Why Peter Preached to "Ye Men of Israel" (Acts 2 & 3 Explained)

Hello and welcome to Through the Bible with Les Feldick. An Oklahoma rancher and farmer, Les Feldick has been teaching homestyle Bible classes for 20 years in Iowa, Oklahoma, and Texas. Les Feldick's unique style of Bible teaching has made the books of the Bible come to life. When Les is teaching, it's so interesting that people say time just seems to fly by. And now, here is Les Feldick. Okay, it's good to have everybody in this afternoon, and we always appreciate the effort that you put forth to come in, and we trust that the Lord blesses you as well. And for those of you joining us out in television, we just hope that you can take your Bibles and notes and follow us along. And as we just mentioned in our prayer here in the studio, that we can just get people to understand what the book really says, not what we think it says, not when someone else says it says, but to be able to search the Scriptures and see if these things are so. I've had so many people call from our television audience, what all about this, or what about that? And my stock answer is, what does your Bible say? And one lady just, you know, was kind of shocked, and on the other hand, she said, I guess I would have known that's what you'd say. And she said, that's why I'm calling, I can't find it in my Bible. And I said, well, if you can't find it, then you better run from it. Because this is the only thing we have to go by, not by what my denomination or your denomination or any other group says, what does the Word of God say? Because that's how God's going to judge us someday. And so, we just hope that you can search the Scriptures with us and study together. And again, we always like to remind folk that all these programs are available in print and in video, now in audio. And so, if you're interested in any of that, you drop us a note or call us, and we'll make sure that we get the information out to you. All right, let's start with Exodus 19 in this particular program, as we have been studying all the way from Genesis over the last several months and weeks, whatever the case may be. And now Israel, of course, has just come out of Egypt. They're gathered around Mount Sinai, and Moses is up in Mount Sinai, and God is speaking to him. And he makes a tremendous statement here. In fact, I use this verse all the way through the whole scriptural economy concerning Israel and our relationship to the nation of Israel. And that'd be in Exodus 19, and dropping down to verse 5, where God says to Moses, and Moses, of course, is going to refer it back to Israel. Now, therefore, if, so it's conditional, remember God never takes away the free will of men or nations. And he says, if you will obey my voice indeed and keep my covenant, then you shall be a peculiar or particular treasure unto me above all people. Now, do you see the language? Israel is going to be elevated to a position above all the other nations of the world. And that will never change until, of course, the dispersions, and then when God brings them back and finishes up the end time scenario, when Israel will once again be the head of the nations. All right. And why can God say this? Well, the last part of the verse. He's sovereign. All the earth, he says, is mine. And he can do anything he wants to do, any way he wants to do it. Now then, the verse 6 is the one we want to really look at in depth in this half hour. And he says, and you, the nation of Israel, shall be unto me a kingdom of priests. And I always stop and ask the question, what's a priest? A go-between. Now, we know that Israel had their own priesthood, so it wasn't that they were to be a go-between between themselves and God, but between the Gentiles and God. And so this was the prospect of the nation of Israel now, as God is beginning to deal with them as a nation. And you shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. Now, all the way up through the Old Testament then, this is going to be the format that God is getting the nation ready. He's preparing them for this national priesthood, where every Jew would be in a position to lead Gentiles to a knowledge of their God. All right, let's jump all the way up to Acts chapter 2. Now, I'm not going to take time to look at all the Old Testament references regarding all this, but as we go up now to Acts chapter 2, the day of Pentecost, and Peter, of course, is the spokesman, and Peter is addressing this huge crowd of Jews that have now gathered from all over the Roman Empire. And he's going to continue this whole frame of reference that the reason Christ came to the nation of Israel was to fulfill these Old Testament promises and these covenants. And so, he's making this claim on the nation now even after his crucifixion, after his resurrection. And here it is, seven weeks after, it's the day of Pentecost. And now look carefully again at what it says, Ye men of Israel. Oh, that's so plain. That's so plain. I've said so often, you know, I'm not an English major, and I don't claim to be a professor of English, but my goodness, we can all read English, and it doesn't put anything else in here but Ye men of Israel. There's nothing in here concerning the Gentiles, only Ye men of Israel. All right, reading on, Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs which God did by him in the midst of you, as you yourselves also know. See? Why did he perform all these miracles? In fact, we were just talking about it