Why were Gentiles once excluded from God's promises?

Hello, and welcome to Through the Bible with Les Feldick, an Oklahoma rancher and farmer. Les Feldick has been teaching homestyle Bible classes for over 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, good to have everybody, and this is number four, so we'll get this one out of the way, and we're all heading home, I guess. So for those of you out in television, though, it's just another half hour of informal Bible study. In fact, I was telling somebody the other day, when they first approached me about teaching on television, the first thing that struck my mind, I used to listen on public television to a program where there was an algebra teacher. And I don't know if it's still on or not, this goes back a long time, but he had much the same kind of a format. He had a black board, and he had some students out in front of him. And I used to just love that program, and I thought, well, if it works for algebra, maybe it'll work teaching the Word. And so when I first came up and talked to these guys here, I said, well, you know, we'll consider it if we can have a classroom effect, and if I can have students out in front of me. And so they said, yeah, we can do that. So anyhow, it all has just sort of, I know people don't like to use the word evolution, because we always associate it with the origin of the species, but you know, things do evolve. You know, you just keep getting better and better, and now I wish we'd have put all this on the board from day one, because now people can call and say, well, can you get me an audio tape of program numbers, such and such? Well, it's real easy, see? So anyhow, we have, we've lived and learned, but anyway, we decided early on that we would keep it informal, just like we do our home Bible classes here in eastern Oklahoma. And we just give the Lord the praise and the glory that He has blessed it so richly. All right, we'd like to always remind our listeners, in case there's someone new, all the past programs are available on videotape, audiotape, as well as the printed page. In other words, what we've done, we've taken 12 programs in succession, put them on one six-hour video, and that's been dubbed over into a six-hour audio cassette package, and then Jerry and his wife transcribe it word for word. Someone said the other day, after 36 books, he has done a lot of typing. Boy, you have, haven't you? That's been a lot of typing. But anyway, all those are available, and if you're interested at all, you just give us a call, and we'll get them to you. I guess I should remind people once in a while that, yes, we are dependent on the gifts of our viewers. Nobody underwrites us, and we do pay for television time. You know, we've been so amazed that when we drop a station, then people begin to call, want to know why we dropped them. Well, we weren't getting any contributions, or at least couldn't pay the bill. Then that stark answer, well, I didn't know you paid for TV time. Well, we sure do, and it's just amazing how much we have to pay. So anyway, keep that in mind. If you enjoy the program, by the Lord so leads, you help us out. Okay, back to Ephesians chapter 2, and we've just left off with verse 16. Ephesians chapter 2, and now verse 16. He is made a new body, comprised of Jew and Gentile. Verse 16, that he might reconcile both unto God. Now I suppose the average, I don't know how to address people, the church people or Bible students or whatever, probably wonder, well, what's the enmity that Paul is talking about? Well, you have to realize that from day one, as soon as God separated the Jew from the Gentile, there was enmity between the races. Now, let me take you back all the way to Exodus. Back to Exodus. Oh, let's see. Back to Exodus, let's go a little further. Back to chapter 11, verse 7. Exodus 11, verse 7. And here they're getting ready to move out of Egypt, out of their slavery. And here again, this is really the beginning of miracles again, so far as the nation of Israel was concerned. But look what it says. Verse 7 of Exodus 11, "...against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue against man or beast, that is, of anything that belonged to the nation of Israel. That ye may know how that the Lord doth put a..." What's the next word? Difference. See, a lot of people don't understand this. "...that ye may know how the Lord doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel." Did that difference ever stop? No. It carried all the way through. Now you can just go on in Exodus to chapter 19. Exodus chapter 19. They're now out of Egypt, and they're gathered around Mount Sinai. And Moses, of course, is up in the mount, and he's conversing with God, and he's going to be coming down with the Ten Commandments ere long. But look at the conversation between God and Moses. Stark. Verse 3, Exodus 19, "...and Moses went up unto God," that is up in Mount Sinai, "...and the Lord called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, And thus shall you tell the children of Israel." In other words, the whole nation of Israel is what God is telling through Moses. God says, "...you have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bear you unto eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself." Now right there, anybody who knows anything at all about the Old Testament, what happened to the Egyptians at the Red Sea? Hey, they were drowned. What happened to Israel? They came through unscathed on the other side. What did God do? Hey, He put a difference between them. I mean, He separated them, but good. All right, but now read on. "...Now therefore," see, because God has already shown how He can put a difference between Israel and the rest of the world. "...now therefore, if you will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant," now that's conditional of course, and they would have to be obedient. "...and if you will keep my covenant, then you as a nation shall be a peculiar treasure." Now the word peculiar back here in the Hebrew does not mean what we think is something odd. The word peculiar really means, like the word treasure, something of tremendous value. And so read it in that light. "...and you shall be unto me a valuable treasure." Something that God would just not let go of, until He absolutely had to. "...you shall be a valuable treasure unto me, above all people." Where does that put Israel? Just like it says, above everybody else. What was that? Separating them, see? And of course Israel was very human, and when they began to realize that exalted position above all the other peoples of the earth, the word we've got for it now is what? They became bigoted, and they got to the place where they just literally despised those uncircumcised Gentiles. Now I'm not saying that that's what God really expected them to do, but they did. They were human, and people still do it today. As soon as they can get the upper hand over somebody, what do they do? They show how despicable they are. And so the Jews came to that place where all through their history now, they are understanding that they are exalted in God's eyes. These uncircumcised Gentiles meant nothing, and so it had an effect on their whole outlook toward the non-Jewish world. Now in verse 6, the whole idea in this Abrahamic covenant, now being enlarged upon to Moses, was that you shall be, God says unto me, a kingdom of what? Priests. Now when we were teaching this back years ago, when we were in Exodus, I always asked the question, what even today is the role of a priest? Well he's a go-between. See every Jew was to someday in the future be a go-between. Between who and who? Between Gentiles and Israel's God. That was the whole idea, but Israel lost sight of that, and so Israel began to just almost look within themselves, and just had no time for the Gentile world. Alright, but come back to verse 6, and you shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, a holy. Now the word holy does not mean sinless, does not mean like God is holy, it means set apart. And that's what they understood, that they were a set apart nation of people, and these are the words then that God tells Moses to speak to the children of Israel, and how they were to be constantly different. But on the other hand, stop with me at Isaiah on your way back to the New Testament. Stop at Isaiah, and again some verses that we looked at years and years ago, I think now, about in chapter 42, and see this is what the Jews lost sight of. Now I get the Jerusalem Post, as most of you know, and I like to read the articles written by one of the rabbis in there, and I used to carry it in my Bible. I don't think I've got it in this one, but I clipped out the last paragraph of one of his articles a year or two ago, where he was speaking about the coming of their Messiah. And the Messiah would be a God King, who would not only just bring goodness and prosperity and peace to Israel, but to the whole world. And he had the right idea, that is the purpose of Christ's return, is that He's going to be King of kings and Lord of lords. Yes, first and foremost over the nation of Israel, but to the whole world, not just Israel. Now here is where prophecy alluded to that. Isaiah 42, and we just start at verse 1. "...Behold my servant, whom I uphold, mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth, I have put my spirit upon him," that is upon the servant. "...he," the servant, "...shall bring forth judgment," or rule or government, to what people? The Gentiles. Well who is the servant? The Messiah, the Christ, and Israel lost sight of that. But nevertheless in the divine purposes, God was going to use Israel as a nation of priests, to bring all these Gentile nations to a knowledge of Himself, so that He wouldn't be just the King of Israel, but that He could rule and reign the whole world. Now the next one I'd like to use is Isaiah 59. Isaiah 59, starting at verse 20. Now this is prophecy, this is all going to be out in the future from Isaiah's time, and it's still in the future from our time, but we feel we're getting awful close. I just don't see an awful lot of time left. Verse 20, "...and the Redeemer," capitalized, "...the Redeemer shall come to Zion," or Zion, Jerusalem, see? "...and the Redeemer shall come to Mount Zion," there in Jerusalem, "...and unto them who turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord." Verse 21, "...as for me, this is