We return to Ephesians 2 by looking at the Glory of God and what that means for the world, especially the Gentiles, with regard to God, Christ and hope.

Jesus and the LORD (Pt. 2)

Last time we began to look at how Matthew brings out the deity of Jesus by taking Old Testament passages that refer directly to the LORD (Jehovah) God and then applying them just as directly to the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's look at some more examples:

1. In Mat. 7:21, 22 and 25:11, Jesus applies to Himself the double: Lord, Lord terminology that in the Old Testament referred solely to God in relation to His Name. He is the One who will decide who does and doesn't enter the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. In fact, He is the One who will determine eternal destinies—a divine prerogative that belongs solely to the Lord God of Israel.
   1. In Ps. 116:4 and 118:25, the Psalmist cries out to God for salvation: (Jehovah) LORD, (Jehovah) O LORD.
   2. In passages like Gen. 15:8; Ex. 23:17; 34:9; Josh. 7:7; Ps. 8:1; 71:5; Is. 1:24 God is identified as Lord (Adonai) GOD (Jehovah--LORD): In short, Lord, LORD.
2. In Matthew 8:25, 14:30; 15:22; 17:15; 20:30, 31; Jesus answers the cries for help from people who are in situations that in the Old Testament only God could save them from (Ps. 116:4)!
   1. Who else but God has the power and authority to still storms and calm the seas but the LORD Himself (Ps. 65:5‑7; 107:24-30; Job 9:5‑8)?
   2. Matthew's characters call out to Jesus as characters in the Old Testament called out to the LORD, AND JESUS ANSWERS THEM.
   3. In short, Jesus does things that only the LORD could do in the Old Testament.
3. In Mat. 12:6, 8; The Lord Jesus Christ declares Himself not only greater than the Temple (for He is, in fact, absolute God, God with us—Immanuel—Mat. 1:23) but the Son of Man who is greater than the Sabbath, in fact, the LORD OF THE SABBATH. God's day is His day. For Jesus to claim this would be utter blasphemy if He were not, in fact, the LORD who bears God's I AM Jehovah LORD Name.
   1. As the Son of Man, Jesus identifies Himself as the occupant of God's throne (Dan. 7:13‑14).
   2. As the Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus exercises the prerogative that belongs exclusively to the LORD (Jehovah) God of Israel. He is the Sabbath's originating authority, the One who commanded the Sabbath into existence with His word (Gen. 2:3) and the One who enshrined it into the Law (Ex. 20:8‑11). Therefore, He could say it is My Sabbath (Ex. 31:13; Lev. 19:3, 30).
4. In Mat. 14:25‑30, the Lord Jesus rescues the helpless by walking on the sea, a prerogative reserved solely for the LORD God in the Old Testament (Job. 9:8; 38:16; Ps. 77:16, 19; Is. 43:16; Hab. 3:15).
   1. Power over the wind and sea in the Old Testament belongs to the LORD. Here, Jesus has that power over wind and sea, indicating that He is, in fact, the Creator of wind and sea ... and land and mountains ... and everything else!
   2. In addition, while walking on the sea, Jesus (LORD Jehovah Your Savior) proclaimed: I AM! And the wind instantly ceased and the waters instantly stilled. Jesus—Jehovah LORD Your Savior is the I AM blank check signed with God's LORD Jehovah Name that will save the Nation of Israel and make her into His Own great and holy nation (Ex. 3:14‑15; Ex. 19:6).
   3. But that's not all! The command “Do Not Fear” frequently comes from the LORD in the Scriptures (Gen. 15:1; 26:24; 46:3; Is. 41:13). Here it comes from Jesus—the LORD your Salvation!
   4. Finally, Peter addresses Jesus as the Lord who has power over the waters (v. 30) and appeals to Him to “save me.”

In short, Jesus is the self-expression of the LORD (Jehovah) God Himself enfleshed in the human line of David in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

We begin a short series on circumcision--what it was supposed to mean to Israel and through Israel, the Gentiles. We also enumerated three big errors of historic Christianity that have, unfortunately, crept into the Pauline Grace Movement.

The State of the World

Ephesians 2:11 gives us the status of the world of fallen humanity in the context of Israel's fall. When God's own Nation of Israel joined hands with the enemy Gentile nations, thrusting their fists into the face of God, saying: We will not have your Son to rule over us (Acts 1-7), the whole world went dark on enemy status before God.

That moment was unlike any other moment in the history of God's Prophetic Program. When God turned off His Prophetic Program with Israel, it to diminished and ceased, He also “turned off” the Believing Remnant of Israel under Peter and the 12, causing them to diminish and cease, conclusively with the death of Peter (2 Peter 1:14). Their Good News went from the Gospel of the Kingdom being at hand (Acts 1-3), to the Gospel of the Circumcision being in the future ( (2 Peter 3:1-14; Acts 7:8; 10:45; Gal. 2:7‑9), to Paul's Gospel (2 Peter. 3:15‑18), which would continue until God completes the ambassadorial stage of His Mystery Program with the Body of Christ--the Dispensation of Grace—now ongoing for some 2,000 years.