last night in our Tulsa class. Some of you people will think I did that on purpose. No, that came up accidentally last night. But why did Jesus come to the nation of Israel and perform all these signs and wonders and miracles? To prove that he was that promised Messiah, the King, ready to give them the kingdom, see, as well as to be their Redeemer. All right? So now then, you read on, and verse 23, of course, him being delivered by the determinant counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken, and by wicked hands, are crucified and slain. All right, then he comes down through these series of verses between 25 and 30, and he goes back into the Psalms, and he quotes David. And David speaks prophetically concerning Christ's coming and his death and his resurrection, but not as yet as the salvation of Gentiles, but only that everything could be fulfilled so he could be the Redeemer of Israel, and Israel could pass it out to those nations around them and be priests. All right? Then you come on all the way down to verse 36. Verse 36, in this same chapter, Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus whom you crucified Lord and Christ, and the other word for Christ is Messiah. There it is, plain as day. And it was only as yet for the nation of Israel. All right, then verse 38. My folk could just only understand that verse 38 is tied to verse 36. It was the people of Israel who were to understand that they needed to repent and be baptized. Now what I usually do is stop right here, and I ask people, when do you first hear that kind of language, repent and be baptized? Well John the Baptist, sure. John the Baptist, and you all know that John the Baptist didn't have a ministry to Gentiles. He had a ministry only to the covenant people of Israel. And why were they to repent and be baptized? To be in preparation for the coming of their King, and so they in turn could be a nation of priests to take the knowledge of their God to these pagan Gentiles. See how plain that is? But oh, people push everything else in there, you know, that doesn't belong there, but you have to push it all aside and look and see what does the book say. It says, therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, therefore repent and be baptized every one of you. Now there's a little stickler right there. What does every one mean? It means what it says, every Jew living at that time would have had to come to a place of regeneration, of a salvation experience through that repentance and water baptism, and then Christ could have returned and yet given the kingdom of Israel. Not until, consequently, consequently, what does Israel do? They reject it, and they reject it, and they reject it, all right? Then you come on over to chapter 3, verse 1, and of course when I'm in the early verses of Acts and in line of this whole kingdom promise to the nation of Israel, I always like to show, and this is where our whole deal came up last night in our Tulsa class, that Israel, all during Christ's earthly ministry, was under the law, see? The temple is operating. I've repeated it a hundred times. Joseph maintains that there were a million animals sacrificed every year at the time of Christ. Nobody told him to stop that. Jesus never told him, now stop taking the sacrifices because I have now come. No, no, all right? Even after his death, burial, and resurrection, his ascension. Now you come into chapter 3 of the book of Acts, and look where Peter and John are going. They're not going out to the church. Where are they going? To the temple, see? Chapter 3, verse 1, now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer. Hold it. Does Christianity have designated hours of prayer like the Muslim world or like some of the others, that at a particular hour of the morning they all bow down on their knees and have prayer and go through their ritual? No, Christianity never has that. Paul never teaches that you have a specific ritual of prayer, and yet Peter and John are going to the temple at the required hour of prayer. So what does all that tell you? They're still under the law. They have no concept yet of the grace of God, which is going to be poured out later, and so this is what we want you to see, that they are still under this covenant economy, going all the way back to Exodus 19, that if Israel would accept their king, they could be a kingdom of priests, all right? So they went up to the temple at about the ninth hour, since it was the hour of prayer. All right, now look what happens. Verse 11 here in chapter 3, and they healed the lame man, see? And the lame man who was healed held Peter and John. All the people ran together unto them in the porch that is called Solomon's. Now what was Solomon's porch a part of? The temple. Now you see, so many people fail to realize that the temple was not removed from Israel's religious scene until 69 or 70 A .D. The crucifixion, in my line of figuring, was 29. Now some people say 33, but I think the more accurate is 29. So all right, you have a 40-year period of time now from the crucifixion until the temple is destroyed and Israel is dispersed. Now what book in our Bible covers that whole 40 years? The book of Acts. And so here we are at about 29 A.D. and the day of Pentecost, and now we're probably just a few weeks after Pentecost. Now chapter 3, verse 12, and again just watch the language. And when Peter saw it, that is the consternation of the Jews over the healing of the lame man, he answered the