OBS: ACTS - The Transition (Part 4 - To the Jews First)
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Acts 1:4 ... And, being assembled together with them, [He] commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. ...
All Jews had to be saved first!
As Jesus earthly ministry progressed from his early ministry to his resurrection and ascension, we see a specific trend in his instructions to the disciples with regards to the audience they could preach to. Notice this in the following bulleted points below,
- Throughout His ministry, Jesus was clear that the disciples DO NOT go to Gentiles or the Samaritans. (Matt.10:5-6)
- Just before His ascension on the Mt. of Olives, Jesus gave His disciples 'the Great Commission', where He tells them to "Go into ALL the world, proclaiming the gospel". (Matt.28:19; Mk.16:15)
- In His instructions regarding them receiving the Holy Spirit, Jesus said to His disciples that they were to stay in Jerusalem first, then go to Judaea, then to Samaria, and then to the rest of the world. (Acts 1:8)
What is significant about this? Why is Jesus so explicit in these commands?
Let's investigate why it was so important that the Jews were to be saved FIRST; why the Gospels reveal this, and even why Paul, in his early ministry, went to the Jews and the synagogues first.
They could not go into the 'nations' until ALL Jews were saved!
The answer for this scenario is actually quite simple. It ALL comes down to the fact that God made a covenant with Abraham which determined the purpose and importance of Israel in God's great plan to redeem humanity. God planned to save Israel first, to make them a kingdom of priests, and to send them to the Gentile nations with His word and His salvation. God had to get Israel saved FIRST so He could use them as His vehicle to send blessing out to the Gentile nations. Notice these verses,
Genesis 12:2-3 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
This passage above is the original covenant spoken over Abraham. God promises that all the nations of the earth will be blessed through Israel.
Deuteronomy 7:7-8 The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: 8 But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand,
God's love, attention, and preservation was upon Israel since He had promised Abraham that He would bless Israel and save the world through them.
Acts 3:25-26 Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, "And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed." 26 Unto you first, God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you [Israel], in turning away every one of you from his iniquities. (See also Gal.4:4)
Paraphrase for emphasis: Since you are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant; —the first offers of salvation belong to you [Israel], and God makes them to you. The great mission of Jesus Christ [His earthly ministry] is directed first to you, that you may be saved from your sins. God has designed to bless you first, but it is by turning, each of you, away from his sins.
The above verse (and paraphrase) clearly illustrate the priority of Israel first over the rest of the nations because it was in God's plan to save them and use them to reach the rest of humanity.
Now that we have established this fact that God had to focus on Israel first, let us look at evidence in both Jesus and Paul's early ministry to see the continuation of this trend, the priority of Israel.
Both Jesus, and Paul (in his early ministry), focused on salvation to the Jews first.
Jesus clearly demonstrated that his ministry was to the Jews ONLY,
Matthew 10:5-7 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: 6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
The Kingdom Gospel was to be preached to Jews only and to bring them to salvation first according to the purpose and order of God.
Matthew 15:24-27 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 25 Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. 26 But he answered and said, It is not meet [good, proper] to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs. 27 And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table.
What does Jesus mean in the verse above?
The 'children's bread' is in reference to the blessings that God spoke to Abraham in the covenant made with him. The blessing of salvation and God's grace was directed first to the Jewish nation. Because this woman was a Gentile, a Canaanite, Jesus could not minister blessings (in the form of healing) to her as He would then violate this order set up by God. The blessing must go to Israel first, before it could be poured out onto the Gentile nations through Israel.
So, why did Jesus eventually end up healing her daughter, even though she was a Gentile? It's because she demonstrated exceptional faith! Jesus was so moved by her faith that He made an exception in this case. We know that Heb.11:6 says that "only faith pleases God", and it's because of her faith that Jesus responded to her statement 'that even the dogs can eat the crumbs that fall off the masters table'. In this statement she acknowledged the precedence of the Jews and her lowly position. Its only the love and grace of God that took over and made this exception, (only one of two exceptions in the entire earthly ministry of Jesus. The other being the Roman Centurion in Luke 7:1-10.)
Paul, in his early ministry, longed for Israel to be saved first,
Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
Romans 2:10 But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:
Romans 9:3-5 For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh: 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; 5 Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.
Romans 10:1 Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.
Even though Paul by this time had a good understanding of the grace program and that his commission was to go to the Gentiles, his heart was still strongly motivated to the salvation of the Jews, his brethren (see Rom.10:1; Rom.9:1-5), and Paul would go to the synagogues first and preach the grace gospel (the only valid gospel, Gal.1:6-9) to the Jews (even though it was mostly rejected and caused dispute). He knew that if ALL of Israel could come to repentance and be saved, then Jesus would come again and set up his Millennial Kingdom. Unfortunately, Israel would NOT believe as their hardened hearts would continue to reject the truth.
Only in Acts 28 did Paul stop convincing the Jews,
Acts 28:28 Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.
Interesting Fact: Note that in Paul's writings from after Acts 28, —that is in his "Prison Epistles - Ephesians to Colossians", —one finds minimal references to Old Testament quotes or any mention of Jewish customs or traditions. This validates that his heart was now set solely on the grace message to the Gentiles. (For more detail and scripture references on this point, see this post.)
It is a literal ALL of the Jews! (Not just some!)
Acts 2:36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. ... 38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you [Jews] in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Romans 11:26 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:
The remnant of Israel (the 1/3 that flee into the wilderness at the midpoint of the tribulation) will ALL be saved in one moment at the second coming of Christ and the outpouring of His Holy Spirit over the nation. It is this saved remnant that will enter into the Millennial Kingdom and become that kingdom of priests and that holy nation who will take God's Word out to the nations.
Isaiah 66:8 Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once?
Isaiah 45:17 But Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end [for all eternity].
Jews were to fulfil the role as 'priests' within the kingdom, to mediate between God and the nations.
Exodus 19:5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: 6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.
Conclusion
Today, in this dispensation of grace, there is no 'Jew first'. There is not preeminence on the Jew. Jews and the members of the Body of Christ are all equal in the eyes of God, (Rom.10:12; Gal.3:28; Col.3:11). We are all saved under the same Gospel of the Grace of God (1 Cor.15:1-4) and we are all destined to inherit the Heavens. When we are snatched up from this earth in the rapture, the Kingdom program will be reactivated and the Jew will come back into preeminence again, since God's program to save the nations will again rest upon the salvation of the Jews. The tribulation will bring this about as Israel, under great persecution, will eventually bend its knee to their King and Messiah.
Maranatha!
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