The enemy world consists of two groups of fallen humanity: 1. The Circumcision in the flesh made with (human) hands—i.e., unbelieving Jews; and 2. The Uncircumcision in the flesh—i.e., unbelieving Gentiles. With this in mind, let's take a closer look at Eph. 2:11:

1. Remember that in time passed (before Paul came to town and they were saved)—Paul is not referring here to the long view of Time Past in God's Prophetic Program as he did in Rom. 15. He is referring to the short view of Time Past in God's Prophetic Program, which began when Israel stumbled and fell, and God cast her away (temporarily) and before the Apostle Paul's arrival in town, the Ephesians belonged to a generation of Gentiles that were utterly Godless, Christless and hopeless (Eph. 2:12).
2. As such, they were part of a sinful fallen humanity that consisted of two groups:
   1. The Circumcision in the flesh made by hands
      —unbelieving Jews.
   2. The Uncircumcision in the flesh
      —unbelieving Gentiles.
3. Unlike the diminishing Believing Remnant of Israel under Peter and the 12 whose circumcision was FIRST in the S/spirit from hearts of faith that was made by God without human hands (Acts 2:37, 46; 4:32; Rom. 2:29); these unbelieving Jews were merely externally circumcised in the flesh before men but uncircumcised in the hearts before God.
4. In these two groups of fallen enemy humanity there was not only enmity between the enemy world and God, but enmity between Jews and Gentiles as well.
5. BUT NOW: Thanks be to God! This all ended when Paul came to town, announcing that God had opened a new way of blessings to the enemy world, especially to the Gentiles, whereby God not only reconciled Jews and Gentiles to Himself, but to each other as well through the death of Christ on the Cross. He did this by making them co-members united in a new group of redeemed humanity called the Body of Christ.

The POWER of God's Mystery

It is interesting to observe that Paul uses POWER terminology with reference to God some 21 times in his Letter to the Ephesians. Sixteen of those occur in the first three chapters alone where Paul establishes how God made known the Revelation of the Mystery through his distinct apostleship. Let's follow the POWER:

1. Paul wants all believers to know that they are participants in God's Mystery Program with the Body of Christ to restore His Glory in the Heavenlies--NOT participants in His Prophetic Program with the Nation of Israel to restore His Glory on Earth. Paul wants us to know that the exceeding greatness of His (God's) POWER toward us who believe is manifested and revealed in the Revelation of the Mystery (Eph. 1:19).
2. This POWER was displayed when God POWERFULLY raised Christ from the dead and seated Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all other POWERS--PRINCIPALITY and POWER and MIGHT and DOMINION (Eph. 1:21). Now, this POWER is toward us who believe (Eph. 1:19) because through its WORKING God restructured the universe, putting the old creation under Christ's feet and placing the new creation, the Body of Christ, under Christ, who is our Head, where He fills them with the fullness of His life and glory and through them, creation.
3. This POWER of God toward those who believe is what God uses to POWERFULLY deliver them—Jews and Gentiles alike--from all the powers that worked against them—Sin and Death, Satan and the World, Adam and the Flesh. He creates them anew in Christ Jesus, making them alive, raising them up and seating them together with Christ in the Heavenlies far above all other powers that might want to claim them (Eph. 2:1‑10).
4. This POWER of God toward those who believe is what God used to POWERFULLY dismantle His Prophetic Program with the Nation of Israel, which Satan had taken captive, usurping God's plan and purpose. This is especially exemplified by Satan's usurpation of the Law and Circumcision whereby he perverted them into barriers that excluded the Gentiles from accessing God's blessings (Eph. 2:11‑15). This is the opposite of what God intended. Yes, Israel was supposed to be separate from the Gentiles not to exclude the Gentiles but to provide them with a holy and safe place where Gentiles could come to worship and access the one true God with and through God's Own Great and Holy Nation of Israel (Gen. 12:2‑3 Ex. 19:6). Now, having torn down His Prophetic Program with Israel that Satan had taken captive, God POWERFULLY introduced a new Mystery Program through the Apostle Paul whereby He would gather together believing Jews and Gentiles in Christ (Eph. 1:10) and created of them a new group in Christ of redeemed humanity called the Body of Christ, thereby POWERFULLY reconciling them not only to God, but to each other as well (Eph. 2:16).
5. God is now POWERFULLY making the Good News of the Revelation of the Mystery known by His POWER that is POWERFULLY EMPOWERING (the EFFECTUAL WORKING of His POWER--Eph. 3:7) the distinct and unique apostleship of Paul. This Gospel is the POWER of God unto salvation to everyone who believes (Rom. 1:16), and it POWERFULLY establishes believers in accord with the preaching of Christ according to the Revelation of the Mystery, which was kept secret since the world began (Rom. 16:25).
6. The Revelation of the Mystery is of ultimate importance because it is there that God makes known the immense and measureless dimensions of the (Agape) Love of God at the Cross of Christ as revealed in Pauline Grace Mystery Truth (PGMT), which the Holy Spirit uses to overflow the believer's heart (Rom. 5:5), EMPOWERING their inner man—their spirit/heart—so that they might be filled with all the fullness of God—the fullness of His Life and Glory (Eph. 3:16‑19).
7. And, finally, Now to Him that is able (POWERFUL) to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the POWER that WORKS in us (EMPOWERS us), unto Him be the Glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen (Eph. 3:20‑21).

Continuing our study of Eph. 2:11-22, we see that Satan had taken God's Prophetic Program with the Nation of Israel captive, largely nullifying it by getting Israel to rebel against God and reject His Son, culminating in the stoning of Stephen (Acts 7).

