Why the Apostles Stayed in Jerusalem: Israel vs. The Church

Welcome to Through the Bible with Les Feldick, a 30-minute walk through the Scriptures, teaching in-depth Bible truths that change people's lives. Now, here's your host, Les Feldick. Good evening, and it's good to have everybody back. And once again, we'll turn right into Psalms chapter 2, where we left off. But for just a bit of review, and for those of you who are joining us on television, in case you weren't with us last week, we've been talking about Abraham sending his servant into a far country, up into Syria, to get a bride for his son Isaac. And we brought out the point that it's a beautiful illustration of the Holy Spirit's work in this present age, drawing out or calling out a bride from amongst the Gentiles for the Son, for Christ, the body of Christ. And the reason I like to use the illustration is when Isaac, you remember, had left the home tent and was out in the field at some distance from home, when he met his bride coming from the far country, which I think is a beautiful picture of how Christ will leave heaven and will call the bride up and will meet him in the clouds of the air. But before we get to actually teaching those events, and we've had a few requests from our television audience that we take the time sometime to lay these things out on a timeline, and so we're kind of heading toward that point. But before we do that, I always like to make clear the understanding of the Old Testament program in which there is no hint of this church age. The Old Testament program, all it had in mind was God's program for Israel. And this is best laid out in outline form in Psalms chapter 2, and so that's the reason. We're going to point this out and how this program was interrupted, and God went to the Gentile to call out a people for His name, and how He will one day come back and finish this Old Testament program. Now verse 1 again, just for a quick review. Why do the heathen, or the non-Jews, rage in the people Israel? Imagine a vain thing. The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers, that is, of Israel, take counsel together, Jew and Gentile, against the Lord, or against Jehovah, and against His anointed, against the Christ. And they said, of course here it's future, and they say, Let us break their bands asunder, cast away their cords from us. Now that, of course, took place at the rejection of Christ and His crucifixion. Then verse 4, the response of God the Father in heaven was, that He would laugh, He that sitteth in heaven shall laugh, the Lord shall have them, that is, the nations of the world, in derision, confusion. And the word in the Gospels, as Jesus foretold these, that there would be days of perplexity. And, of course, we're certainly seeing that in our own time. But nevertheless, this was all looking forward to the coming of Christ, His rejection. And then verse 5. That very first word of verse 5, again, is a time word, then. In other words, after the nations had come to a place of derision, then He, that is, God, will speak unto them, the nations, in His wrath. Not in His grace, but in His wrath. And vex them in His sore displeasure. Well, what's the psalmist talking about? The tribulation, that terrible period of time that's going to come on the world, but it's going to be especially directed to the nation of Israel. Then, now verse 6. Immediately following this period of wrath and vexation, which all of the Scripture designates as seven years, then in verse 6, Yet have I, God says, set my King upon the holy hill of Zion. Now, maybe we can put that also up on the board as kind of a timeline. Here we come out of the Old Testament, starting, I like to start always, especially with the call of Abraham and that covenant. We come up out of the Old Testament. The Messiah comes on the scene. And what does Israel do? As we've already seen in Psalms, they rejected Him. Now, according to Psalms, chapter 2, after the rejection, and He would ascend, of course. Now, maybe we should look that up. That's in Psalms 110. Keep your hand in verse, in chapter 2, and turn with me to Psalms 110. Normally, people don't think of the book of Psalms as being prophetic, but they are. There's just a lot of prophecy in the book of Psalms. It's in the book of Psalms that the crucifixion is depicted, and His ascension. But here in Psalms 110, we have His ascension to the Father's right hands. Psalms 110, verse 1. Where the Lord said unto my lords, Sit thou at my right hand until... Now, there's that time word. He's not going to stay there forever. But He is seated at the Father's right hand until a point in time I make thy enemies thy footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion. Rule thou in the midst of thy enemies, thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power and the beauty of holiness, and so on and so forth. Now, all these verses tell us is that after this rejection of the Messiah, He would ascend to the Father's right hand. Then there would come an indeterminate period, even in Psalms chapter 2, until the nations