01.03 Jew And Gentile

III. Jew and Gentile The Scriptures treat of "Three Classes" of Persons. The "Jews," the "Gentiles," and the "Church of God." The Jews and the Gentiles are distinct from each other, while the Church of God is composed of both Jews and Gentiles, but not as Jews or Gentiles but as a "New Body." All the human race that are not Jews are Gentiles. The Jews date back to Abraham, and became a distinct and separate nation at the Exodus. The most of the Old Testament is taken up with their history. They are an earthly people, while the "Church of God" are a heavenly people. Like the Jews the "Church of God" had a beginning. It began at the "Day of Pentecost" and will end chronologically at the Second Coming of Christ. At the present time the Jews are, as a nation, "sidetracked." When the "Church of God" is taken out of the world, the Jews will again be restored to their own land and become the "Head of the Nations." Nationally the Gentiles now govern the earth. This is what the Scriptures speak of as the "Times of the Gentiles." Luke 21:24.

I. THE JEWS As has been said the Jews had their origin in the morning time of history when God called Abraham, a Shemite, to be the father of a new nation. Genesis 12:1-3. God appeared to Abraham 10 times. These appearances were called "Theophanies," and were progressive and unconditional in their promises, and the promises were unconditionally confirmed to Abraham’s son Isaac (Genesis 26:1-4), and to his grandson Jacob. Genesis 28:10-15. The history of the Jewish race is without a parallel in human history. Though oppressed, downtrodden, carried captive to other lands and scattered through the nations, the Jew has outlived all his conquerors and walks unscathed amid the nations. Any other race would have been swallowed up and its identity and national characteristics lost. The preservation of the Jewish race is the "MIRACLE OF HISTORY." Their "Emblem" is a "BUSH BURNING AND UNCONSUMED." No nation has ever had such manifest and visible tokens of the "Divine Presence." For them the Red Sea was driven back and the Jordan parted. They were miraculously fed in the Wilderness and Divinely sheltered and guided by the "Pillar of Cloud and Fire." At the blowing of "ram’s horns" the walls of a besieged city fell (Joshua 6:1-27), and the Sun and Moon stayed in their courses that they might have time to slay their enemies. Joshua 10:12-14. The "Angel of the Lord" encamped about them, and one angel slew 185,000 of the army of Assyria for their deliverance. 2 Kings 19:35. No nation has given to the world such a number of great men. Such a man of faith as Abraham; such a great leader and lawgiver as Moses; such statesmen as Joseph in Egypt and Daniel in Babylon; such a king as David, and wise man as Solomon. No nation has produced such "seers" as the Hebrew Prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel, and no such man as that man above all men, the "MAN OF GALILEE." In the first Christian century there is no name that shines more resplendent than that of the Apostle Paul. And in modern days the men who have made and are making history are JEWS.

How are we to account for the wonderful preservation of the Jewish Race? Only on the supposition that God had, and still has, some great work for them to do. In the first place they were raised up to reaffirm and teach that there was but ONE God. In the second place to be the Writers, Preservers and Transmitters of the Holy Scriptures. To them were committed the "ORACLES of God." Romans 3:1-2. Every page and book in the Bible was written by Jews. The Jews took especial care to preserve the Scriptures and keep them from being tampered with. In the third place they were raised up that God through them might give the world a SAVIOUR. Who was Jesus? A JEW. In the fourth place they were raised up that they might save the world from moral putrefaction. When Jesus said, "Salvation is of the Jews" (John 4:22), did He simply mean that from them should come the Saviour-Jesus? or did He mean, as when He said-"YE Are the ’SALT OF THE EARTH,’" that the Jewish Race were to be the means of preventing the "Moral Putrefaction" of the world, and that if they became extinct as a nation the world would be ripe for judgment? The writer thinks he meant the latter, and that the salvation of the Nations, morally and physically, and the preservation of the human race on the earth depends on the preservation and continuance of the Jews as a RACE. The present degenerate condition of the world is owing to the fact that the Jews have lost their savor, as the salt its saltness, and until they recover it degeneration will continue to develop until the time comes that the smell of the decomposition of the decaying nationalities of the earth shall call for Divine interposition and the Jewish SALT be resavored by the conversion of the Jews, and their becoming the leading nation of the world. For the Jews today there is no "Pillar of Cloud" by day, nor "Shechinah Flame" by night. They have no altars, no sacrifices, no priesthood as in former days. They observe the "Passover," but no paschal lamb is slain. They keep the "Great Day of Atonement," but no blood is shed to make reconciliation for sin. All sacrifices and oblations have ceased. They have no King, no Judges, no Prophets, no inspired writers. The "Urim" and "Thummin" give no Divine token. The word of God is precious, but there is no "open vision." Their last Great Prophet was the "Man of Galilee," but Him they rejected. Like their forefathers, who took Joseph, after they had rejected him, and sold him for 20 pieces of silver, and he was hidden from their view in Egypt on the Throne of Pharaoh, so the Jews took Jesus, their Joseph, and having rejected Him, sold Him for 30 pieces of silver, and He is now hidden from them on His Father’s Throne.