people, Ye men of Israel and all you Gentiles, no, it's not in there, it's not in there. A lot of people try to make it in there, but it isn't. He's still addressing Jew only, and he says, Ye men of Israel. Why marvel at this? Why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power of holiness we made this man to walk? The God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. You see how clear that is? That's Jewish. The pagan world put no emphasis on that, but the Jew, it was everything, see? All right? So the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And then you come on down all the way to verse 25, and look what he says, and I even stress in my classes here in Oklahoma, we as members of the Grace Age Church, and I don't care what denominational handle you have, but the Grace Age Church is not a covenant people. We are not under a set of covenants. Israel was. Israel had the Abrahamic Covenant, they had the Davidic Covenant, they had the Palestinian Covenant, they had the Mosaic Covenant. Those were all covenants that God made only with the nation of Israel. We don't have that. We just simply have the grace of God, we're members of the body of Christ, of which Christ is the head, but we're not a covenant people. Now look what Peter tells Israel in chapter 3, verse 25. Now I'm still hanging on Exodus 19, verse 6, but verse 25 of Acts 3, you, Peter says, are the children of the prophets and of the covenant, see, which God made with our fathers when he said unto Abraham, in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. Isn't that plain? You, he says to the Jews, are the children of the covenants. What covenants? Beginning with the one that God made with their father Abraham. Now look at the next verse. How can anybody misconstrue this? Unto you first, God, having raised up his son Jesus, sent him to bless you in turning, how many again? Every one of you, see, away from his iniquities. That's what God had in his mind that Israel now was in a position to accept their king. He had now made the atoning work. He had now been raised from the dead. He had ascended according to Psalms 110, verse 1, come sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool. He was ready to come back. If Israel would have just believed it. Now, you know, we've been stressing in our classes here in Oklahoma more than once how many times God made valid offers knowing, of course, they wouldn't be accepted. We know that Adam and Eve in the garden were made a valid offer. They could have stayed as long as they didn't sin, but God knew they would. At Kadesh Barnea, Israel, the nation again, was brought up on the borders of the promised land and it was all laid out in front of them. They could have had everything that the Canaanites had progressively produced, their vineyards, their gardens, their orchards, their fields, their houses, everything. And God said, it's yours for the taking. Go in and take it. You won't have to lift a sword. You won't lose a drop of blood. Was it a valid offer? Sure it was. Did they take it? No. They rejected it in unbelief. Now, the same way with all this. It was a valid offer, first in His earthly ministry that they could have the king. And God in His own providence would have still taken care of the sacrifice that had to be accomplished. But God in His foreknowledge knew that they would crucify Him. Now Peter comes back after the crucifixion and again he presents the nation with the king and the kingdom. And again, what do they do? They reject it in unbelief. Could anything good come out of Nazareth? A king coming in on a colt of a donkey? Normally, you know, a king should come in back in the ancients riding a prancing white steed. And here he comes in on a donkey, and it just threw the curve at him. And so they rejected him, and they continued to reject him until, of course, God raised up the apostle Paul. All right. Now then, let's go back once again to the Old Testament and pick up how beautifully all the Old Testament speaks of this very concept that Israel was to be the light to the Gentiles, be priests. Let's go all the way back for—I think we have time. Let's go all the way back to Isaiah for a moment. Let's go back to Isaiah chapter 42, because I just want folks to realize that all through God dealing with Israel, this was their prospect, that they could be a nation of priests and that they could bring salvation and the knowledge of their God to the Gentile world. Isaiah 42, and let's just jump right in at verse 1. Isaiah 42, verse 1. You all got it? Behold, my servant, whom I uphold, mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth, I have put my spirit upon him, and he, that is, the Messiah, and he shall bring forth judgment or rule to what people? The Gentile. See? That was way back in prophecy. All right. Let's just jump up to 49, I think, is probably my next one that I like to use because it's so clear. Verse 6, Isaiah 49, verse 6, Isaiah 49, verse 6. And he, that is, God, said, it is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved of Israel. I will also give thee, and I think he's talking to the nation here, the tribes, I shall give thee for a light to what people? The Gentile. See how clear that is? That thou mayest be my what? Salvation to the ends of the earth. That was the whole idea of the priesthood of Israel, that they could be the go -between to bring salvation to these pagan Gentile. All right. Let's come all the way up to 59, I think, is another