WHAT “WORLD” DID GOD SO LOVE?

WHAT “WORLD” DID GOD SO LOVE?

Does all mankind belong to that “world”?

Do only certain men belong to that “world”?

Who are those people then that God loves? Where do they come from?

These are very important questions which have to be answered and faced up to, like it or not. A very solid foundation has been established from both Testaments to build upon and this shows the world of an exceedingly exclusive, chosen, called, predestined and elect race of people. Most people have some thought about the existence of a “chosen people”, and somehow they come up with the label “The Jews” for these people. “The Jews” is a generalisation which cannot equate to Israel! And, Jesus always condemned “The Jews” for what they were [John 8], so “The Jews” [as the popular term] cannot be Israel!

THE TWO VIEWS OF “THE WORLD” ARE TWO DIFFERING GOSPELS

The two views commonly taken are really two separate gospels. One of them must be another gospel. Those who believe another gospel, the Apostle Paul states, are accursed! This is really very serious, so to not be accursed we have to look well at both gospels! Both cannot be right. One is the gospel of the universal. One is the gospel of the particular.. So think this through well. Either God loves all men, [including those God says that He hates] or He loves only His elect.

Gal 1:8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach (proclaim) any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached (proclaimed), let him be accursed.

After a few more paragraphs, we will have summaries of these two different gospel options to consider.

DOES GOD LOVE THOSE HE DECLARES THAT HE HATES?

The Bible tells us of God’s hatred as well as God’s love. So if God hated even one man, He would not so love the world. He does say Esau have I hated. If God hated just Esau, then Edom could not be included in the “all” of Go ye into all the world or “the world” of God so loved the world. If God failed to save all mankind, then He is not almighty and unchangeable. He must be powerless if The World means all mankind. All men are not saved. Could the death of Jesus and the redemptive Love of God ever be in vain?

Quoting from R.K. and R.N. Phillips in “The Book of Revelation”, Part Two:

For those who are firmly convinced that the one who was crucified is Gentle Jesus, meek and mild, please note that He is capable of hate. The Greek word is miseo, to hate, regard with ill-will, to detest, to abhor. This puts the followers of the Nicolaitanes in the same category as Esau [whom God hated before he was born]. If deeds have nothing to do with resurrection, why does Jesus make such a statement about the deeds of the Nicolaitanes? If all men are equal before God, why did God hate Esau before he was born?

God’s love of the Elect is in no way limited. He so loved this “world” of His Elect. This is the order of Israel He loved and sent His Son to redeem. This is for whom Jesus died. We are told He came to save HIS PEOPLE from their sins.

Scripture says, Whosoever believeth on Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. We have to look at which “world” is being addressed and see that the “whosoever” refers to “all” of that part being spoken about and not “all” of everything. The context here is Israel. The whosoeveris a mistranslation; it literally means the entire one which refers to the entire nation of Israel, as determined by the context.

Now we can go back to the Old Testament Scriptures with understanding and see just why it was so important to quote all the Scriptures which show that the Law and the Ten Commandment were given to Israel alone. It is vital to understand this. Redeeming Love can only mean redemption from the curse of a broken Law. This Law Covenant had not been made with all races. Israel is the world Jesus came to save. Hebought back or redeemed Israel. That redemption price, by Law, could be paid only by a kinsman – according to the Law God gave Israel. Hence Jesus is the kinsman of Israel (He is David’s greater son). Jesus is not the kinsman of any other race.

JOHN CHAPTER THREE

Let us go back to John 3 where Jesus was talking to Nicodemus, a Master of Israel. In context, Israel is the “world” they were talking about. Consider, For God so loved the world; the word “for” refers to the immediate, preceding discussion. This provides the context. To whom is Jesus speaking? This tells us which kosmos is under discussion. The whole subject matter concerns Israelites and a master in Israel, Nicodemus.

v3 They have to be ” begotten from above” [not born again as translated] to be able to perceive [in their mind’s eye] the Kingdom.

v5,7 Unless this spirit is inherited FROM CONCEPTION, none can enter the Kingdom [1 John 3:9].

v8 Those who are thus born of the Spirit (Israelites) respond to the call of the Spirit.

v14,15 And even as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.

