Book 25

 

Through the Bible with Les Feldick

LESSON 2 * PART 3 * BOOK 25

ROMANS 11:25-34

In the past few lessons we’ve been talking about how God is not through with the Nation of Israel, they’ve been blinded, and broken off from the roots of Abraham, and have been out there now for the past 1900 + years in a spiritual national blindness, but God hasn’t lost track of them. God knows where everyone of them are, and as we have seen in our generation, the Jew is coming back to his homeland. He’s certainly not out of the woods, and they have a long way to go yet before they have the reality of their King and their Kingdom, but nevertheless they’re coming back from every nation under heaven you might say, and getting ready for what now we’ll pick up in verse 26. We studied about the fulness of the Gentiles coming in in our last lesson, so they’re (The Church) is out of the way as The Lord takes them up to glory (Rapture) and the unbelieving Gentile world will go on into the Tribulation, but the Tribulation is primarily God dealing again with His Covenant people.

Romans 11:26

“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:”

All Israel? Well hardly, but remember, what part of Israel is God interested in? The believers, and so all of believing Israel will be saved. Unbelieving Israel? No. We need to go to the Book of Zechariah, and look at Chapter 13. I’m sure that the word “all Israel” in verse 26 speaks to a remnant, and not to the total number of Israelites that will be living on the planet at that time. You all realize that the number of Jews today is around 15 million. Only 3 or 4 million are in Israel itself, and the rest are still in America, Russia, and various other areas of the world. But here in Zechariah it tells us something that chases up all the way back to Romans Chapter 11 that “all Israel shall be saved:”

Zechariah 13:8,9

“And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, (Israel) saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. (now there’s your remnant) And I will bring the third part through the fire, (the fires of Tribulation, the wrath, the vexation) and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, `It is my people:’ and they shall say, `The LORD is my God.'”

Now go to Jeremiah Chapter 31, verse 31, in that little portion of Scripture that we call, “The new Covenant.” The new Covenant is not Church ground, but rather Israel.

Jeremiah 31:31

“Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, (this sets it in concrete, and nothing can change it.) that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:”

All Israel. Don’t you buy this stuff that the ten tribes of Israel are lost, because God knows where they all are, and each of the twelve tribes will be represented in the end times. So God tells us that He will make a new Covenant with Israel. Now verse 32.

Jeremiah 31:32,33

“`Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; (in other words this Covenant is not the Law) which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them,’ saith the LORD. But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel ; `After those days,’ saith the LORD, `I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.'”

Isn’t that exactly what Zechariah said? The day would come when that 1/3 who would be a surviving remnant will suddenly realize that Jehovah is their God. They’ll recognize that Jesus of Nazareth is their Messiah, and God is going to call them, “My People” once again. He doesn’t call them that today, but He will then, and this is the new Covenant. Now verse 34:

Jeremiah 31:34

“And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, `Know the LORD:’ (that’s what Moses had instructed them back in Deuteronomy) for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

Now that’s Israel’s future, but only a remnant of them, or a third, the rest of them will be cut off as we read in the Book of Zechariah, and die. Now go to Matthew Chapter 24. And here again Jesus is speaking to the Twelve. They are there on the Mount of Olives, and they have been asking questions:

Matthew 24:3

“And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, `Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?'”

So in those first 14 verses Jesus tells about everything that’s going to open up that seven years period of Tribulation. The famines, wars, and pestilences, earthquakes, and so forth. But now in verse 15 he brings them to the mid-point of that Tribulation. So at the end of that first 3 1/2 years of that Tribulation we find:

Matthew 24:15,16

“When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, [that’s in Daniel Chapter 9, verse 26 and 27] stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:”

In order to make this stick let’s go back to the Book of Daniel for a moment, and look at Chapter 9. I think you have to see it for yourselves or else it may go in one ear and out the other. And remember earlier in this chapter Daniel says that there are a total of 490 years of prophecy determined upon the Nation of Israel, and here we have the first 483 in verses 25 , and 26.

Daniel 9:26,27

“And after threescore and two weeks (that’s 62 weeks, + the other 7 weeks that were earlier makes a total of 69 weeks or for a total of 483 years) shall Messiah be cut off, (His crucifixion) but not for himself: and the people of the prince (The Anti-christ) that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; (who destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 A.D.? Titus the Roman general. So it’s the Roman people from which this Anti-christ will come, or at least the old Roman Empire.) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.

Now we come to that final week or 7 years. We have 483 years fulfilled almost to the exact day of the 490 years that were prophesied on Israel from the time of Nehemiah until the crucifixion. But we still have 7 years or 1 week left, and here they come in verse 27.

Daniel 9:27a

“And he (the Anti-christ, this prince that shall come from out of the boundaries of the old Roman Empire) shall confirm the covenant (or make a treaty) with many…”

Normally we feel that this treaty is with the Nation of Israel, but it’s also going to involve a lot of the Arab worlds, as the whole Middle East is a powder keg, not just Israel. I think this man Anti-christ will come in and make this peace agreement with Israel and her neighbors. Now let’s finish verse 27.

Daniel 9:27b

“…and in the midst (middle) of the week: (that’s at the end of 3 1/2 years) he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.”

Now, whenever you read a verse like that, I always tell my class people to stop and ask yourself a question. Simple questions. In order for Israel to practice sacrifices what do they have to have? The Temple! So this verse tells us that before the midpoint of the Tribulation takes place, Israel will have to have her temple. Right now, it kind of seems hopeless, but don’t give up on God. He says they’re going to have their temple again someday. Whether the anti-christ will make an agreement back here at the beginning with the Muslim world, that will permit Israel to somehow erect a place of worship next to the Mosque of Omar, or whatever, I don’t know. But I know they will have their temple and it’s going to be operating by the mid-point of the 7 years because this man is going to come into it and he’s going to cause the sacrifice and the oblation, the rituals, to stop.

Daniel 9:27b

“…for the overspreading of abominations (it’s going to get awful) he (the Anti-christ) shall make it (the temple) desolate, even until the consummation, (end) and that determined (all the things foretold in the book of Revelation: the trumpet judgments, the bowl judgments, the things that are going to happen on the earth in that last 3 1/2 years. That’s what Daniel is referring to. All those things are going to happen) shall be poured upon the desolate (the Anti-christ).” So here is what Jesus is now talking about when he says:

Matthew 24:15

“When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)”

And that is that the Anti-christ will come from his place, I think in Western Europe, to come down to stand in the holy place (the Temple in Jerusalem). He’s going to defile it, turn on the Jew, take away their freedom of worship and then Revelation tells that at the same hour, in this mid-point of the Tribulation, a remnant of Israel is going to flee into the mountains from the city of Jerusalem and the area of Judea. Now that’s what Jesus is talking about in Matthew 24.

Matthew 24:16

“The let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains:”

The nearest mountains for safety would be, we think, to the southeast. Some people think it will be the red rock city of Petra. But whatever, they’ll be fleeing the city, probably to the southeast and then look at the cross-section of society that we’ve got in these verses. This is not the 144,000. This is a cross-section of Jewish society as they will be fleeing from the city of Jerusalem as soon as they get word that the Anti-christ or whatever his name may be at that time, has defiled the Temple and has turned on the Jew.

Matthew 24:17

“Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house.”

My own projection on this is that these are probably retired folk and people of means, rather wealthy, and they’re spending their spare time up on their roof top patio. They’ve probably got a lot of expensive things in their home that they’re going to be reluctant to leave behind, but Jesus said it’s going to be so urgent, you’ll have so little need for the things of your wealth, leave them behind. Don’t stop to take a thing out of your house. Now, that’s one group of people. Let’s look at another in verse 18.

Matthew 24:18

“Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.”

Now you’re dealing with the working class people. In Christ’s day, Israel was an agrarian nation, as most of the world. So today the type of people that he’s referring to would probably be the computer operators and the office workers and the stock brokers and what have you. But whatever they may be, they better just drop it and get out of there fast. Don’t even bother to go and get an extra suit of clothes. Now verse 19 where we come to another segment of Jewish society.

Matthew 24:19

“But woe unto them that are with child, (young, pregnant mothers-to-be) and to them that give suck in those days!”

Those that are nursing, young mothers. A complete cross-section of people. Older people, middle-aged people, younger people. Now verse 20. Since they’re going to be back under the Law, they have the Temple worship for the first 3 1/2 years.

Matthew 24:20

“But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, (when it would be cold and miserable) neither on the sabbath day:”

That would limit how far they could walk according to their law. So if it’s on a weekday, there would be no limitation, because they’re going to have to cover quite a few miles to get down to the mountains. Now verse 21.

Matthew 24:21

“For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.”

You picked that up in the book of Revelation. The trumpet judgments, the bowl judgments, etc.

