I will be basing my comments today based on the teaching of Jesus, taken from Luke 21:24, “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.”
Bible readers have good reason and personal reasons, for remembering certain portions of scriptures such as, 2 Timothy 2:15, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” Or John 5:39, “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.” As well as other such scriptural written treasures to keep them spiritually alert. It can be sobering to be confronted with questions that aren’t easily answered; therefore, studying can be considered one of our best friends.
Truly enough, this thought is recorded in 2 Peter 3:14-18 which tells us, “Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless. And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction. Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness. But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever. Amen.” This is referring to the writings of the Apostle Paul. It may not be concerning to everyone, but when it comes to my salvation coming under scrutiny, I want to have the answers! Even if I am unable to solve the whole puzzle or problem, it is at least easy enough to quote the Apostle who said in Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.” With our marching orders starting from this point, it is certainly much easier to continue and fulfil the writings of 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 which tell us, “Charity suffers long, and is kind; charity envies not; charity vaunts not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeks not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoices not in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; Bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
You may now have concluded by now, that I am persuaded that we need insight into a long sought after scriptural “hard to be understood” teaching. While preparing for a half hour teaching class at the Spanish church recently, I found myself nearly two full days in specific studies, and almost a week in general studies, searching to answer a single question. That was Abraham’s question to Jehovah as recorded in Genesis 18:23 which was, “And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?” Strangely enough, there was no simple answer of yes or no given to Abraham. The Lord set up a situation of conditions that determined who would be spared or be destroyed. We already know the results. We see them in the story of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, which were destroyed, while Lot and his daughters were saved.
In my research, four references jumped out at me that were almost identical, that were found in the three synoptic gospels. Twice it is recorded in Matthew, with one of those being chapter 20:16, “So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.” In its own covert manner, it leapt before me again in Acts 3:20-21, “And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.” We can rest in confidence that the ‘restitution of all things’ will be to revert to God’s order of, “the last shall be first, and the first shall be last” as He said it would be.
We can move to an unquestionable view of this by reading Hosea 3:4-5, “For 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: Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God, and David their king; and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days.” Did we not just hear Peter speaking of Jesus in Acts 3:21 say, “Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began”? This merits more from us than just a smile of gratitude, for the Lord is entitled to hear a shout of Alleluia, from the depths of our heart, mind, soul, and spirit.
For our consolation to be greater and more glorious, may the Prophet Hosea be heard a second time. We read in Hosea 6:1-3, “Come and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days he will revive us: on the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.” Allow me to insert at this point, 2 Peter 3:8, “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” We that are Gentiles must certainly keep in mind that Hosea was a prophet unto Israel. This is not only easy to forget but is very often forgotten, and thus Peter was reminding the New Testament saints of this in Acts 3:21, as we have read.
This being true, certainly calls for God sending another prophet to testify the same message. This one will the prophet Joel, in Joel 2:28-32, “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call.”
This is not only awakening, but truly startling. No sound minded person among us can overlook the place of origin of the outpouring of the Spirit, and we do not dare forget it. In fact, the Apostle Peter stood up on the day of Pentecost, with the remaining apostles, and quoted these same words from Joel’s prophecy in Acts 2:32, “This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.” Everyone who calls themselves a Christian on the earth today, knows that they were in Jerusalem when this took place, and the prophecy was spoken. We must also keep Hosea 6:2 at the forefront of our minds. What we see spoken of as two days, has been two thousand years. The ‘third day’ mentioned here happened around 9/11 in 2001.
The Samaritans were Gentiles, a mixed cultured people and were not included among the Jews on the day of Pentecost. The primitive church consisted of Jews and proselytes, and some years later, through an act of God, the door opened to the Gentiles in Caesarea. This is recorded in Acts 10, where the first fruits were Cornelius’ family, who was a centurion of the Italian band. You can read the entire story of how he saw a vision, and the message he received after seeking the Lord, was telling him to go to Joppa and find Peter to learn what he should do. Meanwhile in Joppa, Peter was wrestling with his own vision from God, who was instructing him to go preach the gospel to the Gentiles, but they were considered unclean to them. When the two parties finally met, God does a miraculous work, as He always does! We see in verses 44-48 what happened when Peter obeyed the voice of God. “While Peter yet spoke these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all of them which heard the word. And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Then answered Peter, can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days.” We as Gentiles are thankful for this beginning and chance of salvation; however, as they became integrated into the Jewish Christian church, there were more than a few problems. Misunderstandings, divisions, and separations became commonplace over a wide area of space and time.
The beloved Apostle Paul, known as the Apostle, exclusively called and devoted to the Gentiles, gave a wealth of knowledge and wisdom to the Gentile church in Rome. We see this reading from the epistle to Rome, in Romans 11:13-24, “For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify my office: If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh and might save some of them. For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead? For if the first fruit is holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root is holy, so are the branches. And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert grafted in among them, and with them partake of the root and fatness of the olive tree; Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bear not the root, but the root thee. Thou wilt say then, the branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in. Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou stand by faith. Be not high-minded, but fear: For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise, thou also shalt be cut off. And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in for God is able to graft them in again. For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?”
He is teaching quite a deep concept for them to grasp. He continues in verse 25 telling them why he is trying to drive this home to them, “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 happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.” And immediately the words in verses 26-27 informs us, “And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, there shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.” The sacred writings bring us both history and prophecy in undeniable detail, and to the seeker after God they are marvelous wonders and mysteries.
Here again we see the comforting message that came from the lips of our Lord and Savior recorded in Matthew 20:16, “So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.” It can be said that the few chosen were the responders that originally made up part of the many whom the Lord had called. Just as we saw in the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, that Lot and his family were of the original inhabitance of those two cities that were destroyed, while they were saved and brought out before the destruction of the wicked. Again, as we noted in the beginning of this letter, the Lord spoke concerning the last days, in Luke 21:24 saying, “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.” Finally, let us look at Revelation 3:6-8, “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that opens, and no man shuts; and shuts, and no man opens; I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.” God may call us, but he requires a response from us to be among the chosen.
So, to answer the question that Abraham asked God, “Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?” I believe it would be a resounding no; from the scriptures we have seen how the mercy and grace of God has been extended to all of us, whether Jew or Gentile, young or old, rich or poor. Romans 5:6-9 tells us, “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commended his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.” We are living in ‘The times of the Gentiles’ and we can all be partakers of His forgiveness and redemption through the blood Jesus shed on Calvary. 2 Corinthians 6:1-2 tells us, “We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succored thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)” Spread the word, the wait is over.