Bible Studies
The Transition from Israel and the Prophetic Program to the Church Which is the Body of Christ
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The Book of Acts is the key to understanding the change of dispensations that gradually occurred from Israel, the prophetic program and the Kingdom of God, to the now current Body of Christ and Age of Grace in which we now live. When people read Acts they usually combine and blend the whole book of Acts into one big application for church age believers today and believe that we as members of the Body of Christ are “spiritual Israel” and that is simply not correct. The Age of Israel was put on hold, temporarily, and the Age of the Gentiles, also called the Age of Grace was slowly phased in. The book of Acts is the key to understanding that change of dispensations from the Age of Israel to the Age of Grace. It is the transition period when Israel was temporarily set aside and put on hold as the church which is the Body of Christ was brought into being.
But first we must remember Israel’s former glory. She was once the light of the world, the keeper of the oracles of God, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God and the promises. God had promised that through her, all other nations of the world should be blessed (Gen. 22:17-18). In the gospel of John we read what our Lord said to the Samaritan woman: “Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for SALVATION IS OF THE JEWS” (John 4:22). Since Samaritans were “half-breeds” half Jew and half Gentile, the Jews had little respect for gentiles and Samaritans. The Apostle Paul asks the question in (Rom. 3:1-2) “What advantage then hath the Jew? Much every way: chiefly, because that UNTO THEM WERE COMMITTED THE ORACLES OF GOD.” The Jews were and still are the chosen people of God. Then in (Rom. 9:4) “Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises.”
But Israel was not meant to secretly keep all the blessings to herself, as God told Abraham in (Gen. 22:18) “And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed”. It was clear that any Gentiles who were willing to become proselytes to Judaism were to be accepted into the temple. Israel did not make this known to the world. They would have let the Gentiles remain in darkness.
The temple was meant to be a house of prayer for all nations, but had become a center of fraud and deceit. In (Mark 11:17) when our Lord overthrew the tables of the moneychangers in the temple he taught “Is it not written, MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED OF ALL NATIONS THE HOUSE OF PRAYER? BUT YE HAVE MADE IT A DEN OF THIEVES.” He was referring to the passage in (Isaiah. 56:6-7). The moneychangers were blocking the gentiles and not allowing them to go into that part of the temple set up for gentile proselytes; that is why the Lord became angry and fashioned a whip and drove the Jewish moneychangers out.
Israel had been under the Mosaic Law for 1500 years but failed to keep it, then suddenly the Messiah was with them and they didn’t even recognize Him. The Messianic kingdom was in full view as the Lord Jesus Christ walked among them. God then gave Israel three final calls to repentance, and offered the Kingdom on earth to Israel.
The first call to repentance was from John the Baptist, of whom the Lord said, “there is not a greater prophet (preacher) than John the Baptist:” (Luke 7:28). John’s main purpose was to bring Israel back to God and smooth out the path for the Lord. His main cry was: “…Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.” (Luke 3:4). John worked hard to complete his mission. He was bold as a lion and even dared to challenge the Pharisees and Sadducees sending them away, calling them a “generation of vipers” to their faces. He even came into the court of King Herod and criticized him for living with his brother’s wife and “for all the evils which Herod had done” (Luke 3:19). But Israel did not repent as a nation and they did not accept the Lord Jesus Christ as Messiah even after all the preparation work John had done. He soon after “was shut up in prison” (Luke 3:20) and then later beheaded (Matt. 14:10).
The second call to repentance and the offering of the earthly Kingdom to Israel was when the Lord Jesus Christ took up where John the Baptist left off. The way for our Lord was not made straight or smooth, nor was the response to His message accepted any more than was John’s. Even when the Lord worked miracles among them, the Pharisees despised Him, mocked Him and plotted against Him. In (Matt. 21:23) they asked, “By what authority doest thou these things? And who gave thee this authority?” Then Christ was brought to trial and while under examination they treated him in the most cruel and inhumane way. They mocked him, spat in His face, they plucked out his beard and hair, blindfolded him, struck him and called for Him to prophesy who had smitten Him. They crowned Him with thorns; put a purple robe upon Him and a reed in His hand, kneeling before Him in mockery. Then grabbed the reed from His hand and smote Him on the head with it. The hatred against the Son of God was so intense, “they cried out all at once, saying, away with this man…” (Luke 23:18). “And they were instant with loud voices, requiring that He might be crucified” (Luke 23:23).
