Does Adonai’s Authority Rest with the Government of Israel’s Current Secular State and/or with Their Current Religious Leadership?
Using the Pattern of Judgments to Answer This Question
Introduction
Sometimes people argue about the modern nation of Israel’s role in the ongoing unfolding of the kingdom of God, especially pertaining to Israel’s prophetic destiny as the nation through whom Adonai desires to rule the world. Most of us are familiar with the promises given to Israel, especially the messianic promises of a Davidic king who will one day lead Israel as head over all nations. We know that Adonai’s ultimate purpose is for Israel to be the head of all nations, with Yeshua as her king. But how are we to view the nation of Israel at this time in history? Given Israel’s prophetic destiny, should we view the secular state, the religious leadership or some combination of the two as walking in any type of divine mandate at the present time?
The purpose of this article is to provide an answer to the question posed in the title. In order to do so, I am going to frame my arguments based upon a cycle of themes Adonai recently opened my eyes to, a cycle I call the Pattern of Judgments. Genesis 1-3 can be divided into sixteen thematic units as follows:
Genesis 1:1-25 – New Creation of the Universe
Genesis 1:26-28 – Man, God’s Image-Bearer, Commissioned to Exercise Dominion Over Creation
Genesis 1:29-31 – Man’s Diet
Genesis 2:1-3 – The Sign of the Sabbath
Genesis 2:4-9 – Man’s Work in His Ancestral Plot of Land
Genesis 2:10-14 – Natural Riches of the Creation
Genesis 2:15-17 – The Choice Between Life and Death
Genesis 2:18-25 – A Virginal Bride for the Man
Genesis 3:1-7 – Fall into Sin
Genesis 3:8-13 – Adonai Investigating Sin
Genesis 3:14 – The Curse on the Serpent
Genesis 3:15 – Enmity of the Seed
Genesis 3:16 – Pain in Childbirth
Genesis 3:17-19 – Curse on the Land
Genesis 3:20-21 – Acts of Redemption
Genesis 3:22-24 – Judgment
During my studies, I have found that many of these sixteen themes repeat themselves a number of times as you progress throughout the narratives of the Bible. As you can see, the original creation of the earth and the creation of Adam and Eve mark the beginning of this Pattern of Judgments. I call the beginning of the cycle the theme of New Creation. Events in Adam and Eve’s lives progressed until we reached the last theme, Judgment, when they were exiled from their ancestral plot of land. This cycle, beginning with New Creation and ending with Judgment, repeats numerous times as you read the Bible. Although not all sixteen themes are repeated in every cycle, each cycle has the same basic storyline:
There is some type of new creation in the form of the provision of land.
Adonai will bestow authority upon someone who is to exercise that authority on His behalf.
Adonai’s chosen representative will sin in some egregious manner.
Adonai will inflict some type of judgment upon His chosen representative or others as a result of their moral failures.
In this article I want to follow one particular theme in this cycle and see if it can help us understand the modern nation of Israel’s current role in Adonai’s plan of salvation.
Adam, Adonai’s Representative Chosen to Exercise His Authority on Earth
In order to answer the question in the title of this article, I propose that we focus on the second theme numbered above, the theme of Genesis 1:26-28—Man, God’s Image-Bearer, Commissioned to Exercise Dominion Over Creation. Basically, I will trace this theme through the Scriptures to determine what we can learn when Adonai gives someone authority to exercise dominion on His behalf. This theme occurs in Genesis 1:26-28 as follows:
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
In order to appreciate the authority given to the man in Genesis 1:26-28, we must thematically connect this passage to Psalm 8. It will be impossible to fully appreciate what Adonai bequeathed to Adam in Genesis 1:26-28 apart from making these connections.
Genesis 1:26-28 is clearly thematically connected to Psalm 8 as follows:
For You have made him a little lower than the angels, and You have crowned him with glory and honor. 6 You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet (Psalm 8:5-6).
Notice how both Genesis 1:26-28 and Psalm 8 speak of the dominion that man is supposed to exercise over the creation. Both passages focus on the theme of rulership, authority and dominion. It is clear that Adam was supposed to exercise Adonai’s authority by ruling and reigning in the power and authority of Adonai (the Lord) over the creation.