Why Is This? Have they been supplanted as a "Nation" by the Gentiles, and as "God’s People" by the Church? Are they never again to have a land of their own, and a King, and a Capital City, and a National Existence? Is not their condition today the fulfillment of the prophecy of Hosea 3:4?

"The Children of Israel shall abide MANY DAYS without a King, and without a Prince, and without a Sacrifice, and without an Image, and without an Ephod, and without Teraphim?" Is it not that Jerusalem must be- "Trodden down of the Gentiles until the ’Times of the Gentiles’ be fulfilled?" Luke 21:24.

What does Paul say-

"Blindness in part is happened to Israel until the ’Fulness of the Gentiles’ be come in. And so All Israel Shall Be Saved." Romans 11:25-26. From these scriptures we see that the Jews have not been supplanted by either the Gentiles or the Church, and when the time comes they will again become a nation.

We indulge in no idle and profitless speculations when we attempt to forecast the future of the Jewish People. All we have to do is to gather together and place in their logical order what the Holy Spirit through the Prophets, has foretold. The method is as simple as the result is sure. THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS 1. As to the FACT.

"And I will bring again the captivity of my people ’Israel’ and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land." Amos 9:14-15. But you say this prophecy was fulfilled in the restoration from the "Babylonian Captivity." Not so, for they were driven out of the land after that, and this promise is, that they shall no more be pulled up out of their land, and must refer to some future restoration. The return from the "Babylonian Captivity" was the First restoration, and the Scriptures speak of a Second.

"And it shall come to pass in "That Day" (Millennial Day) that the Lord shall set his hand again the SECOND TIME to recover the remnant of His People, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the Sea." Isaiah 11:11. The Jews have never been restored but ONCE, and that was from Babylon. The march from Egypt to Canaan was not a restoration. You cannot have anything restored to you unless it has been in your possession before, and Palestine was never in possession of the Children of Israel until after its conquest by Joshua.

Again the Jews are to come this time, not from the "East," as when they returned from the "Babylonish Captivity," but from the "North," and from "All Countries."

"Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that it shall no more be said, The Lord liveth, that brought up the Children of Israel out of the Land of Egypt; but the Lord liveth that brought up the Children of Israel from the land of the NORTH and from ALL THE LANDS whither He had driven them; and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers." Jeremiah 16:14-15. Also Isaiah 43:5-7.

2. As to the TIME. When the "TIMES OF THE GENTILES" Have Been Fulfilled.

"And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations; and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, UNTIL the ’Times of the Gentiles’ be fulfilled." Luke 21:24.

3. As to the MANNER. a. Gathered Back UNCONVERTED.

"I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. THEN will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean; from all your filthiness, and from all your idols will I cleanse you. A New Heart also will I give you, and a New Spirit will I put within you; and I will give you an Heart of Flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes; and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them." Ezekiel 36:24-27. b. Before Conversion They Are To Be JUDGED.

"1 will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out. And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face. . . . And I will cause you to

’Pass Under The Rod,’ and I will bring you into the bond of the Covenant ; and I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against Me: I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the Land of Israel." Ezekiel 20:34-38.

Then God will cast them into His "Melting Pot."

"Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because ye are all become dross, behold, therefore I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. As they gather silver, and brass, and iron, and lead, and tin, into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire upon it, to melt it; so will I gather you in Mine anger and in My fury and I will leave you there, and MELT YOU. Yea I will gather you, and blow upon you in the fire of My wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst thereof. As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall ye be melted in the midst thereof; and ye shall know that I the Lord have poured out My fury upon you." Ezekiel 22:19-22.

"Behold, I will send My messenger (Elijah Malachi 4:5; Malachi 4:6), and he shall prepare the way before Me, and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His Temple, even the Messenger of the Covenant, whom ye delight in : behold, He shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. But who may abide the day of His coming? and who shall stand when He appeareth? for He is like a Refiner’s Fire, and like Fuller’s Soap: and He shall sit as a Refiner and Purifier of Silver: and

He shall Purify the Sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness." Malachi 3:1-3. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on My name and I will hear them: I will- say, it is My people; and they shall say, the Lord is my God." Zechariah 13:9. The Jews have never as yet had such an experience as this. It is spoken of in Jeremiah 30:4-7, and Daniel 12:1, as the "Time of ’Jacob’s Trouble,’" and Christ called it "THE GREAT TRIBULATION," and He and Zechariah the Prophet associate it with the Return of the Lord. Matthew 24:21-31. Zechariah 14:1-11. The result of these terrible judgments will be that the Jews will call in their misery upon the Lord.