Matthew 24:22

“And except those days should be shortened, (I don’t believe it’s going to be made three years instead of 3 1/2, but I think the Greek word here implies that when that three and one half years is over, it’s not going to go an hour over. It’s going to be ended right on schedule. And so Jesus said if it wouldn’t be, if that period of time would go on even for 24 or 48 hours)there should no flesh be saved: but for (what’s the next word?) the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.”

Whether it’s back in Genesis or in Revelation, all through human history, who are the elect? The believers! Whether he’s Jew or Gentile. They are the elect of God. Now then, there’s going to be a group of Jews who are the elect of God. And if it weren’t that this thing is ended right on schedule, even they would not be able to survive. So who are we talking about? This escaping remnant of Jews that are fleeing from Jerusalem down to the mountains. And they’re going to be supernaturally escorted. You pick that up in Revelation Chapter 12. And just like Israel coming out of Egypt, it’s almost a direct parallel. Even as Israel came out of Egypt and Pharaoh’s army is behind them, Who intervened on their behalf? God did, supernaturally. I’ve told my classes for 20 + years that just as soon as this seven years start, as soon as that man signs that treaty with Israel and the Middle Eastern nations, the supernatural is going to become commonplace. We’re not used to the supernatural today. We’re not used to seeing angels intervene. We’re not used to God using an earthquake to do a particular thing. But when this seven years starts, the supernatural is going to be taking place one right after another.

Number 1, the two witnesses are going to appear, whoever they are. If they’re Moses and Elijah, that will definitely be a supernatural phenomena. For two men who lived over two thousand years ago to come back on the scene. It will be supernatural. Those 144,000 Jews, 12,000 from each one of the twelve tribes. Nobody could do that today. You ask a Jew today what tribe do you come from, he more than likely can’t tell you. But supernaturally God’s going to know who they are. He’s going to know what tribe they’re all from. And He will set them apart and send them out. The supernatural will become commonplace.

Now the same way here. Supernaturally, this remnant of the Jews that are going to survive that last three and one half years will, without them knowing why, are going to make their way down from Jerusalem. They’re going to be as one large group like Israel coming out of Egypt, making their way to the mountains in the southeast. The Anti-christ is going to try and destroy them with an armed force. And again, God will intervene. Just like He opened the Red Sea to help Israel, this time He’s going to open the earth and pour the Anti-christ’s army into it and cover them up. It’s still a supernatural phenomena. Israel’s remnant is going to be safe. God’s going to feed them there for three and one half years, much like the wilderness experience. They won’t have to worry about clothes, or shelter because God is going to take care of them totally for three and one half years. Then at the end of the three and one half years when they see Christ returning in glory, there at the Battle of Armageddon, and as He pours out His wrath upon Christ-rejecting Gentiles who have gathered in the Middle East, this remnant of Israel will be saved in totality, every last one of them.

Go back to the last chapter of John. The eighth sign as we’ve studied it some time ago in the book of John. Remember the first seven took place before His resurrection. The eighth one took place after His resurrection. But they were all indicative of God doing something for the Nation of Israel. Look at John 21:5. Remember the disciples are on the Sea of Galilee. Even though they’ve recognized Christ in His resurrected body, they still haven’t been able to contemplate the whole idea of Christ being raised from the dead. So here they are on the Sea of Galilee fishing and they’d been fishing all night, and The Lord’s on the shore the next morning at breakfast.

John 21:5

“Then Jesus saith unto them, `Children, (He’s speaking to the eleven) have ye any meat?’ They answered him, `No.'” I always have to stop here. Can’t you hear a good fisherman after being skunked? “How many did you catch?” “Nothing.” You see they’re all alike. And these were no different.

John 21:6

“And he said unto them, `Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it (the net) for the multitude of fishes.'”Verse 11 is the real sign of this miracle.

John 21:11

“Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three: and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken.”

What happened the last time he told them to cast on another side? It broke! But not here. So what’s the sign? That when God puts out that final net to His remnant, is He going to lose a one of them? Not a one and that’s the sign of the last chapter of John, that when God makes His final move with the Nation of Israel, of that one-third remnant, He’s not going to miss one. They’re all going to suddenly believe. Now, let’s go back to Zechariah, Chapter 12 and verse 10.

Zechariah 12:10

“And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they (the house of David, the Jew) shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son,…” Now let’s quickly go to Zechariah 13 verse 6.

Zechariah 13:6

“And one shall say unto him, `What are these wounds in thine hands?’ Then he shall answer, `Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends,'”

And so what’s going to happen? Every Jew of that remnant will see the nail pierced hands and that pierced side, and they’re going to suddenly, miraculously to the last Jew, just like the last fish in that net, they’re all going to believe that now He is their crucified risen Savior and Lord and Redeemer. Now the nation, as Isaiah says, will become a nation in a day.

 

Through the Bible with Les Feldick

LESSON 2 * PART 2 * BOOK 25

GOD HAS NOT CHANGED HIS MIND

Let’s start where we left off in Romans Chapter 11 verse 25. What we want you to do is to become a student of the Word. But most people judge it without ever looking at it. I’ve often asked people, “Have you ever made comment about a book of fiction that you never read? Do you ever tell somebody that that book is not worth reading?” The answer is usually, “Well, No.” I say, “Then why do you do it to this Book, because it’s still a book.” And all that we ask is before people begin to criticize it and scoff at it that they take some time and study it. Let’s turn to Romans Chapter 11 and we will look at the next part of verse 25.

Romans 11:25

“For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel,…”

Now that’s the core of this particular part of the mystery. This is something that nowhere else in Scripture has ever been, revealed that the nation of Israel would be sovereignly,judiciously blinded by God for a long period of time, which of course has been 1900 years. Now we know the Old Testament certainly warned Israel that if they were disobedient that God would chastise them. He would bring in their enemies and so on and so forth. But I can think of nowhere in the Scripture where God actually told Israel that a day would come when they would be spiritually blinded. We get a little brief preview back in Acts Chapter 13 beginning at verse 6. Now just for a little background, Paul now is beginning his missionary journey among the Gentiles. The church at Antioch is going to send him and Barnabas out. Now when they came to the island of Paphos:

Acts 13:6-11

“And when they had gone through the isle unto Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a [what?] Jew, [now remember the island of Paphos is primarily Gentile and no doubt under Roman dominion] whose name was Barjesus. Which was with the deputy [governor] of the country, [who was a Roman] Sergius Paulus, a prudent man; who called for Barnabas and Saul, and desired to hear the word of God. [he wasn’t any dummy and for some reason or another, he called for Paul and Barnabas because he had some spiritual interest and questions.] But Elymas the sorcerer [this Jew] (for so is his name by interpretation) withstood them, [in other words he did everything he could to keep that Roman deputy from hearing the word of God from the lips of the Apostle Paul] seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith. [As a result of this Jew’s imposing opposition,] Then Saul, (who is also called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost [in other words he didn’t do it just as a human reaction in anger or anything like that] set his eyes on him. [this Jew, this sorcerer] And said `O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease [or stop] to pervert the right ways of the Lord?’ [in other words, Are you not going to stop hindering the gospel from going to a Gentile? And evidently the answer was no because you go right into the next verse] And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee,[Paul didn’t do anything but turn it over into God’s hands] and thou shalt be blind, [physically blind,] not seeing the sun [not for the rest of his life but for what?] for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand.”

Now you know what I think that is? That is a preview of what the Nation of Israel would do from that point on. Because you see everywhere that Paul went he would normally first go to the Jews in their synagogues, and when they rejected his message these Jews would then stir up trouble when Paul would turn to the Gentiles. So the Jews became his chief opposition, and they opposed Christianity left and right, and then as we saw back in Romans Chapter 11, and verse 7, they were blinded. This is exactly what God did to the nation as a whole, just like Paul did to Elymas the sorcerer:

Romans 11:7

“What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election (the believers) hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded.”

Who blinded them? God did, and He set a spiritual blindness on the nation that is holding until this very day. But it’s not going to last forever, because one day that blindness is going to fall from the nation’s eyes, and God will once again pick up where He left off with them. Now let’s come back and continue our study about this mystery given to Paul in Romans 11:25. Nothing in Scripture foretold that there would be a long 1900 + period of time that Israel would be spiritually blinded as we have seen them be. But now let’s see when the Scripture says that will be. Looking at the last part of verse 25 again we find:

Romans 11:25b

“…that blindness in part (not forever) is happened to Israel, until…”

Now those of you who have heard me teach for a long time know that “until” is a time word. I shocked one of my classes a couple of weeks ago. They all know that I’ve always taught that there is no way we can know the day, month or year that The Lord is coming for the Church. It’s an eminent return, but we never set dates. Then I just shocked that class when I said, you’re all wondering when the Church is going to be raptured. Well I’m going to tell you exactly when it will be raptured, and some thought that I had gone out into left field. When is the Church going to be raptured? When the last person has been saved and completes the “Body.” Now I don’t know what day, month, and year that will be, but that is the“until.” Israel is going to remain blinded “until.” The rest of the verse reads:

Romans 11:25b

“…that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.”