We can also connect Psalm 8 to Genesis 1:26-28 with respect to those who will be ruled over by man. Genesis 1:26-28 and Psalm 8:5-8 both mention the animals that man is supposed to rule over:
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Genesis 1:26-28).
For You have made him a little lower than the angels, and You have crowned him with glory and honor. 6 You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, 7 all sheep and oxen—even the beasts of the field, 8 the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea that pass through the paths of the seas (Psalm 8:5-8).
As you can see, Genesis 1:26-28 is intimately thematically connected to Psalm 8. It’s as if Psalm 8 provides us with the theological foundation for the events in Genesis 1:26-28! Adonai called Adam to exercise authority over the creation.
Noah, Adonai’s Representative Chosen to Exercise His Authority on Earth
Unfortunately, Adam sinned and suffered the punishment of exile from his ancestral plot of land (Genesis 3:22-24). The events continue to unfold in these early chapters in Genesis until we reach Genesis 6-7. In these chapters we discover that mankind has sunk so low in its debauchery that Adonai deemed it necessary to destroy them and start over. As of Genesis 7, which chronicles the destruction of the world by the flood waters, we’ve completed one of the cycles that progresses from New Creation to Judgment, and it is time for another cycle to start.
Chapter 8 is the beginning of a New Creation cycle. The first New Creation involved the creation of a new heavens and earth. This second New Creation is a re-creation of the earth. The Scripture uses many thematic connections between the original creation account and the re-creation account, inviting us to see the similarities and understand that it is as if Adonai is beginning with a new creation and a new representative on earth, Noah!
For example, after Noah’s flood, the description of the earth is amazingly similar to the description of the earth before Adonai fashioned it into a habitable place for mankind. For instance, Genesis 1:1-2 describes the earth as a mass of water that engulfed the land mass within it such that no land could be seen. This is similar to the world after the flood waters where the entire land mass of the earth was under the flood waters. Genesis 1:9-10 describes how Adonai gathered the waters together so that dry land could appear.
Then God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so (Genesis 1:9).
This same scenario was “recreated” in Genesis 8:1-5, as the waters receded revealing dry land! Notice how, just as the Spirit of God hovered over the face of the deep in Genesis 1:2, so likewise, Adonai sent a wind over the flood waters (Genesis 8:1). This connection is strengthened when you realize that both passages use the same Hebrew word, ruach (רוּח), which can be translated as wind, breath or spirit, depending on context.
Then God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the animals that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided (Genesis 8:1).
Lastly, notice that Noah was commissioned as Adonai’s representative to exercise
authority on earth even as Adam had been!
So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. 2 And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, on every bird of the air, on all that move on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They are given into your hand. 3 Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs (Genesis 9:1-3).
Such thematic parallels between these two Biblical accounts lead us to the inescapable conclusion that the events we read about in Genesis 8-9, which occurred subsequent to Noah’s flood, are to be seen as a re-creation of the earth! Similarly, Noah was commissioned to rule and reign in Adonai’s authority just as Adam was originally charged. These thematic connections between Genesis 8-9 and Genesis 1, the story of the original creation account, are meant to teach us that Adonai is starting over with a new Adam, as it were. Originally, we had a creation out of nothing, but after the flood we see a re-creation. Thus, we are starting a new cycle of the Pattern of Judgments with a re-creation of the earth, and thus, manifesting the New Creation theme I discussed earlier. Furthermore, are we not to see that all of the Psalm 8 authority that was given to Adam now rests with Noah?
Abraham, Adonai’s Representative Chosen to Exercise His Authority on Earth
As you can see, Adonai started with Adam, but when Adam failed, He started anew with Noah. This cycle of Adonai choosing a new representative continued after Noah with Abraham. Abraham was chosen as Adonai’s representative on earth, one chosen to exercise Adonai’s authority on His behalf. Just as Adam and Noah were given land (the newly-created earth for Adam and the re-created earth for Noah), so likewise, Abraham was bequeathed land—the land of Canaan.
Now the LORD had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:1-3).
And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces.
18 On the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying: “To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates— 19 the Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites” (Genesis 15:17-21).
As with Adam and Noah, who were commanded to be fruitful and multiply their descendants, so likewise with Abraham, as he was promised a multitude of descendants:
Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be” (Genesis 15:5).