"And I will pour upon the ’House of David’ and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem The Spirit of Grace and of Supplications." Zechariah 12:10. Then Christ will come back to Jerusalem-

"And His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives which is before Jerusalem on the east." Zechariah 14:4.

"And they shall look upon ME Whom They Have Pierced." Zechariah 12:10. And a nation, the Jewish Nation, shall be born (converted) IN A DAY.

"Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a Nation Be Born at Once? for as soon as Zion Travailed, She Brought Forth Her Children." Isaiah 66:8. As the Children of Israel when they came out of Egypt took with them of the "Riches of the Egyptians," (Exodus 12:35-36), so when they return to their own land they will take with them the "Riches of the Gentiles." Isaiah 60:9; Isaiah 61:6. When they return to their own land it will be to possess and occupy all that was promised to Abraham.

"The Royal Grant" given by the Almighty to Abraham extended from the "River of Egypt" unto the "Great River," the River Euphrates (Genesis 15:18) ; and according to Ezekiel (Ezekiel 48:1-29), from Hamath, north-east of Damascus, to Kadesh on the south. The Temple will be rebuilt. The Glory of the Lord will return. Sacrifices will again be offered. The Government shall be reestablished, and the nations of the earth will be blessed through Israel. Zechariah 8:20-23.* II. THE GENTILES The prominent Gentile nations of the world have been Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome. When God’s chosen people the Israelites fell into idolatry, and were carried into Captivity to Babylon, they were supplanted by the Gentiles. For a long time the nations of Egypt, Assyria and Babylon were anxious to fall upon Israel and conquer them, but God held them in an unseen leash until the iniquity of Israel was full, and then let them loose, and permitted the world power to pass into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon. This happened in B. C. 606, and marked the beginning of the "Times of the Gentiles," spoken of by Christ in Luke 21:24, and which is a period that in the mind of God has certain chronological limits. It is not to be confounded with the "Fulness of the Gentiles" spoken of by Paul in Romans 11:25. The "Fulness of the Gentiles" refers to the Gentiles that are "gathered out" to make up the Church, and "blindness in part" will continue among the Jews until the "Fulness" (the whole number of the elect) of the Gentiles be come in, then the Church is "caught out" and the Jews restored to their own land. The "Fulness of the Gentiles" began at Pentecost and ends at least seven years before the "Times of the Gentiles" end. The "Times of the Gentiles" are fully outlined in the Book of Daniel. The Book of Daniel contains one "Dream" by Nebuchadnezzar, and four "Visions" of Daniel all relating to the "Times of the Gentiles." In the second year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign he had a dream. Daniel 2:31-45. In his "Dream" he saw an immense "Image" or "COLOSSUS." This "Colossus" symbolized the "World Kingdoms" in their "Unity" and "Historical" Succession. Gentile dominion is represented by a huge "METALLIC MAN." See the Chart "The Five Great World-Wide Kingdoms, page 38. The degeneration of the "World Kingdoms" is seen in the diminishing value of the metals used. The weight of the Image also declines. The "Colossus" is "Top-Heavy." The four metal of which the "Colossus" was composed represent "Four World-wide Kingdoms" which were to arise in succession. Daniel 2:37-40. Four Great Kingdoms, and only four, are to succeed each other in the government of the world from Nebuchadnezzar to the "Second Coming" of Christ-the Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Grecian and Roman. These Kingdoms are not only made known as to number, but their names, in the order of their succession, are given. Daniel 2:38-40, Daniel 8:20-21, Daniel 9:26. The deterioration of the Colossus, as shown in the character of the metals composing it, is prophetic of the character of the governments as they were to succeed each other from an "Absolute Monarchy," as seen in the rule of Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 5:19), to an "Autocratic Democracy" as seen in the "Iron and Clay" of the feet of the Image. Daniel 2:41-43. Thus showing that Gentile Dominion passes gradually from the "Head," or the organ which ought to direct the members, to the "Feet," which are only made to carry the body whither the head directs. The "Colossus" comes to an end by being smitten on the FEET by a "Stone Cut Out of a Mountain." The "Stone" does not fill the earth by degrees and thus crowd out the Colossus, it at one blow DEMOLISHES IT. The action of the "Stone" is JUDGMENT, not Grace. It therefore cannot mean Christianity, for it is a process, whereas the action of the "Stone" is SUDDEN and CALAMITOUS. Again the "Time" of the destruction is not until after the formation of the "Toes," and we know that the "Two Limbs" of the Colossus did not appear until A. D. 364, and the "Ten Toes" have not yet developed. The "Time" when the "Stone" falls on the Colossus is distinctly stated in the interpretation as "in the days of those kings," that is, in the days of the kings represented by the "Ten Toes" which is yet future. Daniel 7:23-24.