Through Israel's misuse of such things as circumcision and the Law, Satan divided fallen humanity, injecting enmity and hostility into it, especially between Jews and Gentiles. This started in ernest when Satan got Israel to go under the Law according to the flesh at Sinai, and they spent the next 1500 years under the curses of the Law in the Courses of Punishment, which ruined and destroyed the Nation of Israel, and put it to death as a nation in the Assyrian and Babylonian captivities.

In the days of Jesus's earthly ministry and the ministry of Peter and the 12 in early Acts, Israel was ruled by a vain religious system, which was ruled by the Gentiles, which was ruled by Satan. Therefore all God could do with His corrupted and dysfunctional Prophetic Program was to tear it down and abolish/inactivate it (Eph. 2:14‑15).

But thanks be to God! Simultaneously, He began a new program, which He had kept secret since before the world began (Eph. 3:1‑9 Rom. 16:25), His Mystery Program with the Body of Christ, which not only removed the enmity between men and God but between men and men, even between Jews and Gentiles, as well (Eph. 2:13, 15‑22)!

Sunday, we continued our study of Eph. 2:11‑16, watching as God nullified Satan's attempt to nullify God's Prophetic Program with the Nation of Israel. He did this by dismantling His Prophetic Program with the Nation of Israel while beginning a new Mystery Program with the Body of Christ.

Gen. 17 Questions

God gave Abraham circumcision in Gen. 17 to remind Israel of their responsibility to be the conduit of His blessings to the world, the Gentile world. While, yes, circumcision separated His own Nation of Israel from the Gentile nations, its intention wasn't to exclude the Gentiles from God and His things but to bring them to God and into His things by providing a safe, holy and righteous place where they could worship the one true God with Israel and through her rise (Ex. 18:8‑12; Is. 60).

CONTEXT OF GEN. 17

Once it is established that Abraham had believed in the LORD and He counted it to him for righteousness in Gen. 15:6, God codified the promises He made to Abraham in a covenant, the Abrahamic Covenant (Gen. 15:9-21). In it, God granted Abraham and his descendants an inheritance that included a miraculous seed, Isaac, and countless progeny (Gen. 17:1‑5), whom He would deliver from Egypt as a nation and plant in the Land of Canaan (Gen. 17:7, 18‑21)—Seed, Descendants, Nation and Land.

Immediately after this, Abraham lapsed into unfaithfulness in Gen. 16. He tried to accomplish through the power of his own flesh what only God could do through His supernatural power—produce a child from union of barren and elderly Abraham and Sarah. Instead of waiting on God for the promised child with Sarah, he produced a child with Sarah's maid, Hagar, whose name was Ishmael. Earlier, God rejected Abraham's plan to let his servant Eliezer of Damascus be his heir (Gen. 15:1‑3), and here He rejected Abraham's plan to let Ishmael be his heir as well (Gen. 16).

In response to Abraham's failure in Gen. 16, God bolstered his faith with an appearance through which He gave him two signs in Gen. 17 that confirmed God's promises to Abraham as codified in the Abrahamic Covenant in Gen. 15. First, the LORD changed his name from Abram to Abraham—a father of many nations (Gen. 17:5). Second, He gave him the sign of circumcision (Gen. 17:11).

ADDITIONAL COVENANT OR A SIGN ADDED TO THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT?

Is the covenant referred to in Gen. 17 the Abrahamic Covenant from Gen. 15, or another covenant that must be distinguished from the Abrahamic Covenant. Many think the latter conclusion for a couple of reasons. First, the LORD tells Abraham that I WILL make a covenant between Me and thee (Gen. 17:2), which sounds like this is a covenant He will “make” with Abraham in the future, and cannot, therefore, be the Abrahamic Covenant, which He “made” with Abraham in the past (Gen. 15). Second, this covenant appears to be dependent on human contribution/faithfulness (Gen. 17:2), whereas the Abrahamic Covenant is not (Gen. 18:12).

But this explanation is not required if we understand that the Hebrew words for “make/made” in Gen. 15 and 17 are different. In Gen. 15, the underlying Hebrew word is “karat,” which means “to cut” and came to mean in itself “to cut a covenant.” The underlying Hebrew word in Gen. 17, however, is “natan,” which means “to set forth,” to set in motion” or “begin to implement.” So, whereas the Abrahamic Covenant was “cut” and created in Gen. 15, God promised that He will set it into motion and begin implementing it as Abraham walked before Him in faith in Gen. 17. Then he would be “perfect,” complete for he will reach the end goal of the Abrahamic Covenant—Israel being a blessing to the whole world. And it is interesting that in Gen. 18, God begins teaching Abraham His friend how to be a blessing to righteous Gentiles.

Once we appreciate this, the second problem is resolved as well. While the Abrahamic Covenant is a Grace Covenant that God will carry out with 100% certainty, He has chosen to accomplish it not on behalf of unbelieving and unfaithful Israel but on behalf of believing and faithful Israel. It will ultimately and completely be fulfilled at Christ's 2nd Coming when believing Israel is ushered into her earthly Kingdom.

In conclusion, God does not introduce a new additional covenant in Gen. 17. Rather He promises to set in motion the Abrahamic Covenant for believing Abraham/Israel as he/they fulfill their purpose of being a blessing to Gentiles. Which is exactly what we see Abraham doing in Gen. 18.