Then the Angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time out of heaven,
16 and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son— 17 blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies (Genesis 22:15-17).
Lastly, Abraham was given authority to rule and reign similar to Adam and Noah’s authority. However, please notice that Adam and Noah’s authority was limited to dominion over the creation and animals, not other men. The combination of Genesis 1:26-28 and Psalm 8:3-8 teaches us this fact:
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Genesis 1:26-28).
When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, 4 what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him? 5 For You have made him a little lower than the angels, and You have crowned him with glory and honor. 6 You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, 7 all sheep and oxen—even the beasts of the field, 8 the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea that pass through the paths of the seas (Psalm 8:3-8).
But Abram’s authority was extended to dominion over other peoples!
Now the LORD had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:1-3).
Then the Angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time out of heaven,
16 and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son— 17 blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies (Genesis 22:15-17).
As you can see, Adonai promised Abraham and his descendants that they would exercise dominion over their enemies, i.e., other people. This represents an expansion of the authority originally given to Adam and Noah. But, as you can see, Adonai is purposefully investing His authority in a directed manner. He is showing us who He wants to exercise His authority on His behalf in the earth. This authority, given through the Abrahamic covenant, was passed on to Abraham’s sons, Isaac and Jacob, as they inherited the Abrahamic covenant. Notice the wording of the promise given to Isaac. It is reminiscent of the original promise given to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3!
Then the LORD appeared to him and said: “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I shall tell you. 3 Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. 4 And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; 5 because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws” (Genesis 26:2-5).
This same manner of blessing was given to Jacob.
Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him, and charged him, and said to him: “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. 2 Arise, go to Padan Aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father; and take yourself a wife from there of the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother. 3 “May God Almighty bless you, and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may be an assembly of peoples; 4 and give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and your descendants with you, that you may inherit the land in which you are a stranger, which God gave to Abraham” (Genesis 28:1-4).
Furthermore, Jacob was promised that he would exercise authority over other nations, similar to what was promised to Abraham.
And he came near and kissed him; and he smelled the smell of his clothing, and blessed him and said: “Surely, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field which
the LORD has blessed. 28 Therefore may God give you of the dew of heaven, of the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and wine. 29 Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be master over your brethren, and let your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be those who bless you!” (Genesis 27:27-29).
As of this point, all the promises of authority have been promised to Jacob and his descendants. Therefore, we should understand that Adonai’s intent is that the nation of Israel would be the nation He has chosen to exercise His authority in the earth, and He has made it abundantly clear. It will be through the twelve tribes of Israel that Adonai’s kingdom will be manifest to all other nations who will be subservient to Israel. Israel is to be the one nation that will rule the entire world with His authority!
The Tribe of Judah, the Tribe Chosen by Adonai to Exercise His Authority on Earth
When Adonai chose Jacob’s descendants, effectively He chose the nation of Israel with the twelve sons representing the future nation of twelve tribes. However, even though Adonai chose Jacob’s descendants to exercise His authority in the earth, He continued to specify where the seat of authority within Israel would reside. He did this by choosing the tribe of Judah.
“Judah, you are he whom your brothers shall praise; your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s children shall bow down before you. 9 Judah is a lion’s whelp; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He bows down, he lies down as a lion; and as a lion, who shall rouse him? 10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes; and to Him shall be the obedience of the people. 11 Binding his donkey to the vine, and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine, he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes. 12 His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk (Genesis 49:8-12).
Jacob, on his deathbed, revealed Adonai’s will through the spirit of prophecy by emphatically stating that the scepter of leadership will reside in the tribe of Judah.
A Descendant of David Chosen by Adonai to Exercise His Authority on Earth
This leadership from the tribe of Judah is further defined by the prophet Samuel where he stated that Adonai’s authority and power will be given to a descendant of David:
“When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. 15 But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16 And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.” 17 According to all these words and according to all this vision, so Nathan spoke to David (2 Samuel 7:12-16).