Now what’s the fulness of the Gentiles? The Body of Christ. Those are the only Gentiles that God is filling and filling and filling, and He’s bringing them in. Now we need to turn to the Book of Acts again Chapter 15 for a reference. And of course here in this chapter is the big controversy between Peter and the eleven down at Jerusalem. The Apostle Paul is dealing with the Gentiles up at Antioch, and telling them that they were having Salvation apart from Judaism, without circumcision, without commanding them to keep the Law. So they’ve brought Paul and Barnabas all the way up to Jerusalem, and are really trying to settle the matter. “Are you not going to stop teaching these Gentiles that they can be saved without keeping the Law?” If you doubt me, come on up to verse 5 of Chapter 15 in Acts.

Acts 15:5

“But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed (they were part and parcel of that Jewish congregation at Jerusalem) saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, (that is the Gentile believers up there at Antioch) and to command them to keep the Law of Moses.”

Paul said there’s no way that’s going to be part of my message. And so there was a confrontation, a big argument. As we studied the Book of Acts several months ago, Peter finally came to Paul’s defense, remembering a long time ago. How long ago? About 14 years back, that he had gone to the house of Cornelius. And he had witnessed that God would save a Gentile without ascribing to Judaism, without repentance and water baptism. They were saved even before Peter got that far. Now Peter wakes up here in Acts 15 which is a long time after that.

Acts 15:7

“And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, `Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, (that is from among the Jewish believers) that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe.'”

Now after Peter goes through all his explanation, you come down to verse 12:

Acts 15:12-14

“Then all the multitude (that is of these Jewish believers there at Jerusalem) kept silence, and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them. And after they had held their peace, (they finally settled down and listened to some common sense approach to all of this) James (who was moderating the meeting) answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me: Simeon (or Peter) hath declared how God at the first (that would be at the house of Cornelius) did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them (the Gentiles) a people for his name.”

Now what is that? The Church, which is his Body. So for the last 1900+ years now the Church is being formed mainly by Gentiles who are being called out from among what they are, pagans or whatever, and becoming members of the body of Christ. Now as we’ve already seen then, as soon as that began, the Jews got envious and began to oppose it everywhere that Paul went. And God put a blindness upon the Nation. Remember, I’m always teaching and always reminding people, God deals with the Jew on two levels: National and personal. Now when he blinds them nationally, that does not take away the personal opportunity for Salvation. So don’t ever think that God’s being unfair. A Jew still has every opportunity for Salvation that we do, but it’s on a personal basis and not on a national. So God is now calling out Gentiles as a people for His name, which is what we refer to now from Paul’s epistles, as the Church which is His Body, the Body of Christ.

Now I’d like to use this analogy. I had just read an article, written by a physiologist, or he might have been an embryologist. He dealt with the fetus in the womb. And of course I’m not going to tell you anything you don’t know, but I think it’s such a beautiful analogy. At the beginning of pregnancy, that mother’s body immediately begins to put all kinds of different cells into exactly the right place. And by the time that 9-month period is over, that little fetus has got all of his little fingers, fingernails, the eyes and everything now complete. And isn’t it amazing, as this author pointed out, that the body rarely makes a mistake by making one finger much longer than it should be or making toes longer. But everything stops its cell-making process at exactly the right time. And when it’s all completed and that little baby is complete and the cell-making process stops, then what? Delivery!

Now the Church is the same way. God has been adding individual believers from all around the world; Chinese, Japanese, Russians, Burmans, French, British, Americans, Canadians, whatever. Believers are coming into the Body one at a time. But isn’t it amazing, just like the fetus in the mother’s womb, one day the Body of Christ is finally going to have the last person in place. We don’t know where it will be, but one day the last person is going to be put into the Body of Christ – It’s complete. Now what’s God going to do? He’s going to deliver it from it’s confines here on earth and we’re going to Raptured out, as we saw in our last program, and that then becomes the “until” of Romans 11:25. Because you see, as soon as God has completed His work with the Gentile Body of Christ, where is He going to turn to? The Jew! Now of course, the Jew is going to have to go through those seven years of Tribulation before he enjoys all the blessings of Christ’s return.

But nevertheless, we know from II Thessalonians Chapter 2, that as soon as the Church is gone, the Anti-christ is going to make his appearance and the world is going to go into that seven years, which is predominately the time that God starts dealing with Israel. And so that’s when their blindness is going to fall away. As soon as the Church is gone and the Tribulation begins. Now at the same time, since we have the times or fulness of the Gentiles here in Romans 11, go back with me to Luke 21 and we have the other side of the coin, so far as Gentiles are concerned. And this of course is the unbelieving element. Now the fulness of the Gentiles here in Romans are the Church-Age believers, but Luke 21 speaks of another group of Gentiles who will be the unbelievers. The unsaved world of Gentiledom. Let’s look at verse 23 and Jesus is speaking.

Luke 21:23

“But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people.”

Now he is speaking in Palestine, he’s speaking to Jews, and so this is where all of this is going to take place, isn’t it? But he’s not talking about the end-time, He’s talking about 70 A.D. here. He’s talking about Titus’ great invasion and destruction of the temple. We pick that up now in verse 24.

Luke 21:24

“And they (the Jews of Jerusalem) shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: (now there’s the clue that this is 70 A.D. and not the last of the Tribulation, because at the end of the Tribulation the Jews are not going to be led captive into all the nations. They’re going to just survive until their Messiah appears. But here they were and we know they were. They were emptied out of the land and they were dispersed into every nation on the face of the earth.) and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, (what’s the next word?) until (there’s your time word. How long is Jerusalem going to be under the boot of the Gentile armies?) the time of the Gentiles is fulfilled.”

Now what are we talking about? Beginning way back here in 606 B.C., way back at Nebuchadnezzar’s invasion of Jerusalem, is the first time that Jerusalem falls under the complete control of a Gentile empire, Babylon. All the way up through human history. All the way to the time of the Cross and at that time it was the Romans. And even as you come on into modern history, Israel has been under the control of various Gentile nations; the Moors, the Turks, and lastly before Israel finally made her independence, was Great Britain, under mandate. Britain was in charge of the Nation of Israel. Now of course, they’ve had a semblance of sovereignty, but for the most part, Israel is under the heavy hand of the U.N. or all the other nations and so forth.

And so they have been under the control of Gentiles ever since 606 B.C. and they will be until Christ returns at His Second Coming. Right now, running sort of parallel to that (not totally, but at least since the onset of the Church Age, which of course would be sometime between 30 and 40 A.D., when the Church, the Body of Christ, had its beginning). For the last 1900+ years the Church has been accumulating, they’ve been brought into the Body, and it will be filled and Christ will take it out at what we call the Rapture. The Rapture will take place 7 years before the Second Coming. Here’s what I want all of you to see, and even those out in television, that the Rapture will take place just before the Tribulation. All the way back here, we’ve had the out-calling of the Gentiles into the Body of Christ, which is the Church. It will end with the Rapture. These two processes, the times of the Gentiles, during which Jerusalem is under Gentile control, is going to end at the Second Coming. The fulness of the Gentiles will end at the Rapture. Have you got that?

All the way since 606 B.C., what has the Gentile world been doing with regard to the God of this Book, progressively? Well, more and more rebellion. More and more accumulating wickedness. I’ve been showing my classes here in Oklahoma that many of the writers of the so called New Age religions, began their authoring of books in the late 1800’s. After the return of the century, more came out. But the average church person never even heard about it. Very few people read their books and so forth. But they’ve been out there. And now, of course, it’s beginning to snowball. Now with the advent of all this New Age religion, remember it’s pagan, and they may talk a good line, but their basic behavior is anti-Christian, anti-God, it’s wickedness in one way or another. Now, you remember when God told Abraham in the Abrahamic Covenant there in Genesis, that He would make of him a great nation? You remember one of the first prophecies in your Bible is that God told Abraham that his offspring would end up in a land that was not theirs and that they would be there in slavery for 400 years? And then he gave the reason why the children of Abraham would have to stay out of the land of Canaan. And what was it? The iniquity of those Canaanites was not yet full. In other words, God gave the Canaanite people 400 years to straighten up their act. But instead, what did they do? They went deeper and deeper into wickedness. And so, when Joshua finally came across the Jordan River, what did God tell Joshua and the children of Israel to do with the Canaanites? Destroy them! Don’t spare a one! Why? Because they had gone down so far.