Sunday, we continued our study on circumcision in God's Prophetic Program with the Nation of Israel. And what are the implications of the fact that God's Prophetic Program had been usurped and taken hostage by the evil powers—Satan--so that even circumcision became an "idol" in the flesh to the Nation of Israel (Eph. 2:11 Deut. 4:28 Acts 19:26).

Gen. 17--A Father Of What Nations?

In Gen. 17, God confirms the Abrahamic Covenant with Abraham. He will set it into motion by providing the miraculous “seed” (singular), Isaac, through whom the innumerable “seed” (plural) will come. To do this, God focused on the importance of one promise in particular: Ye shall be a blessing (to all the families on earth--the Gentiles (Gen. 12:2‑3). This is God's ultimate purpose for creating His own great and holy nation of Israel, and the one they most easily ignored and forgot under the teachings of their vain religious system. To help them remember this, God changed Abram's name to Abraham (the Father of Many Nations), and in that context gave them circumcision, driving home the point that the Abrahamic Covenant wasn't just for Israel's sake but for the sake of all nations!

But what nations are these? Some think they refer only to those nations literally and physically fathered by Abraham. This would include Israel through Sarah (Gen. 17:15‑19), the Ishmaelites through Hagar (Gen. 16, 22) and the Midianites through Keturah (Gen. 22:1‑2 1 Chron. 1:32‑33). And if we stretched things a bit, one might try to include the Edomites (Esau), although they were technically not fathered by Abraham but by Isaac through Rebekah (Gen. 25). So, let's give Abraham a 1/2 nation for Edom, totaling 3.5 nations that he in some way literally fathered. But this number seems to fall short of Gen. 17's many (multitudinous, abundant) nations and far short of the Abrahamic Covenant's intent for Israel being a blessing to all the families of the earth! (Gen. 12:3; Is. 60; et al.)!

Another possibility is that these nations refer to Gentiles who figuratively and spiritually descend from Abraham because they follow in his footsteps of faith: Abraham (at that time a Gentile!) believed God and God counted his faith for righteousness (Gen. 15:6 Rom. 4:3‑5). In this sense, “father” would be used in the sense of blesser, which fits the context well. This is the preferred option for several reasons:

1. God is often called the Father in the sense of Blesser—originator, protector, provider, etc. He is not only the Father/Blesser of Israel (Deut. 32:6 Mal. 2:10) but of all people (Acts 17:24‑29).
2. Israel's King and Messiah is called the Everlasting Father in accord with His role as the source of Israel's blessings in the Millennial Kingdom (Is. 9:6).
3. Paul teaches this about Abraham (and Sarah) in Rom. 4. Abraham is the (spiritual) father of all who (spiritually) follow in his footsteps of faith—justification by faith (Rom. 4:3‑5; 13-25).
4. In Gen. 17:16, God promised Sarah that she will be the mother of nations (plural--Gen. 17:16). Figuring the way we did above with Abraham, if taken literally of Sarah's physical descendants, it would not be very impressive because Sarah was the direct mother of only one nation, the Nation of Israel. Even if we give her the 1/2 nation for Edom (as grandmother but not mother), it would again fall short of Gen. 17:16 and far short of God's purpose for Abraham and Sarah through their Nation of Israel being the source of blessings to all the families on earth (Gen. 12:2‑3)!

CONCLUSION

In Gen. 17, God promised Abraham and Sarah that He will “make” or set in motion the Abrahamic Covenant He “made” or cut before in Gen. 15 by providing the miraculous seed (singular), Isaac, through whom Abraham's innumerable seed (plural) will come. To do this, He added two signs to the Abrahamic Covenant—Abraham's name change and circumcision--to remind Israel that they will only be “perfect/complete” when they are a blessing to the Gentiles, for it is then that they will reach God's end goal for them.

Sunday, we continued our study of Eph. 2 by looking at how Israel made idols of circumcision and the Law, which was represented as the wall of particion in Herod's temple that excluded the Gentiles even though God's plan for His Temple was to include the Gentiles.

Israel Made Them An Idol

It is often asserted that after the Babylonian Captivity, Israel totally turned away from idolatry. But this is very wrong. Israel may have turned away from some outward expressions of Gentile idolatry, but in doing so they fell into an even more pernicious form of inward idolatry of the heart. Israel's vain religious system developed, fine-tuned and perfected this inner idolatry, resulting in the Pharisaical law system, a system Jesus summed up and condemned in this way: Howbeit in vain do they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men ... thereby ... making the Word of God of none effect through your traditions (Mk. 7:7, 13). And this idolatry of unbelieving Israel was not of God the Father nor Abraham their father, but of Satan their father (Jn. 8:37-47).

The evil powers got Israel to take the good things that God gave to them and turn them into idols that served Satan's evil plan to nullify God's Prophetic Program so that the earthly realm would remain his.