Notice that it will be a descendant of David who will reign in Israel and that his kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom! The rule and reign of David’s son Solomon represented the zenith of the kingdom of Israel. During the reign of Solomon, Adonai’s kingdom was extended through the nation of Israel as Israel was head of all the nations. The nations of the then-known world flocked to Israel to pay homage to Israel’s wise king, Solomon. Unfortunately, Solomon’s heart was turned from Adonai by all the foreign women he married, and eventually civil war split the nation of Israel into two warring factions. The situation continued to deteriorate in Israel over the centuries. Eventually the northern and southern kingdoms of Israel were conquered by their enemies, and it seemed that an everlasting kingdom with a descendant of David ruling and reigning was lost. At this point I’d just like to reiterate that Adonai’s goal was to use the nation of Israel as His chosen representatives to manifest His kingdom to the nations of the world. And this goal for His people Israel has NOT changed, because Adonai is faithful to His covenants and His gifts and callings are irrevocable (Romans 11:29). Also notice that Adonai’s kingdom would be manifest by the physical nation of Israel ruling and reigning over the other nations of the world just as Adonai promised to Abraham that his descendants would possess the gates of their enemies.
Yeshua, A Descendant of David Chosen by Adonai to Exercise His Authority on Earth
The nation of Israel was under Roman domination 2,000 years ago. Israel was not the ruling, reigning power that Adonai had called them to be. In fact, messianic hopes were very high at that point in time, as Israel longed for the expected son of David to overthrow Roman rule and reinstitute the Davidic monarchy, placing Israel as the head of the nations. It was within this setting that a child was born in Bethlehem of Judea in a lowly manger, a child named Yeshua. The Gospel accounts relate how Yeshua fulfilled the prophecies of the Tanakh regarding the long-awaited descendant of David who would bring in the Messianic era. At the time of Yeshua’s birth, Adonai confirmed His prophetic destiny by the testimony of Simeon, a righteous man, and Anna, a prophetess:
And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man
was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not
see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27 So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law, 28 he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said: 29 “Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word; 30 for my eyes have seen Your salvation 31 which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, 32 a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel” (Luke 2:25-32).Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity; 37 and this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.
38 And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem (Luke 2:36-38).
Later in His life, Yeshua began His ministry, teaching the people about the kingdom of God.
Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of
the kingdom of God (Mark 1:14).
But you must realize that to Yeshua’s listeners, the kingdom of God was equivalent to the kingdom of Israel! For they understood that Adonai had anointed Israel and given them the authority to rule and reign on His behalf. This is beautifully portrayed by Daniel the prophet in his vision concerning the inauguration of the kingdom of God:
“I watched then because of the sound of the pompous words which the horn was speaking; I watched till the beast was slain, and its body destroyed and given to the burning flame. 12 As for the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away, yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time. 13 “I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. 14 Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed (Daniel 7:11-14).
This is the kingdom the Jewish people were looking for, the one administered by the son of David who would be given dominion over all the nations of the earth. To everyone’s dismay, Yeshua did not overthrow Roman rule and declare sovereignty for Israel! Instead, He spoke of Israel’s kingdom as an invisible one!
Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; 21 nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:20-21).
Yeshua hinted at this shift in focus concerning Adonai’s kingdom when He spoke to the woman at Jacob’s well:
Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:21-24).
In other words, Yeshua was about to institute a vision of Adonai’s kingdom that the Jewish people had not anticipated! The kingdom would no longer be focused on the Temple in Jerusalem, the Levitical priesthood, and the Jewish nation! Adonai had a special plan He would institute in order to take the good news to the nations. For an interim period of time, the kingdom would reside within the hearts, minds and bodies of His people. The focus of attention would no longer be the temple in Jerusalem. Because of Yeshua’s death, burial, resurrection and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, Adonai would now be able to indwell His people as He had once indwelled the temple.
Furthermore, the essence of the Adonai’s kingdom would be one of spirit and truth, as His kingdom would reside within the hearts and minds of His people instead of the temple in Israel. Yeshua also hinted that the kingdom of God would be temporarily taken from national Israel:
Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. 44 And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder (Matthew 21:43-44).
Although I don’t want to speculate on the moment when the kingdom was actually taken away from national Israel, this idea—that the kingdom of God would no longer be centered in the nation and its temple—was clear to Yeshua and the disciples. Furthermore, it is clear that this was to be a temporary situation!
Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority (Acts 1:6-7).
