected
by His own Power or whether it was the Power of the Almighty to resurrect Jesus from
the dead, Why would Jehovah resurrect Jesus and thereby vindicate the claims of Jesus
of Nazareth that He would Rise again after three days, unless Jesus is
the Messiah? '3 Concerning
His Son Jesus Christ our LORD, which was made of the seed of David according to the
flesh; 4 and declared to be the
Son of God with Power, according to the Spirit of Holiness, by the Resurrection from
the dead' (Romans 1:3-4)."
The Wisdom of Seeking
the Messiah ---New
Window
by Tom Stewart
"But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy
God, thou shalt find Him, if thou seek Him with all thy heart and with all thy soul" (Deuteronomy 4:29).
"The Second Psalm is the most concise revelation
of the Person and Nature of the Messiah in the Psalms. It begins with a prophecy
of the opposition of both Gentile and Jew against the LORD and His Messiah, and manifests
Jehovah's wrathful displeasure in their rebellion. "1 Why do the heathen [i.e., the Gentiles] rage, and the people [i.e., Israel, God's peculiar people]
imagine a vain thing? 2 The kings of the Earth [i.e., Rome's Pontius Pilate] set themselves, and the rulers [i.e., Israel's Herod Antipas]
take counsel together, against the LORD, and against His Anointed
[Hebrew, mashiyach, meaning Messiah], saying, 3 Let us break their bands asunder, and cast
away their cords from us [i.e., both Gentile and Jew assert their intention
to break God's Law and live in open rebellion of Jehovah's restraint].
4 He that sitteth in the Heavens
shall laugh: the LORD shall have them in derision. 5
Then shall He speak unto them in His wrath, and vex them in
His sore displeasure" (2:1-5). The Almighty establishes
the Kingdom of the Messiah; and accordingly, the Messiah declares Himself to be the
Son of God and royally decrees His Own Universal Dominion.
"6 Yet have I set My King
upon My holy hill of Zion. 7 I
will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto Me, Thou art My Son; this day have
I begotten Thee. 8 Ask of Me,
and I shall give Thee the heathen for Thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts
of the Earth for Thy possession. 9 Thou
shalt break them with a Rod of Iron; Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's
vessel" (2:6-9). Wisdom is to submit to God; and,
the Salvation of rebellious man resides in making peace with the Messiah, placing
their confidence in the beneficence of the Messiah, Who will ultimately set in Judgment
over the whole Earth."
For additional reading related to this
topic, please see:
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