WHAT THE N.T. TEACHES AS TO FUTURE MERCY FOR THE JEWS

Further, before taking up the passages of the New Testament that are relevant to our subject, we would recall to the reader’s mind what is said in chapter II of this volume regarding what is commonly called the “literal” interpretation of the prophecies.

What we specially wish the reader to understand is that the literal interpretation of a prophecy may require it to be understood in the spiritual sense. For, as regards Israel, Zion, Jerusalem, the Land of Promise, &c. the spiritual and heavenly thing so designated is the real thing and is often (as the N.T. abundantly proves) what was literally intended. In Scripture the contrast is not between the literal and the spiritual, but between the natural and the spiritual; as it is written: “Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthly; the second man is from the Lord from heaven” (1 Cor. 15:46,47). These words reveal the rule or principle of God’s order of procedure in the working out of His great purpose. Accordingly there is first the natural humanity and afterward the spiritual humanity; first the natural birth and afterward the spiritual birth; first the natural or earthly Israel, Zion, temple, priesthood, sacrifices &c., and afterward their spiritual and heavenly counterparts.

If therefore, there were nothing but this passage to guide us, it would be safe to conclude, in the absence of an express statement of Scripture to the contrary, that there is to be no reversal of God’s settled order of procedure, no going back from the spiritual to the natural. Hence there can be no return hereafter to the natural Israel, the earthly Jerusalem and the earthly temple, with its smoking altar, its Aaronic priesthood and its animal sacrifices.

It will probably be agreed by all Bible teachers that there is no prediction in the New Testament of a national restoration of the Jewish people; and we believe it has been already shown in these pages that the testimony of the New Testament excludes the possibility of such a thing. Further proof to the same effect will be found below. But it is thought by some that there is a hint of the national restoration of Israel in the following Scriptures:

1. The Lord Jesus Christ, in warning His disciples of the then approaching doom of Jerusalem and the Jewish nation, said:

“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” (Lu. 21:24).

2. The apostle Paul, in dealing with the very question we are now considering, namely, “Hath God cast away His people?” (Rom. 11:1), says:

“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 fullness of the Gentiles be come in” (Rom. 11:25).

The argument of those who cite the above passages in support of the doctrine of a national future for the Jews is, that the word “until” implies a change of some sort at the expiration of the period indicated, and they jump to the conclusion that the implied change is that which their doctrine calls for. But obviously, even if a change of some sort is implied by the word “until,” it by no means follows that the change will be in the national status of the scattered people; or that it will take place in a yet future era. Strictly speaking, the word “until” gives not the slightest indication as to what will take place when the period which the passage limits shall have run its course. What that word declares, and all it declares, is that throughout “the times of the Gentiles” Jerusalem will be trodden down of the Gentiles, and that spiritual blindness, which has been laid as a punishment upon the greater part of the natural Israel, will persist until the fullness of the Gentiles be come into the fold of Christ.

But before inquiring what room is left by these Scriptures for a possible season of special mercy to those of Jewish descent, let us take note of the purpose for which they are apparently written.

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