There is a phrase that is not in scripture, but it captures so much of what the Bible is all about. “Against All Odds” is the apt title of a video series that traces the modern miracle of the Jewish repatriation of the Land, and the amazing story of how the fledgling new nation was able to [...]

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Thank you (and thank God!) for the piece I just re-read on “The Mystery of the Gospel”. The matter of the gem and its setting explains so succinctly the transition that my wife and I have undergone, as I have tried to express before, in this regard. But, once the gem is appreciated in its [...]

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[...] Before its revelation, the mystery of an anonymous suffering servant (let alone two distinct comings) would only raise such questions as those put by the Ethiopian eunuch, “Of whom does the prophet speak? Of himself or some other man?” Therefore, the church is foolish and perverse to exalt itself over Israel, imputing to the Jew a special stubbornness for not seeing what was plainer than the nose on their face. This is a self righteous presumption that understands nothing of what confronted Israel. It is the same perverse superficiality that prevails in the church’s facile comparison of itself with the stereotype of the Pharisee. When it is seen what the Pharisee actually represented in the context of that generation, a discerning believer would not exalt or glory over them, but cry out, “who is sufficient?!”, But that’s another subject, though not unrelated.

Since Pentecost, the mystery has been openly revealed and made universally available, albeit only in the sense of its outward form. It still takes a miracle of mercy and grace to truly apprehend it in terms of its glorious implications. In this sense, it remains, by its very nature, elusive to pride, even in its revealed form. It was hidden for a twofold purpose: 1). It is hidden so that when it is seen, we may know that it is mercy indeed, and nothing of ourselves that has made us to differ from Israel, or anyone for that matter. [...]

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[...] When it comes to Israel’s unbelief, it is amazing to see all that conspires to reinforce it. Not only centuries of “Christian” antisemitic behavior, but even how certain verses are translated, let alone interpreted, compounds the distance between church and synagogue. Take for example the Jewish translation of Zech 12:10. Compare it with most Christian translations and you will see what I mean. Of course, Christian linguists, such as Walter Kaiser in his book, “the Messiah in the Old Testament” argues the translation question with decisive evidence for the messianic interpretation. But the average believer must take considerable pains to be informed. It may be effective on some occasions, but it’s not always quite as easy as quoting Zech 12:10 as proof that the Jewish nation pierced their own Messiah. .

Or take Dan 9:25-26. Our translations stress our Christian conviction that the anointed one that is “cut off” is the Messiah by capitalizing the word for anointed and translating the passage with a definite article, “the Messiah the Prince”. This is all legitimate, but the informed Jewish position sees this as speaking only of “an anointed prince,” which they typically interpret as referring to Onias III, the officiating high priest who was murdered when Antiochus Epiphanes desecrated the Jewish alter in the 2nd century B.C, who, of course, became the great archetype of the Antichrist in later apocalyptic literature. [..]

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[...] The approach builds around the well known story of Joseph, as type and parable of both comings of Christ to Israel. The idea is to begin with a couple of key portions of Old Testament prophecy in order to establish a simple outline of the prophetic future, particularly as it pertains to the relationship of Christ’s two comings to Israel. This will provide a convenient frame of reference that can enable and equip any believer to make the case for the mystery of the gospel in the Old Testament, particularly in its relationship to Israel and the events that conclude the age.

To introduce the subject matter, I sometimes begin with people’s universal familiarity with the story of Bethlehem as an opportunity to show them the amazing prophecy in Mic 5:2, pointing out its great antiquity (8th century contemporary of Isaiah). I then call their attention to an even less known feature of that prophecy in the next verse. “Therefore shall He (Yahweh) ‘give them up’ UNTIL the time that she who travails has brought forth; then shall the remnant of His brethren return to the children of Israel (Mic 5:3). It is the age long “giving up” of Israel, but we want to identify the cause of this abandonment as something more ultimately provoking of divine displeasure than covenant failure in general. [...]

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[...] First, let me recommend the below Bible study by long friend, Dean Van Druff: http://www.acts17-11.com/joseph.html I read it today for the second time and was as moved as I was the first time.