The Gentile world is fast approaching the same place. Now I read just as much as anybody, I guess, of the media and so forth. But there’s nothing that the press likes to ridicule more than the outpouring of God’s wrath. They just think that’s totally ridiculous, that there is no such thing as God intervening in human history in pouring out His wrath. Well, I’ve got news for them. God is patient tonight, He’s gracious, He’s kind. He’s letting man just take his own way. But listen, there’s a day coming because this “until” is still in Scripture. And when this “until” happens, when the times of the Gentiles will have run their course, in will come that last 7 years of Tribulation with the horrors of it. You and I can’t begin to imagine what the last 3 and 1/2 of those 7 years are going to be. It is beyond human description, but it’s coming. But you see these two parallel Gentile groups, you have the outcalling of the Church here in Romans 11:25, which is the fulness of the Gentiles. That obedient group of Gentiles who have believed The Gospel. (Ref: I Corinthians 15:1-4) Running concurrent with it ever since 606 B.C. you have the times of ungodly Gentiledom. And all you have to do is look at human history. What have they brought on the world? Misery, war, famine, disease, despair. That’s been their lot and it’s going to culminate in those final 7 years. The last 3 1/2 will end the Gentile domination of the city of Jerusalem, when Christ returns.

I was just writing a little article for our newsletter about praying for the peace of Jerusalem, as Psalms instructs us.

Psalms 122:7

“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.” When you pray for that you pray for The Lord’s return.

 

Through the Bible with Les Feldick

LESSON 2 * PART 1 * BOOK 25

MYSTERIES GIVEN PAUL

Now let’s go right back to where we left off in the last lesson and that would be in Romans Chapter 11, and verse 25. This chapter is where Paul, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is making it so plain that God is not through with the Nation of Israel. The little nation has been set aside for the past 1900 + years, without their temple, priesthood, sacrifice, and without a homeland until our generation, but God is not through with His Covenant people. We saw that so vividly in the grafting process where Israel was removed, her branches were broken off, and the Gentiles grafted in. Gentiledom has now been placed over the root of the father Abraham, and so Gentiles have been under that blessing of having The Gospel, the opportunity for Salvation. But their day is fast coming to a close because they too have been walking it underfoot, and God’s grace and patience is one day soon, we think, going to run out, and then He will go back and pick up where He left off with Israel. Now here in verse 25 Paul writes to the believers:

Romans 11:25a

“For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant…”

Ignorance is not a lack of brain cells, but rather a lack of having been taught. And I think that’s where the church, if I may use the term generally speaking, has failed so miserably because they have not taught their people. And it doesn’t matter what group it is. I maintain you ask the average Roman Catholic, “What do you believe?” you will find that most of them can’t tell you. You can ask the average Episcopalian, Baptist, Methodist, or any other group and most of them cannot tell you what they really believe. Why? Because nobody teaches them, and so this is what Paul is driving home, that the believers are to be a well-taught people. We should be well-read in the Scriptures, so this is his statement here.

Romans 11:25a

“For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery,…”

And I’ve stressed the word “mystery” over the years that this word is one Paul uses so often, and in the Greek, the word is musterion, and it simply means, “secret.” The word can be translated either way, A mystery or a secret. So what Paul is saying then is, “That he doesn’t want the Gentile believers to be ignorant of a secret that God had kept in His own mind until He revealed it to the Apostle Paul.” Now I’m going to stop at this word for just a few moments because it’s been quite a while since we stressed it. But I’ve told my classes here in Oklahoma over and over, if you want to do a good Bible study some evening, take a good concordance and just simply look up the word “mystery” as it appears in Paul’s epistles and you can just make a two or three hour Bible study and it will be so interesting. Then put together all of the concepts that Paul associates with this revelation of a mystery. We constantly remind folks that all of these things that we refer to as coming from the epistles of Paul were never revealed previously in any of God’s dealing with mankind. So many of Paul’s doctrines you can’t find in the Old Testament. You can’t find them in Christ’s earthly ministry. You don’t find them in the early parts of Acts. They were revelations that God had kept secret since the beginning of human history or even before. Now the verse I always like to start out with in that regard, of course, is back to Deuteronomy 29:29. We’ve looked at it more than once even on the program before. Let’s look at it again. Way back there in the beginning of the Bible. And it’s something you can sink your teeth in even today.

Deuteronomy 29:29

“The secret things…” (see, there’s that word) belong unto the Lord our God:…”

Why? Because He’s Sovereign. He’s the Creator of everything. He can do whatever He wants to do. He’s Sovereign. Too many people today have gotten the idea that God is just some big, what shall I say, easygoing grandfather type that they can just sort of manipulate and tweak His nose and get whatever you want. That’s not the God of the Bible. The God of the Bible is Sovereign. He is absolute. He is holy. He is righteous. And yet He is a God that is loving and kind and merciful and patient. But, in His sovereignty He has every right in the world to keep things secret as long as He wants to and He will reveal it when He’s good and ready and not until. Let’s read on.

Deuteronomy 29:29

“The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed (are no longer secret) belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.”

This of course was written by Moses. But as I explained to someone in a conversation last night, you want to remember the God of the Old Testament is the same God of the New, even though we’re under a whole different set of responsibilities and everything. Yet God hasn’t changed. The things that God hated back in the Old Testament economy, God still hates them today. The very things that God forbade Israel back there in the Levitical system, God still does not condone today. And so even though this was spoken by Moses to the Nation of Israel, yet it’s the same God and the same secret holder that we deal with today. Now then if you’ll come back to Romans a moment we’ll look just quickly at a few of these secrets that God has held all the way up through human history, and revealed only when He called the apostle Paul to be the apostle of the Gentiles. One of the first ones of course, if we’ll go through chronologically, so you won’t have such a hard time looking for it, is right here in Romans the last chapter – Chapter 16 and verse 25. And don’t just shrug these off as unimportant. They are basic to all of the Pauline doctrines. They are different concepts but they are all part of that revelation of the mystery. Now in Romans 16:25:

Romans 16:25a

“Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery,…”

Do you see that? In other words, Paul says “The Gospel that I preach is going to be that Gospel which is part and parcel of these revelations of secret things that had never been revealed before.” That’s The Gospel according to the revelation of the mystery. Now let’s continue on and finish the verse.

Romans 16:25b

“…which was kept secret (how long?) since the world began.”

And that’s exactly what Deuteronomy 29:29 is talking about, that God can see fit to keep things secret as long as He wants. But once He reveals it, then it becomes the human responsibility to believe it. Now then, your next one is Corinthians and so you might just want to go on there for a moment. I Corinthians Chapter 4. Now he puts a responsibility on believers of this age. And I know that he’s talking here in the first person, but whatever Paul applies to himself, he applies to all of his listeners. And now he says in verse 1:

I Corinthians 4:1

“Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the (what?) mysteries of God.”

Now what’s a steward? He’s a caretaker, he’s a manager, he’s an overseer. How in the world can you oversee or manage, something that you don’t know anything about? So if you’re going to be what the Bible expects you to be, you’d better be studying. You’d better be learning. What are you to be ready to administer? What should you be looking to be a manager of? The mysteries! Well how can you manage them or share them with somebody if you don’t know what they are. Let’s read on.

I Corinthians 4:2

“Moreover it is required in stewards, (or a manager) that a man be found faithful.”

What we have to do is that once we get a hold on these mysteries that we are faithful in passing them on to those who have probably never heard or those who know nothing of it. Now let’s just keep turning on through and come to Ephesians Chapter 3. I’m not going to touch on all of them. I’m just hitting a few of the plainer ones, the easier ones to understand. Let’s look at Ephesians Chapter 3 and verse 1. Paul again is establishing the fact that he is dealing primarily with Gentiles.

Ephesians 3:1

“For this cause (in other words, all the things that took place in these first two chapters) I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles.” Now let’s look at verse 3.

Ephesians 3:3

“How that by revelation (in other words he revealed these things from the ascended Lord in Heaven) he made known unto me the mystery;…”

That revealed body of truth that no one ever before had any concept of. It was of course, back in the Old Testament, in latent form, much of these things that Paul is proclaiming to the Gentiles. Now that we understand this we can go back to the Old Testament and can see that God had it on His mind, but He had not revealed it as it was kept secret. Verse 4.