To me the issue seems clear. The kingdom of God has been temporarily taken from national Israel. By national Israel I mean the physical nation of Israel. If this is so, then where is the kingdom of God? Is it associated with a different group of people? Has it been given over to the Gentiles? Is it now with the church?
Yeshua, Adonai’s man anointed with power and authority to exercise Adonai’s dominion within the earth
In my teaching series entitled the Pattern of Judgments, you have seen how Adonai has anointed individuals throughout history to exercise His authority. I summarized much of that in this article. First Adam, then Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, David and now, Yeshua. Remember how Adam was given authority and dominion over creation?
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Genesis 1:26-28).
This authority has now been given to Yeshua!
And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always,
even to the end of the age.” Amen (Matthew 28:18-20).
Yeshua’s specific authority and power to rule and reign over Adonai’s creation was prophesied of in Psalm 8. The writer of the book of Hebrews informs us that Psalm 8 is a messianic psalm referring to Yeshua!
For He has not put the world to come, of which we speak, in subjection to angels.
6 But one testified in a certain place, saying: “What is man that You are mindful of him, or the son of man that You take care of him? 7 You have made him a little lower than the angels; You have crowned him with glory and honor, and set him over the works of Your hands. 8 You have put all things in subjection under his
feet.” For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him. But now we do not yet see all things put under him. 9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death
crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone (Hebrews 2:5-9).
Psalm 2 also teaches us the same truth. Adonai has anointed Yeshua with His authority and power and commissioned Him to rule and reign over the universe. The writer of the book of Hebrews informs us that Psalm 2 was also a prophecy about Yeshua.
For to which of the angels did He ever say: “You are My Son, today I have begotten You”?1 (Hebrews 1:5a).
Yeshua is currently administering Adonai’s kingdom through His people, those who obey Adonai’s commandments and have the testimony of Yeshua, as it states in Revelation 12:17. Adonai’s kingdom is comprised of those who have exercised saving faith in Yeshua’s blood and have been born again through the Gospel. They are the residents of His present invisible kingdom. His people are not limited to Jews living in Israel or anywhere else, nor are His people limited to the church as is so often taught by those who teach replacement theology. The people of God are both Jews and non-Jews who have heard the Gospel, repented, and believed the Good News, and they are citizens of the present invisible kingdom of God on earth. God did not cast the Jews aside and institute the church back in the first century. The idea that the church has replaced Israel is a deception.
Most Christians view the events in Acts 2 as the inauguration of the church, an entity separate and distinct from Israel. Numerous Bible scholars and theologians have
taught that Adonai rejected the Jews when they rejected Yeshua and took the kingdom
from them and gave it to the church. Nothing can be further from the truth. Look at Acts 2, the day the “church” was supposedly born/instituted. How many Gentiles were in it? Zero. As of Acts 10 (approximately ten years after Pentecost!), there were no Gentile converts yet! How do we know this? It’s obvious because Adonai had to give Peter a vision in order to convince him that the body of believers started in Acts 2 was open to Gentiles!2 As you can see, for at least the first ten years of the “church,” not one Gentile was evangelized. Notice how surprised the Jews were when Peter informed them that they were supposed to evangelize Gentiles also!
When they heard these things they became silent; and they glorified God, saying, “Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life” (Acts 11:18).
Well, well. Surprise, surprise! What does this mean? It means that what Christianity today calls the church, that which was birthed on the day of Shavuot (Pentecost) in Acts 2, was actually a totally Jewish sect! So much for the “church” replacing Israel. The earliest congregations of believers were totally Jewish, kept the Torah, ate kosher, honored the Sabbath and celebrated the holy days, etc. It’s impossible to read the book of Acts and not notice this! The book of Acts informs us that there were tens of thousands of Jewish believers in the Messiah (Acts 5:14; 21:20; 22:12) who zealously kept the Torah commandments of Moses. These early Jewish believers met regularly in synagogues (Acts 9:2; 22:19), on the Sabbath (Acts 13:5; 17:1-4), celebrated the feasts (Acts 2; 18:21; 20:6, 16; 24:11; 27:9), and by their own sworn testimony confessed that they kept the Torah of Moses (Acts 24:14; 25:8; 28:17), even as Yeshua taught they should.