Also, I’ve not had much time with it yet, but I’m quite impressed with a book that I found while searching for this topic on Amazon.com It looks to be a very valuable resource for our interest. Other than Dean, this is the only author that I know of who has published something that compares Joseph’s self revelation to his brethren as a type of Jesus’ revelation to Israel at His return. She also says it is something that was for her a new discovery that she considers timely in the church’s relation to Israel. Just today, I notice she expects another expulsion and flight of Jews. That’s a comparatively rare perspective. The book is: “Joseph, Jesus, and the Jewish People: A Gospel Tract Hidden in the Torah” Reggie

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[...] Then there is what Paul calls “the mystery of the faith,” which, while it includes all the above, includes also the pattern of resurrection of death, of deliverance out of affliction and weakness. We see it in Joseph, David, Daniel, all the prophets, and ultimately and perfectly in Christ as the suffering Servant of servants. I call it the Jacob’s trouble principle, whereby Christ is always revealed at the end of strength (see Deut 32:36; Dan 12:7). This is how it is that “the just shall live by faith” This is particularly the issue in tracing the character and necessity of Israel’s king as coming first in the form of the suffering Servant. This is the pattern seen so clearly in both Joseph and David, and in Zechariah’s prophecy that sees the Messiah as a priest upon His throne (Zech 6L13). It is the tremendous mystery of the incarnation of the seed of the woman in the poor and afflicted. This should be to some real measure evident in every believer, since it is the mystery of “Christ in you” (Col 1:27), just as it was no less the mystery of “the Spirit of Christ which was in them” (1Pet 1:11). [...]

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…At Pentecost it became clear that the Spirit promised in connection with the coming day of the Lord had come ‘already’ in unexpected advance of that day. Now it could be seen that the Spirit and the new baptism of power and life is inextricably bound to the new revelation of Jesus as the Messiah and mediator of the everlasting righteousness. It could now be seen that only the righteousness provided through the cross of Christ can avail for an everlasting justification (But how then were Old Testament saints justified if not by same precious blood?). Hence, the Spirit becomes the sign that seals and vindicates God’s once and for all acceptance of Jesus’ sacrifice, who is now shown as the exalted Servant and Lord over all. …

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[...] But though I agree with Kaiser that there is only one regenerate people of God, the elect of all ages, I also believe that it is not only permissible, but necessary to speak of Israel as the ‘people of God’, or ‘the chosen people’, even now in their present state of unbelief. Even the individual Jew in his unbelief and set to perish apart from gospel regeneration, is nonetheless part of a nation that is UNDER both judgment and promise of a sure and certain destiny. That’s unique to the Jew alone. Even in unbelief, he is part of a body, a nation, a distinct ‘entity’ if you will, that abides in a unique covenant relationship. Though Israel’s covenant does not guarantee the personal salvation of the individual, it does in fact guarantee covenant severity ‘UNTIL’ the end, and covenant mercy ‘AT’ the end. So in that sense, then yes, for the moment only, there are two peoples of God, but not in the dispensational sense. When ‘all Israel’ shall be saved, the two collapse into one forever.[...]

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[...] In this sense, ‘apostolic sending’ is itself ‘an apocalyptic phenonmenon’, theologically speaking. Because the secret is more than new information. It is an event not only of divine disclosure but of spiritual quickening. It at once kills and makes alive. The revealed secret, as only apprehended by the Spirit, completely shatters the pride of self-reliance and gives an open heaven of revelation and power. A full and true apprehension of the mystery of God in Christ designs not a knowledge by which one may glory above another (1Cor 4:7), as in gnosticism. But rather a freedom in love that casts out fear and enables a selfless obedience unto death. “And they loved not their lives unto death” (Rev 12:10). The power that loves the enemy, and the freedom from the fear of death are the tests that prove the value of any knowledge or any mystery (1Cor 13:2).

Ever since Pentecost the secret has been the ‘open secret’, but whether it has been apprehended by the Spirit is shown by one thing only, namely, the presence and power of the life of the age to come, Christ revealed in the church (Jn 13:35; Eph 3:21), with the result that “now is come salvation, strength, the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ” (Rev 12:10). Thus the ACTS of the apostles (Dan 11:32-33). [...]

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