Hummm....can anyone on this board give me any scripture that proves that the New Covenant was extended to anyone other than the House of Israel and the House of Judah. Before you answer study hard at the true meaning of the term "gentile"! It does not mean what you think it means; it does not mean a non-Hebrew believer as most of you assume; the translation in Young's gives the true meaning:
Wherefore, remember, that ye were once the nations in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that called Circumcision in the flesh made by hands,
(
Eph 2:11 YLT)
As opposed to the KJV:
Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;
(
Eph 2:11 KJV)
If you look into the subject I think you will find in almost every case you will find that the term reflects descendents of the Lost tribes of Jacob who have been dispersed into the nations!
Remember Yeshua said that He was sent only for the Lost Sheep of Israel; this is where He sent the apostles, as well it was to the eth'-nos (nations)(gôy gôy in Hebrew) that Paul was sent.
But he answered and said,
I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
(
Mat 15:24 KJV)
These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying,
Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
(
Mat 10:5-6 KJV)
Hi Saint,
Look at the last verse you've quoted. If Jesus was interested in
extracting only the 'lost sheep of the house of Israel' from amongst the nations, why did He instruct His disciples not to preach to them? Hunh?
'If you look into the subject I think you will find in almost every case you will find that the term reflects descendents of the Lost tribes of Jacob who have been dispersed into the nations!'
Well of course the lost tribes are dispersed into the nations,
and God wants to save them. (John 3:16) Doesn't your own BIble reading cause you to question this doctrine?
You asked:
'Hummm....can anyone on this board give me any scripture that proves that the New Covenant was extended to anyone other than the House of Israel and the House of Judah?'
Answer: Many. It's unsustainable, scripturally.
'Before you answer study hard at the true meaning of the term "gentile"! It does not mean what you think it means; it does not mean a non-Hebrew believer as most of you assume; the translation in Young's gives the true meaning:
Wherefore, remember, that ye were once the nations in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that called Circumcision in the flesh made by hands,
(
Eph 2:11 YLT)'
Yes, this is always what 'gentiles' meant. I've never heard it preached otherwise. You do realise, don't you, that Paul was writing to a church (the church at Ephesus) which had both Jewish and gentile Christians? The whole of chapter 2 could have followed on Romans 2:1, just as easily as in his letter to the Ephesians. I don't plan to write a long post here, but let me give you a couple of pointers. First, that reference to 'the flesh' is significant, because the children of 'Israel' are 'sons of Jacob' 'in the flesh'. Secondly, Paul does not believe 'gentiles' are 'lost sheep of the house of Israel'. How do I know? The very next verse from the one with the 'definition' you gave; he is explaining -
Ephesians 2:12 That at that time ye [gentiles]
were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
To understand 'the covenants of promise', you do need to read a lot of Bible, but Paul refers to them specifically in the context of God's word to Israelites, in Romans 9:4. Before I quote that, I want you to see something - that even Israelites had to be
adopted into God's family through circumcision of the heart and baptism in the Holy Spirit. Their nationality doesn't save them
per se but God had given them the role of receiving
and keeping His word to the whole world. This special relationship with God meant that He expected them to obey Him and be an example to 'the nations'. When they didn't obey Him, His punishments of them were also an example to 'the nations', of how He corrected them.
Back to
Romans 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;
All I'm showing here, is, that if Paul had
believed he was speaking to 'the lost sheep of the house of Israel', he would not have stated they had been by their (first)
birth (flesh) excluded, as 'strangers from the covenants of promise'.
How do I know this? Because there is more than one verse in the Bible which tells that one of the reasons God dispersed Israel into the nations, was to make His name known there. He knew that they knew what had been promised to them at Sinai, and within the law they were supposed to teach their children everything and keep passing it down the generations. Circumcision began with Abraham only after he had been accounted righteous for believing God's word to him. If you can get your head round the first six chapters of Romans, you'll see there was a clear difference between those who had God's word with its incumbent expectations, and those who had no knowledge of it, and how Paul shows why it is that 'gentiles' are invited to believe in Jesus Christ as well as those descended from Jacob.
To look at this question a different way completely, here is an extract from a document on baptism. That sounds boring, I know, and it is littered with Hebrew words, to some of which I've added the English in square brackets, but, it shows how 'Jews' regarded 'the nations', who had always been able to join Judaism through a series of rituals set out in the law. (This is another reason it it false to try to excude other 'gentiles' from the gospel. 'Israel', was already full of 'proselytes' to their faith,
whom God now counted as members of 'the commonwealth of Israel'. (Ephesians 2:12))
The author of the clip I'm going to post below, (Jewish by virtue of a Jewish mother), has translated the scriptures from the original languages for Orthodox Jews of our day. I point out his ethnicity so that you understand - if anyone could be biased in favour of the house of Israel and the house of Judah, such an one could be. His first book was called
How to go a Messianic Synagogue. In the section before this, he goes over the prophecies which justified John the Baptist's ministry:
'Zechariah too saw this final time of national repentance: There shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and uncleanness" (Zechariah 13:1). Proselyte tevilah [ritual washing] immersion symbolically washed the uncleanness from the heathen on entering Judaism. Thus non-Jews were grafted on to the people of G-d by a water immersion which gave them ceremonial purity.
