Israel Again

 ²⁵ For I do not desire, brethren,
that you [gentiles] should be ignorant of this mystery,
lest you [gentiles] should be wise in your own opinion,
that blindness in part has happened to Israel
until the fullness of the Gentiles
has come in.

… if they [Israelites] do not continue in unbelief,
will be grafted in,
for God is able
to graft them in **again.**

²⁴ For if you [gentiles] were cut out of the olive tree
which is wild by nature,
and were grafted contrary to nature
into a cultivated olive tree,
how much more will these,
who are natural branches [Israelites],
be grafted into their own olive tree?
Romans 11:23-25

What does he mean by “graft them in again?”

Since there were already natural branches
still attached to the tree as believing Jews,
does this only apply to Jews living at the time of Paul,
who were broken off due to unbelief,
but if they would believe later, they could be reattached?

Because how could the word “again” apply?

Unless something more than individual salvation is in view,
a salvation that involves a people or nation...

²⁶ And so all Israel will be saved,
as it is written:
"The Deliverer will come out of Zion,
And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;
²⁷ For this is My covenant with them [Israel],
When I take away their sins."
²⁸ Concerning the gospel they [Israel] are enemies
for your [believing gentiles] 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.
Romans 11:26-29

Charles Hodge from his Romans Commentary:

"Israel here must mean the Jewish people,
and 'all Israel' the whole nation. 
The Jews, as a people, are now rejected;
as a people they are to be restored. 
As their rejection, although national,
did not include the rejection of every individual,
so their restoration though national,
need not include the salvation of every Jew. 
All Israel does not mean all the true people of God,
as Augustine, Calvin, and others explain it;
nor all the elect Jews -- i.e., all that part of the nation
which constitute 'the remnant according to the election of grace'
--but the whole nation, as a nation.”

Charles Hodge, was a Presbyterian theologian of reformed theology
and was principal of Princeton Theological Seminary 
between 1851 and 1878.

Time of gentiles

Couldn't the "time of the gentiles"

be the time of their distress,

being the "Day of the Lord”?

The DOL is the Second Coming of Christ. Read 2Peter3.

See the use in Ezekiel:

"Wail, 'Woe to the day!'
For the day is near,
Even the day of the LORD is near;
It will be a day of clouds,

the time of the Gentiles.

Ezekiel 30:2-3

...Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles

until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

²⁵ "And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars;

and on the earth distress of nations,

with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring;

²⁶ men's hearts failing them from fear

and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth,

for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

²⁷ Then they will see the Son of Man coming

in a cloud with power and great glory.

²⁸ Now when these things begin to happen,

look up and lift up your heads,

because your redemption draws near."

Luke 21:24-28

Evil shaping identity

 A recent question was asked: couldn't God have created us with freewill without there being evil?

My response: I can only think that God could have created angels and man with a very limited free will in which they could not have disobeyed with the resulting evils, but it is not the world he created.

Angels and man were created with the ability to know and do evil.

Whether we like it or not.

But, He has also provided for deliverance from the consequences of evil, but it won't be fully realized until the new creation.

What's interesting is how what happens in this life is what shapes our identity--who we are.

If we have the salvation that comes through Christ, we will spend eternity with people who are likewise saved and have their own unique past life experiences that had a role in shaping their identity—who they were/ are.

Carcass Eagles Idiom

 ²³ "Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'There!' do not believe it.

²⁴ For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

²⁵ See, I have told you beforehand.

²⁶ "Therefore if they say to you, 'Look, He is in the desert!' do not go out; or 'Look, He is in the inner rooms!' do not believe it.

²⁷ For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.

²⁸ For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together.”

Matthew 24:23-28

It's an idiom like "where there is smoke there's fire."

Jesus is answering the question of his disciples as to where the Second Coming will be.

He is saying it will be obvious.

And they answered and said to Him, "Where, Lord?" Luke 17:37

So He said to them, "Wherever the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together." Luke 17:37

Just faith

 A few years ago, I was searching online for Charles Hodge’s comments on penal substitution from his Systematic Theology, and I came across a blog by a Dr. Ken Pulliam who was commenting on Hodge’s views on penal substitution. Pulliam was a graduate of Bob Jones University and once a Bible teacher but departed from the faith and became an agnostic-atheist, because he could not any longer accept penal substitution.