So the blindness of Israel was so great that they could not even recognize their Messiah and heed His call to repentance. Even though Pilate found no fault in Jesus, the Jews actually persuaded him to have Christ nailed to the cross, where He suffered great pain, agony, shame and disgrace for their sins.
Thousands of men were crucified on crosses and died physical deaths as a form of capital punishment, but Jesus Christ suffered two deaths on the cross, a physical death and a spiritual death as full payment for the sins of the world. The spiritual death occurred between the sixth and the ninth hour, three hours of pure hell, twelve o’clock noon until three o’clock in the afternoon, as a mysterious darkness came over the crucifixion site in the middle of the day, when He continuously cried “My God! My God! Why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matt. 27:46). In those three hours, Christ was paying for the sins of the world. Then He finished the work of salvation after those terrible three hours of agony and cried “it is finished” (John 19:30) meaning that payment for the salvation of all mankind was completed. Then the Lord Jesus finally cried out “Father into thy hands I commend my spirit” (Luke 23:46). The word “commend” is a military term which means “command” so He ordered and commanded his spirit and soul to leave his physical body the very moment after His mission of salvation and atonement was complete, thus resulting in physical death.
Crucifixion usually lasted for days but Jesus was only on the cross for approximately six hours, from nine o’clock in the morning till three o’clock in the afternoon. So Israel’s Messiah, after terrible agonizing pain and suffering still cried out while hanging on the cross, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). Talk about forgiving others and the power to forgive!
Do you think an ordinary sinful man could have gone through this horrible physical and mental torture then suffer a spiritual death, which means to receive the full wrath of the Justice of God for all the mental attitude sins, verbal sins and overt sins ever committed by all mankind.
Spiritual death is total separation from God, something we don’t fully understand. Yet through this great pain and agony, He was still able to forgive His own Jewish people, the very ones who crucified him. Even while hanging on the cross His mind was sharp and clear and He remained obedient and focused on the completion of His mission, to completely pay for the sins of the whole world and make the full atonement that would satisfy the perfect Justice and Holiness of God the Father…how awesome is our God!
The third call to repentance was when the Jews listened to Stephen “and they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake.” (Acts6:10). Stephen was a man “full of faith and power,” (Acts 6:8). He told his Jewish brethren “Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye” (Acts 7:51). Stephen basically told them that they had murdered the “Just One” (Acts 7: 52). The Jews could not stop themselves from shedding blood again so they dragged Stephen out and stoned him to death (Acts 7:58). As Stephen was dying he looked up “And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God,” (Acts 7: 56).
Some teach that Jesus standing on the right hand of God meant that Jesus was welcoming Stephen into heaven. This is incorrect teaching. The Jews knew exactly what it meant when one who was seated at the right hand of the throne of the King suddenly stood up…it meant judgment!
This pierced the Jews to the very heart and angered them so much they couldn’t take another word of truth from Stephen and God the Holy Spirit, which convicted them of their guilt. “Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord,” (Acts 7: 57).
So Israel responded to God’s three offers of grace and calls to repentance by three brutal murders: (1) John the Baptist (2) Jesus Christ, and (3) Stephen. In John the Baptist’s case they allowed it to happen; In Christ’s crucifixion they demanded that it be done; in Stephen’s case they personally committed it themselves.
Their guilt and viciousness had increased with each successive murder. Israel had failed to listen to God the Father through John the Baptist. They failed to listen to the Son of God himself while He was on the earth. They failed to heed the warning of God the Holy Spirit through the Pentecostal Jewish believers and through the preaching of Stephen.