The Jewish prophet Yochanan (John) HaMahtbeel (the Tevilah Immersionist) called on all Israel to likewise confess sinful uncleanness and take a mikveh ritual bath "as a token of their teshuva" (Mark 1:4) and resolve to keep themselves holy as they awaited the coming Moshiach. Then as the last days began to approach, the Jewish prophet Yochanan announced that the Moshiach was on his way to pour out the Ruach Hakodesh [Holy Spirit] on some and the fire of Gehinnom on others. Therefore, all must heed the Word of G-d, turn from their own ways, look to G-d and his Moshiach for mercy and deliverance from judgment, be cleansed with clean water, and be saved from G-d's burning wrath (see Mark 1:4, Matthew 3:7, Luke 3:9).
Sensing by the Ruach Hakodesh that the Moshiach's presence on the earth was very near and that the need for preparing the Jewish people to meet their G-d had reached the crisis point, Yochanan HaMahtbeel called upon all G-d's people to seek the forgiveness of Hashem [a name Jews feel comfortable to call God] by submitting to a purifying tevilah. For this great Jewish prophet saw that the coming Moshiach would judge the wicked who had not turned from the "Egyptian" evils of this world by taking a "Red Sea" immersion of separation and repentance in the Jordan River.
G-d gave Yochanan the foresight to see that those who did turn to G-d would be given the Ruach Hakodesh by the Coming One, the Moshiach. Later Yochanan must have had inspired intimations of how G-d would save his people and the kapparah [expiation (of sin)] Moshiach would bring. Yochanan pointed to Moshiach Adoneinu and said, "Look, there is the Lamb of G-d; it is he who takes away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I spoke when I said, `After me a man is coming whose status is higher than mine; for before I was born, he already existed.’ I myself did not know who he was; but the very reason why I came, immersing in water, was that he might be revealed to Israel" (Yochanan 1:29-31).
However, the tevilah immersion of Yochanan went beyond proselyte immersion in several ways. It was directed toward his fellow Jews. It was a collective act of repentance and included the whole nation. It had a "last-chance" ethical and spiritual significance that went far beyond the mere ceremonial cleansing of proselyte tevilah immersion. Yochanan asserted that through his water ordeal the remnant of the true Israel of G-d was being called out from all the spiritually dead who refused to prepare themselves by tevilah immersion for the coming of the Moshiach. Therefore, all strata of Israel's society responded to the immersion of Yochanan.
What was unique about Yochanan was that he saw by inspiration from the G-d of Israel that, in view of the coming of the Holy One, the Moshiach, Jews were just as unprepared and sinfully unclean and in need of ultimate kapparah (Yochanan 1:29) as were heathen proselytes, and must therefore prepare themselves by the same act of repentance - submitting, to a tevilah immersion for the uncleanness of sins. Yochanan preached, "Do not presume to say to yourselves, 'We have the yichus (proud lineage), we have the zechut Avot (merit of the Fathers) of Avraham Avinu (our father Abraham).' For I say to you that Hashem is able to raise up from these avanim (stones) banim (sons) of Avraham" (OJBC version, Matthew 3:9). Yochanan knew that the essential thing for his fellow Jews was that they humble themselves, turn from prideful wickedness and prepare to adhere to the Moshiach, through whom they would escape judgment and receive the all-important gift of Hashem, the Ruach Hakodesh. Therefore, he saw that the whole nation of Israel must turn to G-d with the humility of a sinful non-Jew submitting to a mikveh of repentance for the sins of his unholy former life.
In pointing toward the Seh haElohim (the Lamb of G-d, Isaiah 53:7, Genesis 22:8), Yochanan pointed toward a new meaning for the tevilah immersion as the standard means of making proselytes to Judaism. This new meaning would include a perfect blood sacrifice for sin, an eternal kapparah for all who would receive the Ruach Hakodesh and thus be circumcised as spiritual bnei Avraham through immersion in the name of the G-d of Israel.
The tevilah immersion toward which Yochanan was pointing was the immersion of Moshiach Adoneinu, experienced by Moshiach himself and then by him commanded for all peoples of the world.'
Hopefully, when you read Romans 4, you will go back to Genesis 10 and 11 to see who else was a 'gentile' at the time Abram was called by God. Also, these two verses link Adam and Eve to the cross. (There are more, too.)
Genesis 3:14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent... 15:And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
John 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 