To which race did Moses lift up that serpent? Which race was then healed and cleansed from the serpent bites? It was only Israel.

WHICH “WORLD”?

At the beginning of this chapter we quoted Mark 16:15 in connection with going into all the kosmos and “preaching” [that is, proclaiming] the gospel to every creature. Which “world” were the disciples to go into? This is a fair question. When the disciples were sent to the lost sheep of the House OF ISRAEL, to whom and to which “world” were they sent? When Jesus said in Matthew 15:24: I am not sent BUT unto the lost sheep of the House of Israel, to what race was He sent? Are we to say Jesus was wrong and that He was sent to every race? Are we to say Jesus was wrong in sending His disciples only to Israelites? If they were told go ye into all the world, why did they not go to the Negroes, the Chinese or the Indians? Why did they choose only one direction and proceeded to where the Children of Israel were? The location of the House of Israel at that time can be easily established historically.

Matt 11:1 ¼ he departed thence to preach in their [disciples’] cities.

Matt 10:5-7 Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as ye go, preach (proclaim), saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.

The disciples were instructed specifically not to go to certain peoples. The disciples of Jesus went out from Galilee knowing exactly where to find these “lost” sheep. They were not so “lost” that they could not be found!

“ALL”, “EVERY ONE”, “WHO-SO-EVER”, ETC.

Consider again these two verses:

John 3:16 God so loved the world …

Mark 16:15 Go ye into all the world …

Such verses are the basis of the thought that the go and preach the gospel to every creature of Mark 16:15 refers to going to every person of every race on earth. Let us consider some of the words in these verses.

Preach or kerusso means to proclaim, or to announce good news like a town crier. It does not mean “to make disciples” or “to evangelise”, as many teach.

But where were they to make their proclamations? Was it to everyone of every race? Let us look at every creature. The Greek word ktisis is given by:

Strong G2936-7 as original formation, building, creature, and ordinance.

Vine’s Dictionary of New Testament Words: ktizo is used among the Greeks to mean the foundation of a place, a city, or a colony … It is a significant confirmation of Rom 1:20,21 that in all non-Christian Greek literature these words (ktizo and its derivatives) are never used by Greeks to convey the idea of a Creator or of a creative act by any of their gods. The words are confined by them to the acts of human beings.

This is the creature [or rather, creation] of Mark 16:15.. The word ktisis in the Greek is used to indicate the product of human building or formation. In this context it refers to a village, or place where people live. A ktisis is built by man, not God. The disciples were to go specifically to the places or the villages or places where the Israelites lived.

Matt 10:23 Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, til the Son of Man be come.

We cannot make the cities of Israel mean the cities of every race. Note here that Jesus is speaking of the time of the end.

What is the area of proclamation? Is it not all the world of Israel?

What were they proclaiming? Was it not the Gospel of the Kingdom?

The Kingdom is what Jesus and John the Baptist came proclaiming repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Who proclaims that today? It is impossible to believe and teach both the modern universal gospel to all races and the exclusive Kingdom of Heaven at the same time. He confines all the world to the cities of Israel! In other words, it is to be proclaimed in the dwellings or places where the Israelites live right up to the end of the age.

ARE “ALL” and “EVERY” LIMITED EXPRESSIONS?

Does “all” usually mean “all of everything” or “all of that part being spoken about“? Does all the world mean all the planet, or just all of that part of the planet being spoken about. A look through Young’s Analytical Concordance will show how these words are used. This will give an indication without having to go into the Greek. Being certain on this topic is well worth the time involved researching lexicons to determine the correct meanings of the words used. The words for all, every etc. are often singular, NOT plural. Thus they refer to:

“all” the one [group] or

“the whole” of the class or

“the entire” of the class

To grasp the use of all in Greek and Hebrew, consider Deut 28:10 and all the people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be afraid of thee. Here, all the peoples of the earth does NOT include Israel. In the same way, go ye into all the world is NOT inclusive of every race. Failure to understand this is the source of error in the modern popular teaching. Jesus says that it is not given for everyone to hear or to understand. Immediately we have just one exception, then “every” and “all” cannot include that exception, or the other exceptions. If an exception is made about the Edomites who cannot find repentance, or of those Jesus said, leave them alone, then these cannot be part of the “all” being addressed. Jesus did not proclaim to certain peoples, as we have seen. Jesus said He was sent to Israel to saveHis people from their sins. Are we to be wiser than Jesus?