good one. Isaiah 59, beginning at verse 20. Isaiah 59, verse 20. And the Redeemer, capitalized, and the Redeemer shall come to Zion unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord, as for me, this is my covenant with them. My spirit that is upon thee, my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth thy seed, thy seed's seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth forever. Now go down in chapter 60, verse 1. Arise and shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. The darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people, but the Lord shall arise upon thee, Israel, and his glory shall be seen upon thee, and the ... What's the next word? Gentile shall come to thy light. All right, now let's go all the way up to Zechariah, next to the last book in your Old Testament, Zechariah. I could also look at a few in Daniel chapter 2, but we're not going to take time for that. Let's just go all the way up to Zechariah chapter 8, Zechariah chapter 8, and drop in at verse 20, Zechariah 8, verse 20. And keep this whole concept on your mind, that Israel was promised that if they would be obedient, they could be a kingdom of priests, all right? Verse 20, chapter 8, thus saith the Lord of hosts, it shall yet come to pass that there shall come people, and the inhabitants of many cities, and the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the Lord, and to seek the Lord of hosts, I will go also, yea, many people, strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts, where? In Jerusalem, and to pray before the Lord. Now verse 23, thus saith the Lord of hosts, in those days, what days? When Israel has finally reached that priesthood, that in those days it shall come to pass, ten men shall take hold out of all the languages, now what's it referring to? Gentiles, all the languages of the nations, and they shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you. Isn't that beautiful? That was Israel's prospect, but what did they do? They rejected it in unbelief. Oh, that's been the world's problem, not just Israel's. All right, now in our closing moments, let's run all the way up again to Romans. I like to tie all this together as much as we can, Old Testament and New, because they all fit. Now you come to Romans chapter 11, Romans chapter 11, and we'll see what Paul says about this very same thing. And oh, goodness, I hardly know where to jump in here, but he says, verse 7, What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for. Well, goodness sakes, what were they looking for all during the Old Testament? The king and the kingdom. But they missed it. See? They missed it when it came. All right, the election have obtained it, those few who followed Christ and believed that He was the Messiah. But then come all the way down to verse 11, and look what Paul says, I say, Have they stumbled that they should fall? In other words, over their Messiah that they missed? Does that mean that God is all through with Israel like so many people like to teach today? No, God's not through with His covenant people. He dispersed them. He took away their temple. He took away their country. But now they're back in the land, and they're waiting for the day, of course, when they can have their temple once again. So he says, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid. But rather through their fall, through their fall, salvation has come to what people? The Gentiles. Oh, but under a whole different format. Do you see the difference? Back in the Old Testament, the promise was that Israel, every Jew could be a priest of God to bring these Gentiles to a knowledge of their Jehovah God. But they missed it. But did that stop God? No. Instead of taking the whole nation of Israel, God raised up one other little Jew, just one, Saul of Tarsus, a renegade, zealous for the law, saved him by grace there on the road to Damascus. And what's the first thing that God lets Saul know? I'm going to send you far hence to the Gentiles. Now he's going to, of course, go to the Jew too, but it was primarily the apostle of the Gentiles that Saul was converted for on the road to Damascus. And so here's what he can say. Have they stumbled that God should remove them completely? No way. No way. But they've been in a dispersion now for 1,900 and some years, and now they've come back in our generation, and everything is getting set for the day when God's once again going to pick up where He left off with His covenant people, Israel. Oh, it's coming, and we're getting closer every day. The world is just rushing, I maintain, to this end-time scenario. Israel is just constantly being squeezed tighter and tighter. And I know a lot of people probably think that she's going to cease to be a nation one of these days, and the world and the Palestinians will just simply push them into the sea. Listen, it's not going to happen. It's not going to happen, because God has promised that He is still going to fulfill these covenant promises with His covenant people, Israel. All right, now we know that as we go into the next chapter 20, Israel is going to receive the law. But I always like to have people refer, we won't have time in this program, but refer to Romans 3, verse 20 and 21 after the program, or even though you at home, after you've watched the program, look up Romans 3, 20 and 21. The law was given to Israel, absolutely it was, but it was also for the whole human race, that all the world may become saved, no.