Ephesians 3:4

“Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ”

People have often asked, “After Saul’s conversion on the road to Damascus, and God led him down to Mt. Sinai in Arabia for three years, why would it take so long?” Well, I’ve got several reasons but one of which of course, you want to remember, is that Saul of Tarsus was steeped in Judaism. Saul of Tarsus was just as human as the rest of us and so it probably took a little while to cleanse his thinking and his behavior under Judaism. But on the other hand, to give the man such a clear-cut understanding of things that had never been revealed before, would naturally take some time. And he had to be so prepared that when he came back from that Arabian experience ready to go out among the Gentile world, going out among abject pagan idolaters, he had to be skilled in what he was proclaiming. And I think that’s part and parcel of that three-year training time down in Arabia. But he makes it so plain that all of this was revealed to him and he takes the responsibility of now passing it on to the whole world. Now then, come on and read verse 4 and following:

Ephesians 3:4,5

“Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge (his complete understanding) in the mystery of Christ.” (or the secrets) Which in other ages (in other past generations. In other words that takes you all the way back to the Old Testament) was not made known (see how plain the language is? These things that Paul is now revealing were never made known before. And he makes double sure we understand that.) unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed…”

Always go back to Deuteronomy and what does it say? And once it’s revealed they belong to us, which means we had better believe it. Now then verse 6. This is this part of the mystery that Paul is dealing with in Ephesians 3. There are all kinds of segments to the mysteries. This is the one he is talking about now.

Ephesians 3:6

“That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ (not by Judaism, not by the Mosaic Law, but how?) by the gospel. (His finished work)

Have you ever read anything like this back in the Old Testament, that Gentiles would become one with Christ or with God? They didn’t understand Christ as much back there, but that Gentiles would become one with the God of Abraham? Well, whoever heard of such a thing. Jews would have thrown up their hands in horror if anybody would have approached such a subject. But they didn’t. They had no concept. Now God had the Gentiles on His mind – don’t ever lose sight of that. But it was under a whole different set of circumstances that what we’re seeing here. Now let’s read on.

Ephesians 3:7

“Whereof (of this message of revealing this mystery) 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 3:9

“And to make all men see (not just Israel or the Gentiles, but the whole human race) what is the fellowship of the mystery, (secret) which from the beginning of the world (age) hath been hid (where?) in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ.”

The Sovereign God. It’s His prerogative to keep things secret if He wants to. And that’s where it was. It was hidden in God, the same God who created all things by Jesus Christ. Now let’s move on quickly to another little book of Paul’s and that’s Colossians, that we might get an understanding that one of the aspects of the mysteries is, yes, Israel is going to be spiritually blinded for almost 2000 years. Another revelation is that the Gentiles are going to come into a privileged position with Israel’s God in the form of the Body of Christ. Here is another aspect of the mystery, and here he speaks of the Body in which all Gentiles who are now believers are now part of.

Colossians 1:25,26

“Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, (do you see the order?) to fulfil the word of God; (and here it is in verse 26) Even the mystery (secret) which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:”

Do you see how plain that is? All these Pauline truths were held in the mind of God. Israel never had a concept of them, the Twelve had no concept of them, but here comes this renegade, this Saul of Tarsus that God saves by Grace, and to him God now reveals the secrets, the mysteries. And that’s why he now has been given the authority to pen these epistles that become the essential part of our Scripture. Paul is the one to whom God has revealed the mysteries. Now to Chapter 2, beginning at verse 2.

Colossians 2:2,3

“That their hearts (and Paul is speaking of the believers up there in Laodicea in Asia Minor) might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgment (or the acceptance) of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ. In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”

So we see that all treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in the mysteries of God. What is the revelation here that the Old Testament is vague about? The Trinity! Now we know that the Old Testament has evidences of the Triune God, but you see this is why the Hebrews, and the Rabbi’s even of our own present day, call Christians almost pagan because we worship three Gods. They don’t recognize the Trinity back there in the Old Testament, and they still don’t. But here is a revelation that God is a Triune God, and it’s a revelation that Paul brings out that God is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Turn to I Corinthians 15, and again we have Paul talking about a mystery. Something totally different again. First he talks about the Gentiles becoming one with God. Then he talks about God, and the revelation about Who He really is as the Triune God, and now we come to a revelation of something totally different, but yet all part of that same complex revelation. Something that is never referred to anywhere else in Scripture, and that’s why people have such a hard time contemplating it even today and that is what we call, “The Rapture.” That’s a Pauline doctrine that you won’t find anywhere else in your Bible. But now look what Paul calls it.

I Corinthians 15:51a

“Behold, I shew you a mystery;…”

Something that has never before been revealed. Now what’s this mystery or secret? Oh, that there’s going to be one group of believers who are not going to die physically. They’re going to be alive when everything comes to a culmination, and you can’t find that anywhere else in Scripture, and so it’s part of the mystery. There is going to be a group of believers at the end of the Church Age that are going to be suddenly changed, and be from here to there in a split second. I was mulling it over again just the other day and it’s hard to comprehend. No wonder the unbeliever scoffs at it. I can understand why he would because it takes some faith to believe that all of a sudden Christ will leave Glory, will come to the atmosphere, the trumpet’s going to sound, the archangel is going to shout and all of a sudden, all the dead believers of the Church Age are going to be raised from wherever they are. They’re going to be resurrected, gone up to meet The Lord in the air and then a split second right behind them, here we come that are still alive and remain. This is hard to comprehend. I can’t envision millions of people suddenly congregating up there someplace in the atmosphere and then going back with Christ to Heaven. But what does The Book say? Exactly that. And so I believe it even though I can’t comprehend it. This is a mystery, a secret, revealed to the Apostle Paul and now it’s no longer a secret and we’re to believe it.

I Corinthians 15:51b

“We shall not all sleep, (die physically) but we shall all be changed.”

And then of course he goes on to say how it will happen. Let’s go to I Thessalonians Chapter 4. He doesn’t use the word “mystery” in this portion, but nevertheless, he’s talking about the same thing, so it too is part of the mystery. And that is what we call the outcalling or the Rapture of the Church. And again he uses the same word he uses in I Corinthians 15, “I would not have you to be ignorant.”

I Thessalonians 4:13

“But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep (your loved ones who were believers and have died) that you sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.”

I always call this the qualifications for the Rapture. This is all you need to be in that great company that one day soon is going to be called out of here.

I Thessalonians 4:14

“For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again,…”

Do you believe it? The Gospel. (Ref: I Corinthians 15:1-4) I had a gentleman here and he will never know what his testimony meant to me. He’d always had trouble with the resurrection. He could believe all the rest of it, but he couldn’t believe the resurrection. A highly educated man, a brilliant man, he said, “All of a sudden one day, The Lord opened my eyes somehow or another and I believed it. And everything changed.”

I Thessalonians 4:16,17

“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be (what) caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air:….”

Those are the words that we have coined the word “Rapture” – caught up to meet The Lord in the air.

 

Through the Bible with Les Feldick

LESSON 1 * PART 4 * BOOK 25

ROMANS 11:1 – PART 2

Now back to where we were. We left off in Romans Chapter 11, and that would be in verse 13. Paul is writing to the believers at Rome, and you and I today.

Romans 11:13

“For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office.”

In other words, Paul is never going to take a back seat to anybody concerning his apostleship. Now whenever I teach the other letters of Paul I always comment on the fact that whether it’s Galatians, or Ephesians or whatever, Paul is always having to defend his apostleship. And of course that is understandable, because people can readily understand the Twelve, and their unique position with Christ in His earthly ministry, and people don’t have any problem with that. But here comes this gentlemen who was like a raging bull, fighting against everything that spoke of Jesus of Nazareth, and then to proclaim him as an apostle, and especially the apostle of the Gentiles? Even people today have a hard time reconciling that. I’ve had lots of people that have told me that they have had people in leadership positions in Sunday School tell them that Paul’s letters didn’t even deserve to be in the Bible. Well, I know that’s evident, but you see he’s always defending his apostleship because of his unique calling, and his unique background.

Have you ever stopped to think that no one but Saul of Tarsus could have fulfilled the role of this apostle of the Gentiles? Everything just fits so beautifully. Here he is, a Jew’s Jew, an Israelite, a Hebrew of the Hebrews of the tribe of Benjamin, and yet he was a Roman by citizenship. Fluent in the Greek, fluent in the culture of the then-known world, and yet in that culminated all the things that were necessary to go, yes to the Jew as a Jew, but also to the Gentiles as a Roman. So it’s just unique, and that is why he is the apostle that he is.

Romans 11:14

“If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, (his fellow Jews, if he could make them envious of what the Gentiles are enjoying) and might save some of them.”

Now look what he said back in Chapter 9, let’s look at verse 3 for a moment. This was the man’s heart for his kinsman in the flesh, the Jew.

Romans 9:3,4a

“For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh: Who are Israelites…;”

Paul never lost that love for his fellow people, the Jews. And even though he recognized himself as the apostle of the Gentiles, yet his heart’s desire was to see Jews come into this knowledge of Salvation. But we know they were his enemies everywhere he went. They were his constant opposition, especially as he came down the shores of Greece, from Philippi, to Thessalonica, down to Berea, and Athens. They pursued him from city to city. Why? Instead of creating an envoy that would bring emulation, they created a hatred.

