December 22, 2008

The Mystery of Israel’s Blindness

“For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: "The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; For this [is] My covenant with them, When I take away their sins." Concerning the gospel [they are] enemies for your sake, but concerning the election [they are] beloved for the sake of the fathers. For the gifts and the calling of God [are] irrevocable. For as you were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience, even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy. For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all.” (Romans 11:25-32 NKJV)

Again, Paul is worried that the Gentiles will think too highly of themselves. Therefore, he reveals a mystery to them. A mystery is not something unintelligible, but something that was not revealed and now is. Like the Jew and Gentile, forming one church was a mystery revealed in Ephesians 3:1-7.

Here the mystery is that a partial hardening had come upon the Jews until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. This hardening was not complete as was already proven Jews could and would be saved. However, the nation as a whole [most of them] had blinders put on them so that they would not believe in Christ.

However, this will not always be the case. After the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, meaning when the bulk of the believing Gentiles has been saved, the blinders will be removed from the Jew.

We are not told when that will be only that it will be. This does not mean that the Jew will become a particular nation and have the temple restored and sacrifices implemented again. Christ is our sacrifice (1 Cor. 5:7).

“And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. For where there [is] a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament [is] in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives. Therefore not even the first [covenant] was dedicated without blood. For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, "This [is] the blood of the covenant which God has commanded you." Then likewise he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry. And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission. Therefore [it was] necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, [which are] copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another—— He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.” (Hebrews 9:15-28 NKJV)

These truths may seem distant to us who live in a time of spiritual darkness, when the church is burdened with spiritual impotence and pride distracts its leaders from their sins. However, God is not finished saving people. Gentiles and Jews will continue to be saved. The question is will we have the faith to believe that?

Well know this, until the Gospel is given its proper place in the church, these miracles of grace will continue to happen far from our doors. Perhaps that is why it seems strange, almost unbelievable to hear of large numbers of people being saved in other lands. Could it be that we are so removed from the power of God, because of our unbelief, that we can no longer trust God to save? Is this why we must have an invitation system? Is it to feed our egos, or no, could it be to shore up our faith? Maybe we doubt those conversions because we fear they also are manufactured converts.

I implore you to keep the goal of serving Christ first. Do not let the end justify the means for when you do you will compromise truth. Preach truth and let God take care of the results. Love people and do not deceive them with a false Gospel. God is not done saving people. Amen.