1. Satan got Israel to make God's good sign of circumcision into an idol. God gave circumcision to Abraham/Israel to remind them that they were to be the source of His blessings to the Gentiles (Gen. 12:2‑3) that produced unity and peace. Satan, however, got them to make it into an idol that excluded the Gentiles from God and His blessings that led to enmity and hostility (Eph. 2:11‑12). Paul makes the great point that without internal circumcision of the heart in faith by the Spirit, external circumcision made with human hands in the flesh from hearts of unbelief was nothing. In short, it was just an idol (Rom. 2:28‑29).
2. Satan got Israel to make God's good Law into an idol. God's intent was for Israel to enter into the Law with hearts of faith according to the Spirit, who would cause them to follow His commands (i.e., the New Covenant—Jer. 31:31 Ezek. 36:26‑27). Satan, however got them to enter into it with hearts of unbelief in accord with the flesh, which destroyed the nation and put it to death. They spent the next 1500 years under the Curses of the Law in the Courses of Punishment. They became a nation that was ruled by a vain religious system, which was ruled by the Gentiles, who were ruled by Satan. They were deceived into thinking that just having the Law showed that they were right before God when, in fact, doing the Law is what mattered and they failed miserably at that (Rom. 2:13, 23).
   The sad truth is that they committed the idolatry of seeking after righteousness that comes from the Law by works rather than the righteousness that comes from God by faith. In doing so, as sinners they didn't attain to the former and missed out the latter (Rom. 9:31‑10:4).
3. Satan got Israel as a nation to make an idol of herself, leading them to blaspheme God's Name among the Gentiles rather than magnifying it among the Gentiles (Rom. 2:24).
4. Satan got Israel to make God's good Temple into an idol by erecting an impenetrable dividing wall that excluded the Gentile nations. If the dividing wall between Jews and Gentiles Paul refers to in Eph. 2:14 was represented by the dividing wall in the Temple that excluded Gentiles from entering the temple, then it is important to appreciate that the temple with the dividing wall isn't God's Temple but HEROD'S temple, Israel's 2nd temple. Herod was an apostate king who was instructed by Israel's vain religious system to build his temple with four courts that divided men from women and Jews from Gentiles. This wasn't God's intention. He intended for His House to be a place of worship for ALL NATIONS united in faith (Mk. 11:17 Is. 56:7). Israel turned it into a house of merchandise and robbers that excluded the Gentiles (Mat. 21:13 Lk. 19:46).

Historically, God left Solomon's Temple, Israel's 1st Temple, before the destruction of Jerusalem in 500 B.C. And He did not return to Herod's/Israel's 2nd Temple, and will not return to the Temple in Jerusalem until Ezekiel's Millennial Temple, Israel's 3rd Temple, (Ezek. 40-46). In God's true Tabernacle—Moses's Tabernacle—and God's true Temples—Solomon's Temple in the past and Ezekiel's Temple in the future--there were and will be only 2 courts—Court of the Priests and Court of the People--giving access to the Gentiles to freely worship the one true God with Israel and through her rise.

1. Following God's instructions, Moses built the Tabernacle made up of just two areas—inside the Tent for the priests and outside the Tent for everyone else—Jews and Gentiles (Lev. 19:33-34; 22:18).
2. Following God's instructions, Solomon built the 1st Temple made up of just two courts—the inner court for the priests and the outer court for everyone else—Jews and Gentiles, men and women (2 Chron. 6:32‑33).
3. Following God's instructions, Ezekiel recorded the future Millennial Temple, which will also be made up of just two courts—an inner court for the priests and an outer court for everyone else—Jews and Gentiles (Ezek. 40:17, 24 Is. 66:19‑21 Is. 56).

We return to Eph. 2:11-22, one of the most misunderstood passages in the Pauline Scriptures. This passage reveals the great transition that occurred as God transitioned from His Prophetic Program with the Nation of Israel to restore His glory on earth to His Mystery Program with the Body of Christ to restore His glory in the heavenlies.

Crash Landing in Eph. 2:11-22

Eph. 2:11-22 is one of the most misunderstood passages in Paul's Scriptures. The doctrinal train of many Bible teachers derails here. This is not only true for those who don't rightly divide the Scriptures (you would expect their train to derail), but for those who do rightly-divide the Scriptures as well. Those who wrongly-divide the Scriptures teach that Paul here is teaching that God has now opened the way of God's blessings to the Gentiles by (permanently) casting away the Nation of Israel and replacing her with the Body of Christ. They describe their teaching with words like SURPRISING or SHOCKING or UNEXPECTED, betraying their recognition that what they are saying contradicts EVERYTHING God has spoken through His holy prophets since the world began as recorded in the Old Testament, Gospel Accounts and the ministry of Peter and the 12 in early Acts.

This false teaching is SUPRISING INDEED because it claims that God fulfilled His promises to the Nation of Israel by breaking His promises to the Nation of Israel and giving them to the Body of Christ and the Gentiles! It is SHOCKING INDEED because according to them Israel receives all the curses while Gentiles receive all the blessings! And it is UNEXPECTED INDEED because it claims that God replaced the Nation of Israel and the Jews with the Body of Christ and the Gentiles! But if any of these claims were true, it would mean God was unrighteous and unfaithful (Rom. 3:3‑5; 9:1-14)!!

But this is IMPOSSIBLE. The truth is that God hasn't permanently cast away the Nation of Israel and replaced her with the Body of Christ, but that these so-called “Christian” teachers, in all their Gentile arrogance (Rom. 11:25), in rebellion against God have cast away His Word and replaced it with the word of their man-made religious and man-centered theological systems. In short, if this traditional teaching of much of historic Christianity is correct, then GOD WOULD HAVE TO CEASE BEING GOD!!