Romans 11:15a

“For if the casting away of them (and blinding them) be the reconciling of the world,…”

That doesn’t mean the whole world is going to be saved. A Scripture just comes to mind in II Corinthians, Chapter 5, and verse 18, so let’s turn there for a moment. Here the Apostle is writing to the Gentile believers at Corinth.

II Corinthians 5:18

“And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;”

Now you all know what reconciliation means. It’s taking two parties that have been alienated, that are at odds with one another, and bringing them back to a fellowship. The world tonight is set aside from God, they’re at odds with Him, they’re enemies of God, and God has done everything possible to reconcile them to Himself. Now verse 19.

II Corinthians 5:19,20a

“To wit, (to say) that God was in Christ, (there’s His Deity) reconciling the world (now we’ll see this defined a little better when we get back to Romans Chapter 11, but I want you to see the language, that God was in Christ while He hung on that Cross reconciling the whole world) unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ…”

We are to carry out God’s bidding while we are in foreign territory. But what I wanted you to see is that the work of the Cross was the reconciling of the whole world. The Book of Hebrews tells us that Christ tasted death for how many? For every man. He didn’t die for just the few believers. He died for the whole human race. The subject was brought up in one of our classes last night about the dramatizing of the Cross. There are so many plays about that, and using ketchup for the blood and so forth. But when you stop to think about it, how in the world can any human hope to dramatize the work of the Cross. It’s like blasphemy, because it took the very God of creation to do the work of the Cross. That is so far beyond the human endeavor that we can’t even reconcile it. That blood was not ordinary blood, and nothing can take its place. That blood was Divine, it was Holy, it had the power within it to cleanse the whole world’s sin problem, and then we think we can reduce it to human endeavor. No way! Now back to Romans 11, so Paul tells us that if all this reconciliation was accomplished because Israel rejected it, and now it’s been given over to the Gentile world:

Romans 11:15b

“…what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?”

Now when you think of Israel coming back from the dead, I want you to immediately think of one chapter in the Old Testament: Ezekiel Chapter 37. The chapter about the “Dry Bones.” Ezekiel saw that valley filled with dry bones, they were very dry, they had been there so long they were as white as snow, and all of a sudden God told Ezekiel, “Prophecy on those bones” and we know in verse 7 they began to shake, rattle, and roll. And all of that was merely a picture of the Nation of Israel who had been out of the land of promise, who had been away from their temple worship, they’d been away from God, they’d been blinded, but now God’s going to bring them back to life. It was a picture of the nation of Israel coming back to their homeland as we have been seeing now for the last 48 years.

So the nation of Israel has been shaking and coming back to life, coming back to Israel from every nation under heaven. Oh, the muscle has come back on the bone, the skin is coming back on them as promised in Ezekiel 37:6, but there is still no Spiritual life in them. They are still, even as we speak, spiritually dead. This is the same analogy that Paul is using in Romans Chapter 11, the same thing that Ezekiel saw in Chapter 37. That this is the whole nation of Israel coming back to their homeland, coming back to life, waiting for the Second Coming (His first coming the Jews think). You know I’ve told you about the evangelical pastor and the Jewish Rabbi who were discussing the things concerning the Messiah, and this evangelical pastor was trying to convince this Jewish Rabbi that Christ was here the first time, and would be coming again. And the Rabbi said, “No, He’s never been here before, He’s coming the first time when He comes.” And after a bit of argument, finally the Rabbi said, “Ok, let’s put it on hold, and when He gets here we’ll ask Him if He’s been here before.”

Well, you see this is the whole mentality of so many people, they cannot reckon the fact that He has been here. He was rejected, He went back to glory, He’s coming again, and we’re getting close. Now here in verse 15 Paul is referring to this. If this program of reconciliation that has been poured out on the Gentile world, great as it has been however, it’s nothing compared to what is going to happen to Israel when God comes back and fulfills His promises with them. And what shall it be?

Romans 11:15b

“…but life from the dead?

Yes, when the nation of Israel is out in the world they’re dead, they are not a viable entity, but oh, they’re coming back to the land, and that’s why we’re seeing the little nation of Israel in the news every single day. And I’m always reminding people, “Look, what other nation on earth that is comprised of only 3-4 million people, and is about the size of Rhode Island, is in the news constantly? That’s miraculous. And why? Because they’re God’s people, and He’s getting them ready for His soon return.

Romans 11:16,17

“For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches. (so now we come into an interesting illustration, we’re going to go into horticulture.) And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, (speaking to Gentiles now.) being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, (the Jews) and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;”

Now we need to stop a moment. Do you realize when you study this verse that it’s the direct opposite of how we normally graft things? It’s totally opposite, because under normal grafting you take the old root that is native to a particular area. It has survived the climate and soil, and all that, it is native, but it’s fruit probably isn’t all that good. So what do the horticulturists do? Well they breed up a good hybrid, and of course the only one that I’m acquainted with is the pecan tree. So we’ve got the old natural pecan, and then you take a hybrid, which is your big nice soft shell, and you cut off that old original trunk of that native pecan, and graft in this beautiful paper shell. Now that’s the normal way of grafting, but this is opposite. This is taking the beautiful tree, and casting it aside, and grafting in an old wild olive tree. Now if I under stand the wild olive tree correctly, it didn’t produce any fruit, it was worthless.

And that’s like the Gentiles are. We, as a no-good olive tree, have been grafted into the beautiful original which was Israel. And when I teach this I want to make it very plain that we’re not talking about the believers here being grafted in, although we’re certainly part of it, but we’re talking about the whole Gentile system that has been grafted into that which was original Israel. Now, stop and think, How and through what man did the nation of Israel come about? Abraham. All right let’s go back to Genesis Chapter 12 for a moment, and we’ll go directly to verse 3. And remember this has never be abrogated, God has never taken this promise away. Paul has never refuted it, and no one else has, so it’s still valid. It’s still set in concrete.

Genesis 12:3

“And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee (Abraham) shall all families of the earth be blessed.”

Not just Israel, but all the families of the earth. Now then we know that ever since this promise was given to Abraham until we get into Paul going to the Gentiles, Israel enjoyed the fatness of the root of Abraham. Israel was in the promises given to Abraham, but never lose sight of the fact that God also told Abraham he’d be a blessing to all the rest of the world also. Now he can’t do it two times at once, so what did he have to do? God had to set Israel aside, broke them off from the fatness of root of Abraham, and He put in Gentiledom. I’m going to use the word Gentiledom as a group of people, the whole Gentile system has now been by the Grace of God, put into the place that Israel enjoyed in that Old Testament. Now wait a minute. Did that mean that all those Israelites were believers? No. But they had the opportunity to be. They had the Word of God, they had everything going for them, but again most of them weren’t true believers.

Most of the Israelites in the Old Testament were renegades in unbelief, but yet they were on the root of Abraham. Are you with me? Gentiledom is in the same situation today, they’re resting on the root of Abraham. Now that doesn’t make us Jews anymore than a grafted paper shell pecan can become a native pecan. We are merely feasting off that which God had promised the man Abraham. Now as the Gentile system has been feasting on all the blessings of the father of Israel, Abraham, that means that The Gospel (Reference I Corinthians 15:1-4) has been going to the Gentiles, he’s had just as much opportunity at Salvation, and a relationship with God as Israel did back there. But what has Gentiledom done with this glorious opportunity of being in the place of blessing that Israel lost? They did the same thing that Israel did, they’ve walked it underfoot, they have cast it aside, they’ve said thanks, but no thanks. Even though they’re in that place of tremendous opportunity, they won’t take advantage of it. So the Gentiles have experienced that position now for almost two thousand years. What’s going to happen next?

Romans 11:17-20a

“And if some of the branches (Israel) be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, (Gentiles) wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness (promises to Abraham.) of the olive tree; Boast not against the branches, But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in. (that would be the Gentile boast) Well; because of unbelief they (Israel) were broken off, and thou standest by faith.”

Israel was enjoying the fatness of Abraham, but, what did they do with it? They rejected it in unbelief, and they lost that exalted position that we read about in Romans Chapter 2 or 3. They had the Word of God, and had everything else going for them. So continuing on in verse 20 Paul tell us:

Romans 11:20b-22

“Be not high-minded, (as a Gentile) but fear. (and here’s why.) For if God spared not the natural branches, (Israel, the good tree) take heed lest he also spare not thee. Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, (Israel) severity; (oh, absolutely God dealt with Israel severely because they rejected so much.) but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.”