my covenant with them." And then he repeats the New Covenant, as Jeremiah 31. But I want to bring you down now then, in the chapter 60, verse 1. "...arise and shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee." Now we've got to watch our pronouns. Who is the thy, to whom the Lord's glory is coming? Israel, the nation, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you, the nation, Israel. Verse 2, "...for behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, a spiritual darkness, and gross darkness the people." What people? Israel. And did it? Sure, absolutely. Verse 3, "...but the Lord shall rise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee." This is all future, but we're getting close. And then the next verse, "...and the Gentiles shall come to thy light." And who was Israel's light? The Christ, the Messiah. Now this of course is still future, when He sets up His Kingdom. Now for you and I living in the Age of Grace, we have entered into this because of the Gospel, not because of the covenant promises. Now if you'll come back with me to Ephesians. I guess we left off at verse 16, let's read it again. Ephesians 2.1 "...and that he might reconcile both unto God in one body." In other words, that He could slay the enmity between that Jew and Gentile that had arisen because of their separation from them. Now verse 17, "...and he came and preached peace to you who were far off." Who was that? Gentiles. Those people who were out there without a Messiah. They didn't have the Word of God, they didn't have a knowledge of the One True God. They were worshiping all their idols, and all their gods and goddesses. They knew nothing of the God of Israel. But now as we saw in an earlier verse, because of that finished work of the cross, God can do all of this on behalf of the whole Gentile world. Now always remember when God sent the Gospel to the Gentile world, predominantly through the apostle Paul, where did that put every Gentile with relationship to God? Well He had access. Just like Israel did in the past. Oh my, this goes back maybe a year or two. I put it on the board that for 2,000 years it was predominantly the nation of Israel, with some Gentile exceptions. Then when Israel dropped the ball and God turned to the Gentiles on this side of the cross, it's predominantly Gentiles, but with Jewish exceptions. And so what has God done? He's evened it all out. 2,000 years of dealing with the covenant people, it's now been almost 2,000 years of dealing with the Gentiles. Now I think I did that when I was in Romans chapter 11, if I remember correctly. And you remember in Romans chapter 11 you have the analogy of the olive tree, the root and the fatness of the olive tree, which was setting on the promises and the covenants made with Abraham. But Paul says, because of Israel's unbelief, what did God do? He broke them off, the branches. And what did He put in their place? Gentiles. Now as for 2,000 years, the nation of Israel was literally living in that place of privilege on the promises God made to Abraham, and every Jew had access to God. But did that make every Jew a believer? Oh heavens no! Now I suppose the Jewish people would argue with me on that, but no, only a small few were true believers. Alright, now we come on this side of the cross. The Jew has been broken off of that root and fatness of Abraham, and who's been grafted in? The Gentile world. Now I don't look at Romans 11 as just the Gentile believer. I feel it's the whole Gentile world that has been put in that place of privilege. And what's the privilege? They can have a knowledge of salvation if they want it. But does that make every Gentile a believer? No, it still has to be a matter of choice by faith. But one of the beauties is, now that the Body of Christ is being formed, even though they're resting on the root and the fatness of Abraham, it's a combination of Jew and Gentile, now coming together with no enmity. Now we've got a Jewish couple, when we go to St. Paul, they almost always spend our Friday night with them, because we enjoy their company. Don't get me wrong, but one reason is we have such beautiful access to where we have our Seminar, and we can have good fellowship. I mean they believe like I do, and we're one in the Body of Christ. In fact I'll never forget the first Seminar I had in Minneapolis. She was the first one that came up at a break time, and she said, Now Les, I'm a Jewish believer. Does that mean that I won't go in the Rapture when you go? Heavens no! I mean if you're in the Body of Christ, we all go at the Rapture, not just the Gentiles. But anyway, there is that immediate affinity between Jew and Gentile when we are in the Body of Christ. It's that simple. Alright now if you'll come back again to the text here in Ephesians, and this is what Paul is hammering home. That once we enter into this salvation experience, we enter in under the Blood of Christ, we enter into that resurrection power, we can be united with Jews, we can be united with Asians, Blacks, it doesn't matter. We're one in Christ. Now verse 17. Ephesians 1, and he came and preached peace to you who were far off. Well who was far off? The Gentiles. Oh they were so far they couldn't even