But what about those who do rightly-divide the Scriptures? Why do they crash land in this passage as well? My guess is that these dispensationalists are so determined to prove the distinction between God's Prophetic Time Past Program and His Pauline Mystery But Now Program, that they come up with an equally implausible teaching as the one above. They state that in Time Past (before Paul), Gentiles had no access to God apart from becoming Jews through full conversion to Judaism, and they use Eph. 2:12 to support their position. They say God cast away the Gentiles at the Tower of Babel judgment and ever since millions, no billions, of Gentiles had absolutely no access to God and no hope of salvation.

But does Eph. 2:12 really support this? Evidently, Paul didn't think so! For the same Paul who wrote Eph. 2:12 also wrote Romans 15:8-12, and in Romans he states clearly that Gentiles in God's Prophetic Program with the Nation of Israel were not utterly Godless, Christless and hopeless (Rom. 15:8‑12). They weren't utterly Godless because they could access and worship the one true God with Israel—AS GENTILES (Rom. 15:9). They weren't utterly hopeless because they could rejoice and praise the Lord together with Israel and through her rise—AS GENTILES (Rom. 15:10‑11). And they weren't utterly Christless because they could look forward to trusting in and being ruled by Israel's Lord, Messiah and King—AS GENTILES (Rom. 15:12).

So, does Paul contradict himself in Eph. 2:12? Were the Gentiles in God's Prophetic Program utterly hopeless? Or, weren't they? The apparent contradiction is resolved by recognizing that in Rom. 15 Paul is taking the long view of Time Past as spoken by the prophets since the world began. Whereas in Eph. 2:11-12 he is taking the short view of Time Past that began with the (temporary) fall and casting away of the Nation of Israel in Acts (Rom. 11:11‑12). It was AT THAT TIME that the Gentiles in God's Prophetic Program BECAME utterly hopeless because they accessed God and His blessings through the Nation of Israel, but when Israel stumbled and fell, she self-destructed and was unable to fulfill her role as the conduit of God's blessings to the world, leaving the Gentiles AT THAT TIME (in the generation of the apostles) utterly hopeless, Godless and Christless.

But thanks be to God! AT THAT TIME the God of HOPE went into action and opened a new doorway of blessing to the world, especially the Gentiles, through the distinct and unique apostleship of Paul, which gave the world, especially the Gentiles, access to God not indirectly through fallible Israel but directly through the infallible God the Son that was APART FROM ISRAEL AND THROUGH HER FALL (Rom. 15:13‑16). And that is what Paul is explaining in Eph. 2:11-3:10!

Sunday, we saw that Eph. 2:11-22 explains one of the most important biblical truths. The passage opens with Israel making idols out of the things God gave to her--circumcision, the Law, etc.--, thereby corrupting them and making them unusable to God. So God took down His Prophetic Program with the Nation of israel, putting it into storage for future use. Simultaneously, He built up His Mystery Program with the Body of Christ, building up His own Temple of the Lord where the one true God dwells.

Rahab and Gentile Salvation

The account of the “salvation” of Rahab and her family in Josh. 2 gives a classic example of how Gentiles participated in the two salvations of God's Prophetic Program with the Nation of Israel—INDIVIDUAL SALVATION being by faith without works and ISRAEL'S NATIONAL SALVATION being by faith with works.

PARTICIPATION IN INDIVIDUAL SALVATION

Like idol-worshipping Gentile Abraham, a powerless ungodly sinner on enemy status before God, the Gentile Rahab was justified before God by faith without works. Rahab (and her family) knew that the Lord hath given you (Israel) the land (as promised in the Abrahamic Covenant), and that your (Israel's) terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. 10 For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when you came out of Egypt; and what you did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan ... And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath (Josh. 2:9‑11).

If that's not about the clearest profession of faith in the one true God of Israel, I don't what would be! Notice that the same truths that hardened Pharaoh's heart in unbelief, softened Rahab's heart in faith. Rahab's heart started with “fear of God,” in the sense of being scared or afraid, but it ended with the FEAR OF GOD, in the sense of being devoted in faith to the one true God.

PARTICIPATION IN ISRAEL'S NATIONAL SALVATION

Then, having been justified by faith without works before God and now a righteous saint, saved as an individual sinner by God unto eternal life BEFORE THE SPIES ARRIVED, Rahab was qualified to participate in Israel's national salvation by faith with works. When the spies arrived, she did this by appealing to the Abrahamic Covenant (which she must have known and believed!) for in the promises God gave to Abraham there was a provision for the Gentiles. Gentiles who blessed Israel and their God (i.e., believing Gentile friends) would be blessed. Gentiles who cursed Israel and their God (i.e., unbelieving Gentile enemies) would be cursed (Gen. 12:2‑3). Let's listen in as Rahab appeals to this provision: Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the Lord, since I have shewed you kindness, that ye will also shew kindness unto my father's house, and give me a true token: 13 And that ye will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death (Josh. 2:12-13).

Conclusion

Therefore, Rahab and her family received individual salvation by faith without works. Like Gentile Abraham, they believed God and His Word and God counted their faith for righteousness (Gen. 15:6). Then they could participate in Israel's national salvation at that time (and in the future Millennial Kingdom) by faith with works, which in this case was protecting the Israeli spies. They didn't need to proselytize to Judaism; her father, brothers, sons didn't need to circumcised. They didn't need to follow the Laws food regulations and become Jews to receive these deliverances. They participated in both salvations AS GENTILES.