But you see, we Gentiles are fast approaching that same place, where God is going to finally get fed up with the Gentile world system who are rejecting His offer of Grace, and who are rejecting His blessings, who are rejecting believing Who He is and what He is. So what’s He going to do? He’s going to do the same thing to the Gentiles that He did to Israel. He’s going to break off the Gentile, and when He’s through with the Gentile, who is He going to put back? The Jew. Do you see how beautiful that is? See what I meant four programs ago when I said anybody who maintains that God is through with the Jew, that there’s no more fulfilling of Old Testament prophecy, they’ve got to take this chapter and tear it out. They have to throw it away because it just sits here and it trumpets, just screams at us, that God is not through with Israel. God is yet going to fulfill all the promises made to Abraham. We’ve just been fortunate enough that in the interim, while they’ve been blinded, we’ve been brought into the place of blessing, as Gentiles! I’m not talking about believers necessarily, I’m talking about the whole Gentile world. We’ve been brought into the place of having the simple requirement of believing The Gospel. Verse 22 again:

Romans 11:22,23a

“Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, (Gentiledom) goodness: if thou continue in his goodness, (in other words, respond to this offer of Grace and recognize all of His blessings that have been showered upon us) otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in:…”

In other words, one day their unbelief is going to be removed. Will a nation be born in a day? Absolutely! When they see Him coming in the clouds of glory! That remnant of Israel (I think down there in the mountains southeast of Jerusalem that went out in Matthew 24). God has protected them down there for three and one half years from the horrors of Tribulation. He keeps them just like He did Israel in the wilderness under Moses. And that remnant of Israel, when they see Him coming in the clouds of glory, in power, crushing the Gentile world that has taken over the Middle East, then they will recognize Who He is. They will see Him and the nation, the remnant will be saved in a moment and they’ll be grafted in. Continuing on:

Romans 11:23b

“… for God is able to graft them in again.”

God’s not through with Israel. Sure they’ve been set aside for over 1900 years, but that’s nothing in God’s program. That’s just a flick of the eyelid. And He’s going to graft them in again.

Romans 11:24a

“For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature,…”

It’s unproductive. I think the name of it was the old Oleander Tree, if I’m not mistaken. It was an olive tree but it didn’t produce any olives. And so that’s the analogy of Gentiles. They were no good, they were pagan. God had no reason to go to them except by what? By grace! And so He took the no-good Gentiles and He brought them in and made them a part of the fatness of the Abrahamic Promises. But He says be careful. If you reject this like Israel did, you’re going to be cut off just as well as they were and it’s going to happen. The day is coming when God will stop the Age of Grace and He’s going to set the Gentiles into the horrors of the Tribulation and He’s going to turn again to His Covenant people. Looking at verse 24 again:

Romans 11:24

“For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature (just opposite of what we normally do when we graft) into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, (the Nation of Israel) which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive tree?”

Now listen, just stop and think. If God took that which was natural, broke it off, set it aside and grafted in an old wild olive tree, the Gentiles, and He’s been letting them enjoy all the possibilities of Salvation and blessing that Israel at one time had, but when they have rejected it, and rejected it, and rejected it, then God will do the same thing with the Gentiles that He did with Israel. He will cast them aside and He will set Israel back on that root of Abraham and Israel is going to go into the kingdom enjoying the blessings.

 

Through the Bible with Les Feldick

LESSON 1 * PART 3 * BOOK 25

ROMANS 11:1

Let’s get back to Romans Chapter 11, and we were commenting on verse 9 where David said in the Psalms:

Romans 11:9

“…Let their (that is Israel’s as a nation) table be made a snare,…” (and I made reference to that in the last lesson that Israel was literally feasting at the table of God Himself, but it became a snare,) and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompense unto them:”

As a result of their unbelief and rejecting of all the good things that Jehovah had showered upon them the conclusion was:

Romans 11:10

“Let their eyes (spiritual eyes) be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway.”

And so in their unbelief God just made sure that they really wouldn’t believe by putting a spiritual blindness upon the nation. I’ve taught over the years that God deals with the Jew on two levels, National, and Individual. Nationally they’re blinded, waiting for the coming of their Messiah at the end of the Tribulation, when all of a sudden the remnant that has been protected will be saved. But today, in the Age of Grace, nationally they’re blinded, but an individual Jew has every opportunity to believe The Gospel (Ref. I Corinthians 15:1-4). So don’t feel sorry for the Jew that he has no chance, because he does. He has just as much chance of believing The Gospel of God’s Grace as we Gentiles, but on the national basis as God dealt with them by bringing them out of Egypt, and He dealt with them on the basis as a nation of people, that has ended. He has blinded them nationally, but individually they can still come into the Body of Christ. Now verse 11, and on that national basis:

Romans 11:11a

“I say then, Have they stumbled (as a nation of people, as a Covenant people) that they should fall? (in other words, out of God’s program, that they’re completely removed from anything more to do with their God. Well look at his answer.) God forbid:…”

Don’t even think such a thing. They haven’t fallen out of God’s program. God has simply set them aside for a period of time. In the Book of Acts, where you don’t really expect to see prophecy, Paul had started his ministry (I think he was on the island of Cyprus), and Elymas the sorcerer tried to keep Paul from ministering to that Roman deputy, what did Paul do?

Acts 13:11

“And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand.”

Although Paul gave him a blindness it wasn’t permanent, but only for a season. Now that was indicative of the nation of Israel. They too have been blinded, not forever, but for a season. Now it’s been a long season in human reckoning, as it’s been over 1900 years, but it’s not going to last forever. One day, and we trust that we’re getting closer and closer as time runs out, Israel will once again have her spiritual eyes opened. Now continuing on with Romans 11:11.

Romans 11:11a

“…but rather through their fall (because the Nation of Israel rejected their Messiah, and King) salvation is come unto the Gentiles,…

And that had been unheard of, it was beyond human comprehension, how that the Holy God of glory could use something as graphic and as awful as that Roman Cross to bring about a Gospel that He could send out to the Gentiles free! Without works, without religion, without a ritual, without a priesthood, it was a Gospel that merely had to be believed. Now that’s what most people can’t comprehend – it’s too simple, but this is the way God intended it so that no one Jew or Gentile can ever say, “Well I just couldn’t measure up, I couldn’t reach that.” No one can say that, it’s out there for everyone because Israel fell.

This is strictly hypothetical, from the human stand point, if Israel would have accepted the Christ, if they would have embraced Him as their Redeemer, Messiah, and King, what would have happened? Oh, they could have had the King and the Kingdom, but according to the Old Testament prophecies had they had done that then what could Israel have done? They could have evangelized those Gentiles, and just brought them in by the millions. That was their prospect, but you see that’s hypothetical. In the foreknowledge of God it couldn’t happen, because He had to die, and so the Nation of Israel rejected Him, they crucified Him, and they continued to reject Him in the early Book of Acts, although Peter and the eleven preached their hearts out. And finally when Israel proved that they were not going to believe, God raised up that other little Jew, that rebel, that raging bull who hated Jesus of Nazareth. He saved him by Grace, and that is the epitome of Grace in the Salvation of Saul of Tarsus.

Then He told Saul before he even got out of Damascus, that He was going to send him far hence to the Gentiles. Israel is going to go out into a spiritual blindness, but Saul would go to the Gentiles, and so this is what this verse is saying. What Israel really did when they rejected The Christ, was open up the windows of heavens for us Gentiles, whose forefathers were pagan. Everyone of us, if we could follow our family tree all the way back, would find that every one of our ancestors were steeped in idolatry, they were steeped in the occult, in mythology or whatever it might be. Israel alone had the true knowledge of the one True God. But God has now done something totally different, as He sent this apostle out to those pagan Gentiles, and they suddenly almost began to swarm to The Gospel. They had a spiritual hunger that Israel could not comprehend. If you know your Book of Acts, every place that Paul went and preached The Gospel, when the Jews would reject it, he would go to those pagan Gentiles, what would those Gentiles do? They would embrace it, they were thrilled by it, but that made the Jews hate Paul and the Gentiles, because they were infringing upon their God. So the Jews were the chief opponents of Christianity.

Now it’s amazing how human nature works. As the Jew then became the chief opponent of Gentiles being saved in time, how did the Gentile react to the Jew? He began to hate them. Now let’s look again at this verse. See this is where human nature goes contrary to the will of God.

Romans 11:11

“I say then, `Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them (the Jew) to jealousy.'”

Now all you have to do is go back to a couple of kids in high school who are dating, and having a good time, and are in love, and all of a sudden there’s a falling out. And I dare tell you, unless kids have changed remarkably more than I think, what’s one of them going to start doing in order to win their little love back? Well, they’re going to date somebody else. Why? To promote jealousy! And this is exactly what God intended to do. God was going to turn to the Gentiles with the idea that Israel would get jealous. “Hey, they’re taking my place. I’d better wake up and get back to where I belong.” But contrary to what God intended it went the other way, and not only did it turn Israel in anger against the Gentiles, they precipitated in return the persecution of the Gentiles against them. Go back and read human history. Ever since Christianity became more or less the official empire religion way back in the early centuries, what did they do to the Jews? Persecuted and killed them by the thousand, chased them out of every place where they had established a community. Why? Because they were the Christ killers, they were the enemies of God, and some of our earlier reformers said horrible things about the Jews, and it was all human reaction to circumstances. Now that isn’t the way God intended it, he intended it to turn Israel to Himself by promoting a jealousy.