comprehend God. But now all of a sudden they're brought to a place where they have access, and they have an opportunity at salvation, the same as the Jew had opportunity in the Old Testament economy. And so he came and preached to you who were far off, but he didn't ignore the nation of Israel, because it's possible for a Jew to be saved just as well as a Gentile, and so he includes them. He came and preached peace to you who were far off, and to them that were nigh. And then verse 18 again, he brings the analogy that it's not just one or the other, but it's what? Both. For through Him, that is Christ, and His death, burial, and resurrection, through Him we both, Jew and Gentile, have access by one Spirit, the Holy Spirit, unto the Father. Now always remember, and again I've got to go back to one of my favorite verses, Acts chapter 16. Acts 16. Almost every morning I ask the Lord, give me hundreds if not thousands of Lydia's today. Now I think it's possible, I really do, I think it's possible. All right, here it is. Acts 16, and you come down to verse 14. While Iris is finding it, I'll give you the background. Remember Paul has been up in northern Greece, been up there in Philippi, and he's establishing little Gentile congregations. Now he comes down out of Philippi, and there evidently wasn't a synagogue there, and so there were a few Jewish women meeting at a riverside, and having their devotions. Into that little group comes the Apostle Paul, and who was with him? Barnabas. But anyway, verse 14. As they come into this little group, a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple of the city of Thyatira, who worshipped God, so that makes me sure that they were Jewish people, who worshipped God, heard us. Now I have to think that little Apostle Paul, and I think he was quite sure. I think every time he had an opportunity, he was just literally putting out the Gospel. That's all he knew. Every place he went, and whether it was Jews in a moment of devotion, or whether it was pagan Gentiles coming out of their temple, Paul was at them with the Gospel. See? All right, here he comes in this little group of Jewish women, and what does he do? He spoke to them. We don't know exactly word for word what he said, but Luke writes it that they heard us. But now here's the part that I just love, and I revel in, and I pray for. "...whose heart the Lord opened, that she could attend to the things were spoken of Paul." Now we want to remember that the Holy Spirit is a member of the Godhead, just as well as God the Son, God the Father. So I have to feel that the Lord in this was the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit opened the heart and the understanding of this Jewish lady of Thyatira. And as soon as the Lord opened her understanding to what Paul was now proclaiming, what did she do with it? She believed it! But the Spirit had to open her understanding, and it's no different today. My goodness, you can have the greatest evangelist on earth preach his heart out. Is he going to get any fruit without the Spirit? No way! I can teach until I'm blue in the face. Will I get any response? No, not unless the Holy Spirit opens understanding. All right, back to Ephesians, our time is just about gone. So verse 18, Ephesians 1. "...for through him," because of what Christ has done on our behalf, we both, Jew or Gentile, have access to the God the Father by the Spirit, and He is the One who literally opens and makes access available for you and I as believers. Now in the moment or so that we have left, we'll go on into verse 19. "...now therefore you are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God." Now just look at that a moment. Compare it again with verse 12, because that's the whole idea, is to compare Scripture with Scripture. Read verse 12 again, if you will. "...that at that time," while God was dealing only with Israel, "...that at that time you were without Christ, aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers from those covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world." Now drop all the way down to where we just left off in verse 19, and oh, what a difference! What a difference! "...now therefore you are no longer like you were up in verse 12. We're no more strangers and foreigners, but we're fellow citizens with the saints, and we are all members of the household of God." What a position! And we don't work for it. We don't strive, and we don't climb some great long stairway, and we don't browbeat ourselves and grovel in the dirt. We don't somehow cause physical misery. My, we just step in by faith, and God does it all. That's why I try to tell people, always remember, it isn't what you and I do, it's the fact that God does it all. Thank you for watching Through the Bible with Les Feldick, a weekly Bible study. If you would like more information about the Les Feldick Ministries, a Bible study in your area, or about this program, write to Les Feldick Ministries, Route 1, Box 760, Kenta, Oklahoma, 74552. That's Route 1, Box 760, Kenta, Oklahoma, 74552. Through the Bible with Les Feldick is supported, and your gift is appreciated. Thank you, and be sure to tune in next time for Through the Bible with Les Feldick.