Purpose of Circumcision
(Eph. 2:11-22)

This passage begins with God taking down His Prophetic Program with the Nation of Israel and ends with His building up of His new Mystery Program with the Body of Christ, which had been kept secret since the world began (Eph. 3:1-10; Rom. 16:25). He begins by referencing the sign of “circumcision,” using it to represent His whole Prophetic Program. Israel had taken the things God had given to her and made them into idols--things like circumcision, the Law, the Temple, the Nation, the religious system, etc--making them unusable to God. Because of this, He tore it all down, cleaned it off, packed it up in boxes and put it in storage for future use.

While circumcision was given to Abraham/Israel to remind them that they were to be the conduit of His blessings to the Gentiles, Israel turned it into an idol and used it to exclude the Gentiles and keep God's blessings from them. Unbelieving Israel may have arrogantly and presumptuously self-identified themselves as the Circumcision—God's People—but God identified them as the Uncircumcision (Rom. 2:26‑29)!

1. The sign of circumcision was given to Abraham/Israel to remind them that they were to be the conduit of God's blessings to the Gentiles. Yes, God would make Israel into a great nation and, yes, He would aboundingly bless them and, yes, He would raise them above all other nations of earth (Gen. 12:2a). But He did all this not for Israel's sake alone but for the sake of the whole world. For Abraham wasn't just the physical father of one or two nations; He was the spiritual father of many nations (Gen. 17:5)! Abraham/Israel weren't just supposed to be a blessing to their own families; they were to be a blessing to all the families of the earth (Gen. 12:3)!! The early 1st -century Israel of Jesus Christ's day rebelled against God, rejected His Word and refused her role in God's Prophetic Program. But that doesn't mean Satan won and would remain the ruler of the earthly realm. Rather, God took him in his own craftiness and set aside His Prophetic Program, casting away the Nation of Israel of that day, and putting Israel's long-prophesied kingdom in abeyance until a future time.
2. The sign of circumcision was supposed to remind Israel that everything they have comes from the miraculous provision of God. At the very same time God gave Abraham the sign of circumcision (Gen. 17:11), He also gave him the miraculous child of promise, Isaac (Gen. 15-19). Therefore, they were not to rely on their own works through the power of the flesh (as Abraham had in Gen. 16) but on the LORD and the grace resident in His I AM Jehovah LORD Name to do everything for them. They forgot this at Sinai, where they entered the Law system according to the flesh and spent the next 1500 years under the Curses of that Law, which not only destroyed the Nation of Israel, but put it to death as a nation.
3. The sign of circumcision was supposed to remind Israel that they would not be perfect and complete, reaching the end goal and fulfilling God's purpose for them, until they were walking before Him in faith, DISPENSING HIS BLESSINGS TO THE GENTILES.

We completed our series on circumcision, which Paul explained was not only a SIGN but a SEAL of faith righteousness as the basis of salvation.

Circumcision: A Sign and a Seal

Paul explains in Rom. 4:11 that in God's Prophetic Program with the Nation of Israel, external circumcision in the flesh was nothing on its own. It was only something before God when it was, on the one hand, acting as a SIGN that pointed Israel ahead to her ultimate purpose of being the conduit of God's blessings to the Gentiles (Gen. 12:2‑3; 17:1-11). And, on the other hand, appreciated as the SEAL whereby God put His eternal stamp of approval on the first step for any personal relationship with Him-- justification as sinners before God by faith without works. That's the starting point of any participation in God's plan and program. In other words, Israel's external circumcision was “something” only when it flowed out of a PRIOR circumcision of the heart by faith (Deut. 10:16).

In God's Prophetic Program, Israel failed on both accounts. As they increasingly over-emphasized circumcision in the flesh made by human hands, of necessity they increasingly under-emphasized the prior and far more important circumcision of the heart made by God through faith, turning external circumcision into an idol that had no value before God (Rom. 2:28‑29). Therefore, instead of glorifying God's Name among the Gentiles, they blasphemed it (Rom. 2:24 Ezek. 36:22). Instead of including and blessing the Gentiles, they excluded and kept God and His blessings from the Gentiles. In short, unbelieving Israel may boast by self-identifying as the Circumcsion (God's people), but God identifies them as the Uncircumcsion (Rom. 2:25‑27).

So, God tore down His Prophetic Program with the Nation of Israel, cleaned it up, packed it in boxes and put it into storage for future use (Eph. 2:11-15a), while simultaneously beginning a new Mystery Program with a new group of redeemed humanity called the Body of Christ made up Jews and Gentiles who have equal access to God directly through God the Son and God the Holy Spirit (Eph. 2:15b-22). Now blessings are going to the world, especially the Gentiles, apart from the Nation of Israel and through her fall (Rom. 11:11). Now God's name is glorified among the Gentiles through Paul's distinct apostleship (Rom. 1:5). Now, while in the context of Israel's fall and temporary casting away, the SIGN of external circumcision of the flesh ceased and is no longer applicable, the internal circumcision of the heart by Spirit through faith for which it was a SEAL is—justification as enemy sinners before God by faith WITHOUT works: And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: in whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ (Col. 2:10-11).