Romans 11:12

“Now if the fall of them (in other words they’re rejecting everything and God is setting them aside and turning to the Gentiles) be the riches of the world,…”

The word `world’ here in the Greek is `cosmos,’ which means the world’s system. It isn’t talking about terra firma – the earth – it’s talking about the human system. The politics and economy and the world population, predominately of Gentiles, of course. So the fall of this nation Israel, out of God’s program for them, is going to bring about the riches of the world. Now I’m not talking about the riches of wealth, money, gold and silver. We’re talking about spiritual riches, what we as Gentiles have enjoyed. Whether we’re poor as church mice, as we saw down in Haiti. You can’t imagine the poverty. You can’t imagine how hungry those poor people are. And yet, what did they have? A spiritual joy! I wish you could have heard those people sing. They’d just raise the roof. Why? They had that joy unspeakable in spite of their poverty. That’s what Paul is alluding to when he says:

Romans 11:12

“Now if the fall of them be the riches (the spiritual riches) of the (Gentile) world….”

And it’s true. Never lose sight of the fact that our forefathers were steeped in idolatry. They were steeped in paganism, superstition and fear. They didn’t have the freedom that we have as believers. I always tell women the greatest feminist movement that ever happened to the human race is Christianity. That’s what set women free. If you go back into ancient history and into those pagan cultures, who did all the work? The women! Who did all the child raising? The women! They did it all. I can remember seeing little old eight millimeter film from missionaries coming home from the mission fields, back when I was a kid, and the women were doing it all. They were planting the crops, harvesting, they were grinding the grain, washing the clothes, taking care of the kids, and where were the men? Sitting up against some hut drinking hooch – getting drunk. But Christianity changed all of that. Christianity brought the woman up to the place of respect and on an even keel with mankind. It’s been abused, of course. But listen, this is the riches that Paul is talking about. Christianity has just set people free.

Again, I’m logical and I look at things logically as well as spiritually. Have you ever stopped to wonder why did the western civilization explode and bring their standard of living ten times higher than any other place on earth? Why? Christianity! Just stop and look at it for a moment. As Paul went across the Aegean Sea into Greece, The Gospel went to Europe and Europe became the breeding ground of all our inventions and men of science. You go back into every bit of it and it either began on the continent of Europe or England or as they came over to America. And so all of our technology, almost without exception, where did it come out of? Western civilization which had been predominately “Christian.” Why? Because Christianity set people free. It loosed them from the superstitions of the pagan world. It loosed them from all the hang-up and the detriment to women and so forth. Christianity did it! And so we’d better thank our Lord that we too have been brought under this Christian influence rather than under some of these pagan religions that do nothing but keep their people subservient, and in ignorance and in superstition. If you don’t believe me, go to the library and read the history books. It’s in there just as plain as day. But so often time we just don’t stop to think. Reading on:

Romans 11:12

“Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them (putting them out in a spiritual blindness, taking away their homeland, priesthood, religion and their temple) the riches of the Gentiles; (now here it comes) how much (what’s the word?) more their (now we’re talking about Israel. Their what?) fulness?”

They’ve never attained it yet. They’ve never attained the fulness God has in store for them. But it’s coming. Don’t you ever sell the Jew down the river. It’s coming. They’re going to go through some horrible times. You can already see it in the little nation of Israel. They’re being backed into the corner a little bit tighter all the time. And this is why they’re so frantically trying to make peace. As I told one of my classes the other night, Israel today is no different than Israel back in the time of Samuel. What was the problem with Israel when Samuel was the last judge? They said, “Samuel, not anything against you, but we want to be like the nations around us. We don’t want to be different anymore. We want to be like the rest of the Gentile nations. We want a king!” And Samuel says, “Now stop and think. If you get a king, you’re going to be taxed to death. If you get a king, he’s going to draft your kids. If you get a king, he’s going to put his thumb on you.” But they said, “That doesn’t matter. We want to be like the rest of the world.”

Israel is no different today. The government of Israel tonight is frantically seeking to be accepted by the Gentile world. They want their economy to mesh with the European Common Market. They want to be out there competing with the Gentile nations of the world. And God says, “No you’re not! You are a separated people.” And they haven’t learned their lesson. And so as they try to assimilate and try to become just another member of the family of nations, they’re getting deeper and deeper into the hole they are digging for themselves. And they’re getting backed into the corner. I’ll keep emphasizing as long as I live, we’re getting closer to the day when Israel will have no hope except the coming of their King. And He will come. The false king first, we know that. Jesus said it in John’s Gospel:

John 5:43

“I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not; if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.”

That’s the Anti-Christ. Sure they will. They’re getting ready for it. I’ve told you more than once that I’ve had Jewish people tell me what they’re looking for in their Messiah. And they can’t comprehend that the Messiah is going to be God. He’s going to be a man, but he’s going to be a superman. He’s going to be somebody that has a lot of military apropos. He’s going to have a lot of economic for him. He’s going to have charisma. He’s going to be able to do all the things they think a superman can do. You know what I tell them? “You’re describing the Anti-christ.” But they just don’t see that. So what is left for the nation? Their fullness! All of the fulfilling of all those Old Testament promises are still coming. They’ve been withheld for almost 2,000 years. God hasn’t forgotten them. They’re still coming. Now let’s go on and don’t lose sight, that just because Paul has been dealing with the nation of Israel for three chapters, don’t lose sight of what he is. And you highlight this verse. You lock it into your memory bank. Because this is an important verse, one of the most important verses in all of Paul’s epistles.

Romans 11:13

“For I speak to you Gentiles, (he’s been talking about Israel for three chapters, but who is he talking to? The Gentile believers at Rome and those in our own time.) inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office.”

Some of the newer translations move the “the” preceding apostle and put in an “an.” And when I first saw that, my hair stood on end, because that is a complete violation of the text and it changes Paul’s whole position. If he is just another apostle, then he is a liar. Because he claims in all of his letters, as he defends his apostleship, that it was to him and him alone that God revealed these great doctrines of grace. And see how subtly they change the meaning of a verse? But he says, “I am the apostle of the Gentiles.” And that’s not the half of it. He said, “I magnify my office.” You know what that means? He was never going to back down from his role of being God’s man for the Gentile world. I tell people all the time, you on your prayer knees, better thank God for this little Jew who was willing to suffer all the things that a human being can suffer in order to get The Gospel to you and I as Gentiles. There’s a verse that we use so often, and let’s look at it again in the Book of II Peter. I don’t know if pastors take the time to listen to me or not, but if they do I hope, and pray, that if they don’t get anything else from my teachings at least they get the idea that they have to get into Paul’s letters. You are not going to see a viable, living ministry if you do all your preaching and teaching from the Four Gospels. It’s just not back there, and you have to leave those things behind, which I call the “Milk of the Word.” And Paul himself in Hebrews tells us:

Hebrews 5:13,14

“For every one that useth milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”

So we should get off that milk bottle. I used to tell my high school Sunday School kids years ago when they would come out of junior high into my class, to throw their milk bottles away. We’re going to start eating T-Bone steaks, potatoes, and vegetables. Well, that’s what the meat of The Word is all about. Now look what II Peter says shortly before he’s martyred.

II Peter 3:15,16

“And account (understand) that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; (and that’s what the whole Scripture is about.) even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all his epistles, (that’s Romans through Hebrews) speaking in them of these things; (what things? Salvation!) in which (these epistles)are some things hard to be understood, (now good old Peter says that years and years after he had experienced that earthly ministry) which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest…(or twist the Scriptures.. And we see that every day, how they twist the Scriptures, and Paul says that when they do that they make it another Gospel, and the anathema of a Righteous God rests upon these people when they do it. So they twist the Scripture) unto their own destruction.”

But you know what the sad part is? It’s not just to their own destruction, but also all those people that are under them. Every time somebody twists the Scriptures to their people, whether it’s a small or large congregation, they are destroying those people who are listening to them. So we have to come back and search the Scriptures. Peter is telling us to get back to the writings of Paul, and we do have to get into his epistles, because, “He is the apostle to the Gentiles.” The Holy Spirit prompted him to say that, and so when some one calls or writes, and says, “I want to start reading my Bible more, Where should I start.” I always tell them to start with Romans Chapter 1, and read Romans till they’re blue in the face, then go on to one of his other epistles.