KINGDOM - OLOGY 15

The Mediatorial Kingdom will include both Jews and Gentiles

The nation of Israel is God's first election in order to reach the Gentile nations with His blessings. This is clearly stated in the call of Abraham: "I will make of thee a great nation and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed" (Gen. 12:2-3). At Sinai in the establishment of the theocracy this is further elaborated.

“And Moses went up unto God, and the Lord called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel; Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself. 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. And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation." (Ex. 19:3-6). Forty years later Moses, in his final message to the people of Israel on the plains of Moab, amplified the meaning of this call in relation to Israel:

“And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all the nations of the earth: . . . And the Lord shall make thee the head, and not the tail: and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the Lord thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them” (Deut. 28:1, 13).

Across the millenniums and persisting to this day there has been a strong objection that such a move on the part of God is unworthy of One who is the ruler of all nations. Such an action on the part of God, it is declared, is self-contradictory and absolutely incredible. But the simple statement of the Scriptures must stand. God did chose the nation of Israel and the explanation is to be found not in its inception, but in its effect. This is thoroughly consistent with God's methods in the selection of servants to take His message to others.

Most certainly there was nothing intrinsically better about the people of Israel as over against other nations. In reviewing the negotiations at Mount Sinai, Moses said: Later, the Lord reminded them that when they came into the land they were not to say,

“For my righteousness the Lord hath brought me in to possess this land: but for the wickedness of these-nations the Lord doth drive them out from before thee. Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart, dust thou go to possess their land but for the wickedness of these nations the Lord thy God doth drive them out before thee, and that he may perform the word which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Understand therefore, that the Lord thy God giveth thee not this good land to possess it for thy righteousness; for thou art a stiff-necked people. Remember, and forget not, how thou provokedst the Lord thy God to wrath in the wilderness: from the day that thou didst depart out of the land of Egypt, until ye came to this place, ye have been rebellious against the Lord” (Deut. 9:4-7).

The facts were that: “The Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. 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: But because the Lord loved you” (Deut. 7:6-8). In this sovereign act of love toward the people of Israel, it was His intention to make of them a kingdom of priests to mediate between Himself and the millions of Gentiles. Upon them He poured out His blessings and revealed Himself to them as to no other people. He gave them the law, He nurtured them through hundreds of years, and at last He sent His Son into the world through them. All of this was in order to reach the Gentile nations. But they turned their back upon Him as a nation. But still, the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. He will yet accomplish in this nation that for which He originally chose it. When He has finished with the church, it is clear from the prophets the Lord:

“Will return and build again the tabernacle of David which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things. Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world” (Acts 15:15-18). Then shall be brought to pass the words of the prophet describing the Mediatorial Kingdom:

“Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee . . . And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising . . . Ye shall be named the priests of the Lord: men shall call you the ministers of our God” (Isa. 60:1, 3; 61:6).