Peace in Eph. 2:11-22

Peace is one of the main themes in Eph. 2:11-22. Through His Work on the Cross, He not only removed the sin barrier that fallen humanity raised that separated sinners from God, but also the national sin barrier that fallen, apostate Israel and its vain religious system raised that separated Jews and Gentiles.

1. Eph. 2:13‑14—Through His shed blood on the Cross, He, the Lord Jesus Christ, is our peace.
2. Eph. 2:15—This peace was implemented through His Crosswork by which God did 2 things:

1. He tore down and inactivated His Prophetic Program because Israel had taken the things He had given them and made them into idols that they used contrary to God's plan to exclude the Gentiles rather than include and be a blessing unto them (Gen. 12:2‑3). Doing this, they injected the venom of enmity and hostility between Jew and Gentile that dishonored God and blasphemed His Name among the Gentiles (Rom. 2:23‑24) when they were supposed to be honoring God and magnifying His Name among the Gentiles.
2. Simultaneously, He took His previously unknown Mystery Program out of storage from eternity past, unpacked and built it up through the distinct apostleship of Paul, beginning with the creation of a new group of redeemed humanity called the Body of Christ that is made up of believing Jews and Gentiles without distinction and on equal status, uniting them in Christ: So making peace.
3. Eph. 2:16—And through Christ and His Cross this united Body of Christ, made up of believing Jews and Gentiles incorporated into Christ, is also reconciled unto God—at peace with God--through justification by faith without works of the sinner (Rom. 5:1‑2).
4. Eph. 2:17‑18—God announced this Peace and Reconciliation through the preaching of the Apostle Paul, who preached peace to Jews and Gentiles alike. The Risen Glorified Lord Jesus Christ gave the Revelation of the Mystery directly and uniquely to Paul (Eph. 3:1‑3). Everyone else since Paul learns of it through the revealing and teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit using Paul's Scriptures—Pauline Grace Mystery Truth (PGMT), thereby giving us access to God and all that He is doing today through the Body of Christ in the Dispensation of Grace (Eph. 2:18 3:1‑5).

And the magnificent result of all this creating and building up in unity and peace is a new redeemed humanity in Christ, the Body of Christ, a growing and living building, a temple in which God's presence resides in the world today (Eph. 2:20‑22).

Sunday, we looked at the creation and building up of the Body of Christ, especially with regard to its foundation of the apostles and prophets. Just who, exactly, are these apostles and prophets?

What Ascension?

In Eph. 2:20 Paul refers to the foundation of the apostles and prophets. These “apostles and prophets” were temporary and secondary apostles and prophets that Christ gave when He created the Body of Christ for its edification. They were co-workers of Paul and under his authority. Whereas Paul held the OFFICE of being the permanent Apostle and Prophet for the Dispensation of Grace in God's Mystery Program, these temporary and secondary apostles and prophets were GIFT apostles, whose function would cease when Paul had written down the Revelation of the Mystery in the Scriptures and distributed it throughout the world, which had effectually been accomplished by the time he wrote Colossians (Col. 1:5‑6 25‑26).

One reason these GIFT apostles and prophets cannot refer to Old Testament and/or the 12 is because Eph. 4:8 tells us that they were given WHEN THE LORD ASCENDED, which was after the Old Testament and after His earthly ministry! Another reason is because Eph. 4:11 tells us that these GIFT apostles and prophets were given to the Church, the Body of Christ, which the Lord created through the preaching of the Apostle Paul (Eph. 2:17).

In Eph. 4:8‑12, Paul makes use of three ascensions of the Lord to explain this:

1. First Ascension: Paul introduces the decent/ascent concept by referring to Ps. 68:18 where the Lord descended to destroy Israel's enemies and ascended Mt. Zion in victory, when He led captivity captive AND received gifts for men.
2. Second Ascension: Paul quotes this in part but changes the ending! While the descending/ascending he is referring to is like that of Ps. 68, it differs in that instead of receiving gifts, the Lord is giving gifts to men (Eph. 4:8, 12). Paul goes on to identify these gifts as men for the edification of the Body of Christ (Eph. 4:11, 12). Therefore, this descent/ascent must refer to when the glorified Risen Lord Jesus Christ descended to confront and save Paul on the road to Damascus and ascended back to the right hand of the Father in the high heavenlies. It was through this descent/ascent that Christ began God's Mystery Program and created the Body of Christ. Logic requires that if He gave the gifts of apostles and prophets to the Body of Christ, then the Body of Christ must have existed to receive and make use of them, which didn't happen until the raising up of the Apostle Paul.
3. Third Ascension: Then Paul inserts a parenthetical aside in Eph. 4:9 that explains the same Lord Jesus Christ who descended and ascended with regard to his distinct apostleship and the Body of Christ is the same Lord who descended to the lowest point of the earth—death, even the death of the Cross (Phil. 2:8)!—and who ascended far above every power and authority and name that is named—and is seated at the right hand of the Father (Phil. 2:6‑11; Eph. 1:20‑23 Col. 1:15‑19).

So, in this short passage we have three descents/ascents. The Lord descended and ascended with regard to the Nation of Israel (Ps. 68), with regard to His death and resurrection (Eph. 1:20‑22a Phil. 2:6‑11) and to the Church, the Body of Christ (Eph. 1:22b‑23 4:8).