This was the final straw, the third strike, now there was no excuse and no more grace for Israel. They had blasphemed God the Holy Spirit and committed the unpardonable sin, of which the Lord had warned them (Matt.12:31-32). Only Israel could commit the unpardonable sin. If someone tells you that you or any other believer can commit the unpardonable sin today, they are wrong.
After three calls to repentance Israel had failed miserably and rejected Jesus Messiah and the Kingdom that was to be set up on the earth. Thus Israel was put on hold and temporarily set aside until the secret purpose of God was unfolded. The mystery would then be brought in and the fullness of the Gentiles and the Age of Grace would begin.
After the stoning of Stephen in (Acts 7:58), God began to set Israel aside in Acts 9 with the conversion of Saul. God then gradually brought in the Body of Christ, primarily made up of Gentiles, with Paul as their Apostle. When God set the nation Israel aside He spoke through the Apostle Paul: “Be it known therefore unto you, that THE SALVATION OF GOD IS SENT UNTO THE GENTILES, and that they will hear it” (Acts 28:28). Paul also wrote in (Romans 11:13) “I SPEAK TO YOU GENTILES, INASMUCH AS I AM THE APOSTLE OF THE GENTILES, I MAGNIFY MINE OFFICE”. Paul established his authority as the Apostle of the Gentiles. Paul the Apostle was not the 12th Apostle replacing Judas; he was the Apostle to the Gentiles, with a special calling, a specific purpose and mission.
The Apostle Paul was given the unique and distinct “gospel of grace” which he called “my gospel”. The historical cinematic camera, as it were, was shifted off of Israel and panned off to the side to focus on the gentiles.
This new program or dispensation of Grace was not prophesied in the Old Testament. Not one word is to be found in the pages of prophecy concerning the Body of Christ with its heavenly calling and special position; it was kept secret by God until He was ready to reveal it, “according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began” (Rom. 16:25).
What is “the mystery”? There are many mysteries found in the bible, but the one that is referred to here is “THE Mystery” which is that great body of truth committed specifically to the Apostle Paul by direct revelation from the Lord Jesus Christ.
After Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus and his physical recovery, he spent the next three years in Arabia receiving direct revelation from the Lord Jesus Christ, where the “mystery” was revealed to him (Gal. 1:17-18). Paul speaks of “THIS MYSTERY AMONG THE GENTILES” in (Col. 1:27). Then in (Romans 11:25) “For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of THIS MYSTERY, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; THAT BLINDNESS IN PART IS HAPPENED TO ISRAEL, UNTIL THE FULNESS OF THE GENTILES BE COME IN”.
God was basically saying that the nation Israel has been temporarily set aside until the Body of Christ and the fullness of the Gentiles is completed… then the rapture occurs, secretly “catching away” that body of believers called the Body of Christ, off the earth and taken to heaven.
Then the Age of Israel will restart again just as if a clock had been stopped for a period of time then restarted. The clock will start again for Israel when the fullness of the gentiles is complete, just after the rapture occurs. The Age of Israel will pick up again after the church which is the Body of Christ is secretly and quickly removed from off the earth and taken to heaven, the very moment after the “catching away” or rapture, occurs.
The Body of Christ was not prophesied and was kept hidden until Israel had fully rejected Jesus as Messiah. There was no mention at all of the Dispensation of the Grace of God in the previous programs that God dispensed out to mankind. None of the prophets foretold of the Age of Grace, the Body of Christ, nor did they even know about it since it was a secret program of God hidden completely and not revealed to any man until the Apostle Paul was converted on the road to Damascus. Paul wrote, (1Cor. 2:7) “A MYSTERY…ordained before the world unto our glory” then in (Col. 1:26) “HID FROM AGES AND FROM GENERATIONS” and (Eph. 3:5) “in other ages…not made known” Also in (Eph. 3:9) “from the beginning of the world…HID IN GOD”.
In this current dispensation, the dispensation of Grace, we are to follow the Apostle Paul’s example and his teaching (2 Thessalonians. 3:9). Since his letters are written directly to us as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, and as members of the Body of Christ, in this Age of Grace. “Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample” (Philippians 4: 17).
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