“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. 18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.
19 Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:17-20).
These Torah-keeping Jewish believers were called Nazarenes (Acts 24:5). I shall continue to refer to them as Nazarene believers henceforth. So what happened? How did we end up with a Gentile “church?” After Gentiles were evangelized and brought into the Nazarene congregations, they quickly began to outnumber their Jewish brethren. Unfortunately, they brought their pagan ways into the assemblies and slowly began to rebel against their Torah-keeping Nazarene brothers. Note the following quote from Church Apologist, Epiphanius of Salamis, 370 CE, where he specifically acknowledges how the Gentile believers held the descendants of the original Jewish followers of Yeshua in disdain because of their Torah observance!
“We shall now especially consider heretics who… call themselves Nazarenes; they are mainly… Jews and nothing else. They make use not only of the New Testament, but they also use in a way the Old Testament of the Jews; for they do not forbid the books of the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings… so that they are approved of by the Jews, from whom the Nazarenes do not differ in anything, and they profess all the dogmas pertaining to the prescriptions of the Law and to the customs of the Jews, except they believe in Christ…They preach that there is but one God, and his son Jesus Christ. But they are very learned in the Hebrew language; for they, like the Jews, read the whole Law, then the Prophets…They differ from the Jews because they believe in Christ, and from the Christians in that they are to this day bound to the Jewish rites, such as circumcision, the Sabbath, and other ceremonies …Otherwise, this sect of the Nazarenes thrives most vigorously in the state of Berea, in Coele-Syria, in Decapolis, around Pella, and in Bashan…After they departed from Jerusalem, they made their start from here, as all the disciples dwelt in Pella, having been admonished by Christ to depart Jerusalem and emigrate because of imminent danger.”3
As you can see, these Nazarenes were Jewish believers in Yeshua who were held in contempt by the Gentile believers. My point in mentioning all of this is to simply say that the kingdom was not given to the Gentile “church.” The Gentile “church” separated itself from its Jewish roots. In other words, the Gentile “church” separated itself from what Adonai instituted on the day of Shavuot (Pentecost) in Acts 2, and to this very day we live with the consequences of their departure! The kingdom was simply temporarily taken away from national Israel and now it is open to Jews and Gentiles alike.
Lastly, the present form of the kingdom of God is not dependent upon nor owned, controlled or administered by national Israel. Adonai’s authority for dominion over the earth does not currently rest with Israel’s secular state nor with its religious order. As we’ve seen, the kingdom was temporarily taken from national Israel and is now invisible. Once Yeshua returns to set up His kingdom on earth, it will once again return to national Israel and He will rule and reign from Jerusalem as the prophets have foretold. Therefore, our relationship to national Israel, comprised of its secular state and the religious order, should be one of blessing and support remembering the original promise Adonai made to Abram!
Now the LORD had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:1-3).
Given Adonai’s eternal love for the descendants of Abraham, should we not honor His wishes? I’m not saying that we have to agree with their political and religious decisions. But we should stand with them against their enemies and support them as Adonai brings this epoch to a close. National and religious Israel will one day return to Adonai and accept Yeshua as their Messiah. Just as Joseph’s family received his leadership over them after he delivered them from the deadly famine, so likewise, Israel will one day say, “Baruch haba b’shem Adonai (Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord)” to Yeshua when He returns. Until then, our hopes, prayers and blessings and support should be with Israel.
Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election
they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. 29 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. 30 For as you were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience, 31 even so these also have now been disobedient,
that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy. 32 For God has
committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all. 33 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable
are His judgments and His ways past finding out! 34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has become His counselor?” 35 “Or who has first given to
Him and it shall be repaid to him?” 36 For of Him and through Him and to Him are
all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen (Romans 11:28-36).
Shalom,
TnT Robinson
The phrase, “You are My Son, today I have begotten You,” is taken directly from Psalm 2:7.
See the vision given to Peter and its interpretation in Acts 10:1–11:18.
Epiphanius; Panarion 29.
Thank you Marie!
J'espère que beaucoup te lirons et comprendrons ce nous avons compris... en cherchant... et je ne connais pas meilleur chercheur que toi ! Elohenu te bénisse ainsi que tous les tiens !