Tie "Stone" represents Christ. As the Four Kingdoms represented by the four metals are literal Kingdoms, it follows that the "Stone Kingdom" must be a literal Kingdom, for it takes the place of those Kingdoms and conquers the whole earth. The "Stone Kingdom" then is the "Millennial Kingdom" of Christ, and the "Colossus," or the "Times of the Gentiles" typified by it, cannot come to an end until the "Second Stage" (Revelation) of Christ’s Second Coming.

Forty-eight years after Nebuchadnezzar had his dream of the "Colossus" Daniel had a "vision" of "Four Wild Beasts." Daniel 7:1-8, Daniel 7:15-27. In character they descended from the Lion, the "King of Beasts," to a nondescript monster with teeth of iron, and toe nails of brass, and "Ten Horns" on its head. Daniel saw that the "Beasts" corresponded with the metals of the Colossus and represented the same thing. But while Daniel considered the "Beasts" he was surprised to see a "Little Horn" spring up among the "Ten Horns" of the ’"Fourth Wild Beast." Daniel 7:8. This mystified him, for he had seen no "Little Toe" spring up among the "Ten Toes" of the Colossus. He therefore concluded that it was an additional revelation that God had not seen fit to reveal to the Gentile king Nebuchadnezzar.

Daniel noticed that the "Little Horn," that rose among the "Ten Horns" of the "Fourth Wild Beast," "plucked up by the roots" three of the "Ten Horns," and that it had the "eyes" and the "mouth" of a MAN. Thus was revealed to Daniel not only the "Four World-wide "Kingdoms" in the order of their succession, but a vision, in the "Little Horn," of the last Gentile King-the ANTICHRIST. The reason why these Four Kingdoms are represented first as a "Golden-Headed Metallic Image," and then as a succession of "Wild Beasts," is to show the difference between man’s view and God’s view of the World Kingdoms. Man sees in them the concentration of wealth, majesty and power; God sees them as a succession of rapacious wild beasts devouring one another.

While these "Four World-wide Kingdoms" were to succeed each other in the order named, they were not to succeed each other without a break. This was revealed to Daniel in his vision of the "Ram and He Goat," (Daniel 8:1-27), and is shown on the Chart. By the death of Alexander the Great, the "Great Horn" of the "He Goat," the Grecian Kingdom was divided into four minor Kingdoms, Macedonia, Thrace, Syria and Egypt. They lasted from B. C. 323 to B. C. 30, when the Roman Empire became the Fourth World-wide Kingdom and continued as such until A. D. 364, when it was divided into its Eastern and Western Divisions. But while the Roman Empire as such disappeared in A. D. 364, it still in its laws and religious influence holds sway, and is to be revived and again become a "World Power" in a "Ten Kingdom" form, represented by the "Ten Toes" of the Colossus and the "Ten Horns" of Daniel’s "Fourth Wild Beast." As to the date when the "Times of the Gentiles" will end we have no knowledge. There are those who claim that the word "Times" is prophetic, and that a prophetic "Time" is a year of 360 days, each day standing for a YEAR, thus making a "Time" equal to 360 YEARS. They also claim that Moses in the Book of Leviticus (Leviticus 26:18-21, Leviticus 26:24-28), foretold, and four times repeated it, that if the Children of Israel disobeyed God He would punish them "Seven Times," and that Jesus referred to these "Seven Times" when He spoke of the "TIMES" of the Gentiles. Therefore if a "Time" is 360 YEARS, "Seven Times" would be 2520 YEARS, and as the "Times of the Gentiles" began in B. C. 606, they should end in A. D. 1914. The fallacy of the argument is seen in the fact that that date is past and the "Times of the Gentiles" is not yet ended. In Scripture a month is 30 days (Genesis 7:11-24; Genesis 8:3-4) and a year 360 days. But from B. C. 606, to A. D. 1914, there were 2520 "Julian Years" of 365% days each, which, when we reduce them to "Calendar Years" of 360 days each, make 2556% years, or 36% years more than 2520 years, so that the "Times of the Gentiles" should have ended in A. D. 1877. The fact is the "Seven Times" of Leviticus are not "Prophetic Times." The Children of Israel have been punished, given over to "Servitude" and "Captivity," exactly SEVEN times. Their present "Dispersion" is neither a "Servitude" nor "Captivity" and does not count. All we can know then as to the "length" of the "Times of the Gentiles" is, that they began in B. C. 606, and will end when Christ comes back and sets up the "STONE" or "Millennial Kingdom."

*For a fuller account of the Jews see my book on "Dispensational Truth," the chapters on "The Jews," "The Tribulation" and "The Kingdom."