would reach a point of derision. And then, Psalms says, would come that period of wrath and vexation, which we know from Daniel. And others, that it's a period of seven years of tribulation. And then He says, Yet have I set my king upon the holy hill of Zion. So it's the king, and I always associate it, of course, with the kingdom. Now, there's the Old Testament program. That after you come out of the Old Testament chronology of Israel's history, the Christ comes on the scene. He's presented as Israel's king. Israel rejects Him and crucifies Him, and He ascends. And the next thing on the order is the tribulation. Now, come back to Psalms chapter 2, so you can follow me. It's just so clearly laid out, I think, in this little short chapter. Yet, verse 6, Have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion? Verse 7, I will declare the decree the Lord has set unto me. Thou art my Son. Now, that's capitalized, so we know we're in reference to Christ. Thou art my Son. This day have I begotten thee. And there again, I always have to stop and define. The word begotten does not refer to Christ's birth at Bethlehem. It refers to His resurrection. Now, most of you know that. The begotten Son of God refers to His resurrection. That's made so clear. In fact, now we won't take time. It's in Acts, and again, it's in Romans, that the only begotten Son of God was when He was raised from the dead. That's in Acts, and then in Romans chapter 1, where Paul explains it so clearly in about the second or third verse. All right, now back to Psalms chapter 2, then in verse 8. Ask of me, and I think we can delegate this line of thought to the Father. Ask of me, and I shall give thee, that is, the Son, the heathen for thine inheritance. In other words, all the people of the world, and then the verse finishes it, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. In other words, when Christ returns and sets up this kingdom, it's not just going to be the Middle East, but it's going to be a worldwide kingdom, covers the whole earth. And then verse 9, Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron. Now then, of course, He's going to do that at His second coming, at the Battle of Armageddon, and the nations of the world will be removed from the scene. Thou shalt break them, thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Verse 11, Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son. Now there's the reference again to God the Son, to Christ. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish from the way when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him. All right, now, in order to understand all that this little chapter is saying and what it's not saying, we know that at Christ's ascension, Peter and the eleven, in fact, now turn to Acts chapter 1 a minute, if you will. As Christ was ascending, Peter and the eleven knew this Old Testament program. And they knew that the next thing on the agenda was the coming in of the seven years of wrath and vexation. And then they expected the return of Christ back to Jerusalem in order to set up His kingdom. And then, when the kingdom would be set up, now this is where a lot of people, in fact, I maintain 99% of church-going believers do not get the comprehension that according to the Old Testament program, this is the way it would unfold. The king would set up his kingdom and as soon as this was established and the king was ruling in Jerusalem, then the Jew could go into all the corners of the world and evangelize. The Gentile. That was to be Israel's role. Now, turn with me, if you will, to Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 42. Like I told one of my class the other night, I think my problem is I try to get across in two hours everything I've learned in 20 years and that's just impossible. But, oh, if I could just help people to see all these things in a clear -cut way, it would just remove so much of the confusion that I think reigns supreme. But in Isaiah 42, and I'm making reference now to the Old Testament program, that God expected Israel to yet receive her king, the kingdom set up, and the Jew would go out into the nations of the world and evangelize the non-Jew. Here it is. In Isaiah 42, beginning with verse 1, Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my elect, in whom my soul delighteth. I have put my spirit upon him. He shall bring forth judgment. Or in this case, it's rule. He shall bring forth a rule to what people? The Gentiles. See? Plain as day. Now, if you'll come on over to chapter 49 in Isaiah, chapter 49, verse 6. And I'm not exhausting these verses by any means. I just pick out a few that are more clearly stated. In Isaiah 49, drop down to verse 6, And he said, It is the like thing that thou shouldst be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved of Israel. Now, here it comes. I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles. Now, always examine a verse. Who is the thee? Israel. Israel is to be the light of the Gentiles. That thou, Israel, mayest be my, that is, God's salvation, unto the end of the earth. See? Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, and His Holy One. This was to be Israel's role. Now, we'll pick it up even a little further if you'll go on over to chapter 59. So, when I speak in days to come of God dealing with the Jew only, and He has been ever since the call of Abraham up until we get well into the New Testament, it's Jew only with exceptions. I've put that on the board more than once. Jew only with exceptions. Now, here it is. Isaiah 59, verse 20. The Redeemer shall come to Zion. Now, remember, Zion is a mountain in Jerusalem. And unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord. Now, verse 21. As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the Lord. My Spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the Lord from henceforth and forever. In other words, we're already looking at eternity. But now come into chapter 60, verse 1. Arise, shine, for thy light is come. And the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. Who are we talking to? The nation of Israel, see? The nation of Israel. Oh, when their Messiah appeared, what was it? What did He tell them? I am the light of the world, see? I am the light of the world. And had Israel believed it, they could have gone out and told the world. Now, I'll show you that in here in just a moment. Come on to verse 2. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth. That is a spiritual darkness. And gross darkness the people, even Israel. But the Lord shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee. That is upon the nation of Israel. Now look at verse 3. Plain English. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. Those are all promises to Israel according to the Old Testament program. That after they had even rejected and crucified their Messiah, their King, He would ascend until He had made His enemies their footstool, and that's that time of derision, which wouldn't have been long. In would come the wrath and the vexation, the tribulation. Christ would return, set up His kingdom. Israel would be the apple of His eye, and she would be the very center of all activity with regard to bringing people to a knowledge of God. Now, as you come on up through your Old Testament, go to Jeremiah. Right after Isaiah. Go to Jeremiah chapter 23. Jeremiah chapter 23. Now these are all verses that point up the fact that Israel was promised not only the King and the kingdom, but that they would be the vehicle to bring the pagan Gentiles to a knowledge of her God. Jeremiah 23, verse 5. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous branch. And the word branch is capitalized, so it's in reference to Christ. And a, what's the next word? King, capitalized, so it's the King. And a King shall reign and prosper and shall execute judgment and justice in heaven. Where? In the earth. Oh, isn't that plain? And that would be when he would return and set up his kingdom. And he's going to rule and reign the whole earth. Now, to fulfill what I just said a moment ago, that Israel would be the evangelist, now turn all the way up to Zechariah. That's the next to the last book in your Old Testament. Zechariah chapter 8. Zechariah chapter 8. Let's drop into verse 20. Now, don't lose sight of everything that's in the Old Testament program. There would be the wrath and the vexation. There would be the destruction of the nations, as we saw it in Daniel chapter 2, and Daniel chapter 7, and Daniel chapter 9. And that would all take place when he would return to Jerusalem, destroy the nations that are still surviving after the terrible seven years. And then the earth would maintain its gloriousness as the Garden of Eden. The Old Testament says it. And it'll be as the garden was in the beginning. And then, now in chapter 8 of Zechariah, beginning with verse 20. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, It shall yet come to pass. Now remember, Zechariah is writing about 500 B .C. 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, or before Jehovah, and to seek the Lord of hosts. I will go also. Yea, verse 22, many people and strong, what? Nations, plural, from around the world. Strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts, where? In Jerusalem, not in heaven. In Jerusalem, here on the planet. And to pray before the Lord. Now verse 23. Oh, just lock this one into that computer up there. And don't forget it. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, In those days. Now remember, we're talking in light of the Old Testament program. That's the best word I can find for it. That as soon as the king and the kingdom was in place, the nations of the world would be funneled to Jerusalem, which would be the very abode of the God of Israel. And all the Gentiles could be blessed by coming to a faith in Him. Now verse 23 then. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, In those days it shall come to pass that ten men shall take hold out of all languages. Not even just all nations, but all languages. All the sects and the dialects and the various tribes and so forth. They'll all take hold of him that is a Jew. And what are they going to say to that Jew? We will go with you. Why? For we have heard that God is with you. Now isn't that plain? Now this is what Jesus had drummed into the disciples. And contrary to, I guess, what most of us, and I include myself, have always been taught, that commission in Matthew was with this in mind. There has yet not been one word spoken, even by Jesus to the twelve, of a period in here that God would set Israel aside, take away their temple, and He would go to the Gentiles with a gospel of grace. There hadn't been a word spoken. And so as you go through the four gospels, you always want to remember this is what's on everybody's mind. This is what Jesus is talking about. He's talking about everything that had been promised to the nation with regard to His being their King. Now, of course, the disciples had no idea He was going to be crucified, did they? They had no idea. Now some of, even my listening audience may look a little blank at that. You people know better, I know you do. But turn with me to Luke, chapter 18. I'll never forget, I was teaching a week of classes up north some time ago. And after one of the evening classes, a young couple came up, and they said, well, now wait a minute. You mean to tell me that Peter didn't preach Christ crucified? And how do you suppose I answered them? How could they? He hadn't been crucified yet. And on top of that, they didn't know He was going to be. Look at Luke 18. Drop down to verse 31. And I, again, can safely say that 90 % of the average church member doesn't know these verses are in here. Verse 31 of Luke 18, Then He, Jesus, took unto Him the twelve, and He said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man shall be accomplished. What's He saying? Everything that's been prophesied back here in the Psalms and the prophets, that Christ must suffer, that He must be buried, and He'd rise from the dead, and He would ascend, Psalms 110, and that He would come back after these years of tribulation, or retribution is the word, and He would set up His kingdom. Oh, they should have known all that. All right? So He says, Everything concerning the Son of Man shall be accomplished. And now verse 32, For He shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, that is, unto Rome, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on. And you know that's exactly what happened. And then verse 33, And they shall scourge Him, put Him to death, and the third day He shall rise again. Now don't stop there. Next verse, And they, the twelve, who've been with Him now almost three years, because they're just shortly going to Jerusalem to wind everything up, and they understood, how much? None! See? And they understood none of these things, and the saying was, what? Hid from them. You remember a few weeks ago, I used the Hebrew term, Jehovah, now it just escapes me, but, Ulam. Jehovah Ulam. And you remember I told you that in that word was a definition of something being hidden? And that's exactly what God did with regard to what we call the church age in here. He hid it from view, and they couldn't understand it. Well, here they had no understanding that He was going to die. They had no idea He was going to go to the cross. And now we've got a couple moments left. Come on over to John's Gospel, chapter 20. And it's plain as day that even after He was put to death, did they know He would rise from the dead? John's Gospel, chapter 20. John's Gospel, chapter 20. And here I'm going to take time to read all the verses, but you all know the story, how that Peter and John have just been told that Christ isn't in the tomb, that He's gone, and so they run, and I always tell people, I get a little of a kick out of this. I think Peter was a big, old, rugged fisherman, and John was probably sort of athletic. And so they begin a foot race, and John outruns Peter. But John's a little timid. He comes to that tomb, and he's just a little bit reluctant. But the old lumbering fisherman, what does he do? Boy, he just bursts right in. Now remember, it's a cave. It isn't a hole in the ground. But old Peter bursts right in, and they come to the conclusion that something supernatural has happened. And now look at verse 8. Then went in also that other disciple, which was John, who came first to the sepulcher, and he saw, in other words, the evidence. He saw and what? He believed. But not until. Now look at the next verse. For as yet they, and not just Peter and John, but all of them, for as yet they knew not the Scripture that he must rise from the dead. Isn't that plain? Thank you for watching Through the Bible with Les Feldick. Through the Bible is a partner supported ministry. If this program has been a help to your study of the Scriptures and you'd like to see others enjoy the teaching, your support would be greatly appreciated. Write to us at Les Feldick Ministries, Route 1, Box 760, Kenta, Oklahoma, 74552, or call 1-800-369-7856. Remember, all programs are available in printed form, audio cassette, and videotape. 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