 (Dr. Hodge was a Presbyterian theologian in the area of reformed theology. He was also principal of Princeton Theological Seminary between 1851 and 1878. Penal Substitution is the view that one can bear the penalty for someone else--the innocent in the place of the guilty.)

In Pulliam’s blog, he said he could no longer accept the view that Jesus bore the penalty for our sins, so that God could release the sinner from that penalty and justify them (declare righteous). This led him to denouncing his faith and becoming either an agnostic or atheist.

There were people who responded to his blog with concern, especially those on whom he had an impact by his ministry.

What's interesting is that I read one comment informing Pulliam that there are other theories about the meaning and value of Christ’s death: he didn’t need to cast off his faith because of penal substitution, because there are other views he could have considered.

But Pulliam responded that he was fully aware of those other views. And here is what is very interesting: He said that the Scriptures clearly teach penal substitution--not those other views—and he could no longer accept it. Since he concluded that penal substitution is unjust, and the Scriptures clearly taught it, the Scriptures can’t be true.

This can explain why Christians can disagree so much over what Scripture teaches.

One has 3 choices in handling what they don't like or find difficult in the Scriptures. They can accept and believe what it says or they can formulate an alternate explanation, or they can just cast away their faith altogether and end up like Dr. Pulliam.

I’ve seen this before with other Bible scholars, especially when it comes to the issue of suffering: the degree of suffering must mean the Bible isn’t true, because God is not a just and loving God, because life would be much different if he were.

If one reads the book of Habakkuk, he/she will find the prophet questioning God as to why an eviler nation, Babylon, was permitted to punish a less evil nation, namely the southern kingdom of Judah. God’s answer was that “the just shall live by his faith.” The just, or righteous one, needs to trust God, that he knows what he is doing: his wisdom and ways can be trusted. Though a lot of things can be explained by what God has revealed in his word, we have to be willing to accept what he has revealed and what he has not revealed. We need to trust that God has our best interests in mind, and he will provide what we truly need, according to his wisdom and will.  

“The just shall live by his faith” Habakkuk 2:4.

Dead Sea Isaiah Scroll

 The Isaiah Scroll was found in 1947 in limestone caves in the desert hills of Qumran, near the Dead Sea in Israel, by a shepherd boy looking for his lost goat. This scroll predates the oldest Hebrew copy (The Masoretic Text) that we have used in translating our Old Testament by at least 1000 years. Isaiah was a writing prophet in Israel in the 8th Century before Christ. The following is an old English translation of the Isaiah Scroll of a portion of the 52nd chapter and all of the 53rd chapter of Isaiah.

"Behold, my servant shall deal prudently,
and He shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.
As many were astonished at thee;
His visage was so marred more than any man,
And his form more than the sons of men:
So shall he sprinkle many nations;
The kings shall shut their mouths at him:
For that which had not been told them shall they see;
And that which they had not heard shall they consider.
Who hath believed our report?
And to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?
For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant,
And as a root out of a dry ground:
He hath no form nor comeliness;
And when we shall see him,
there is no beauty that we should desire him.
He is despised and rejected of men;
A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief:
And we hid as it were our faces from him;
He was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he hath borne our griefs, And carried our sorrows:
Yet we did esteem him stricken, and smitten of God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions,
And he was bruised for our iniquities:
And the chastisement of our peace was upon him;
And with his stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned every one to his own way;
And the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
Yet he opened not his mouth:
He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter,
As a sheep before her shearers is dumb,
So he openeth not his mouth.

He was taken from prison and from judgment:
And who shall declare his generation?
For he was cut off out of the land of the living:
For the transgression of my people was he stricken.
And they made his grave with the wicked,
And with the rich in his death;
Because he had done no violence,
Neither was any deceit in his mouth.
Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him;
he hath put him to grief:
When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin,
He shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days,
And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
Of the travail of his soul he shall see light,
and shall be satisfied:
By his knowledge shall his righteous servant justify many;
For he shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great,
And he shall divide the spoil with the strong;
Because he hath poured out his soul unto death:
And he was numbered with the transgressors;
And he bare the sin of many,
And made intercession for the transgressors. "

take heed