And, what are the two differing gospels?

GOSPEL NUMBER ONE [The FALSE Gospel of the universal]

This is that gospel which cannot be found throughout the Law, The Psalms, the Prophets or through the New Testament. So, it must be false. It says:

The Law and The Ten Commandments were given to every race, as a covenant.

Jesus gave His Life so that He becomes the Redeemer of all men, to redeem them from the curse of that broken law, even if the other races did not have the covenant-law relationship.

God loves all men and every individual member of all the human races, including those God says He hates.

The gospel is for all sinners of every race, [not the sinners of my people, Amos 9:10].

All are called. There are no Tare or Goats , despite what Jesus says to the contrary.

All are chosen. There are no inferior vessels, despite what Paul says to the contrary.

There are no Twelves Tribes of Israel any more – even if they are throughout the New Testament.

All men are supposed to have faith – even if the Bible says all men have not faith.

The Father gave Jesus to all men of all races, not all men of Israel only.

All races are pre-destined – God must have been wrong to expect Israel to destroy certain mixed races; all are the same now.

There are no elect people nor any election according to grace.

God has mercy on everyone, not just on whom He chooses or elects.

There are no scriptural differences between men of different origins.

Men always includes women.

Non-Israel races can be adopted into Israel – even though the Bible says who are Israelites, to whom pertaineth the adoption, [Rom 9:4] and of whom concerning the flesh Christ came.

God may be worshipped acceptably within any culture and religion; all being paths to God.

All races are the same in God’s sight.

It is now up to all sinners of all races to embrace the love of God or not to embrace it.

This gospel says it is up to everyone of every race to either have eternal life or to perish. This would mean God is not sovereign in giving the choice only to Israelites. This is the gospel of individual universal salvation.

This false gospel claims that, in general, mankind is sovereign and makes the choices.

GOSPEL NUMBER TWO [The True Gospel of the particular]

This is the everlasting gospel, the true gospel in which we stand if we continue in The Faith that was once delivered unto the saints and delivered to no one else. This says:

God loves only the “world” of His elect nation and that election is established before having done good or evil. There is no reference to God loving “all mankind”.

Jesus came to those chosen from before the foundation of the world (which should read: overthrow of the order).

Jesus is the shepherd of the sheep only. He said I lay down my life for the sheep [John 10:15]. He did not add “for the goats and everyone else as well”!

Jesus came to save His people from their sins. They were already His people. The gospel is for the transgressions of my people[Isa 53:8].

It is the gospel of grace - and I will be gracious to whom I will.

It is not of ourselves, it is the gift of God.

God is merciful to whom He will [Rom 9:18].

The Sons [huios] of God are “adopted” out of the Children [tecknon] of Israel, not out of other races.

The Potter makes different vessels, according to His purposes, some for glory and some for destruction [Rom 9:21].

All races are not equal in God’s sight.

God does not accept mixed worship of Ba’al and Himself.

The gift is given only to the elect, through regeneration and efficacious calling of God.

Jesus is the Redeemer of both houses of Israel.

That is, the true gospel says that God is absolutely sovereign and particular!

This is no new doctrine. It can be found even in the songs of the redeemed people who constitute only one race of people:

Ye chosen seed of Israel’s race,
A remnant weak and small
Hail Him who saves you by His grace,
And crown Him Lord of all.

CHAPTER 5: STUMBLING BLOCKS TO AN EXCLUSIVE ISRAEL

Earlier we looked at the general reactions which immediately spring to mind when the consistent pattern of Scripture about The Exclusiveness Of Israel is introduced to people. It is time now to look at the stumbling blocks that modern teaching put in our way. It is appreciated that people’s objections and concerns are very genuine and that such people are sincere. It is also recognised that it is difficult for people to “unlearn” what they have been taught for years. It is necessary to look at a selection of stumbling blocks which would represent most of those that are raised, so that they will not be hindering progress through the main part of this book.

1. IT IS CONTRARY TO THE NATURE of God

This is a sincere feeling that many have, but it has its origin in an unbalanced view of the character of God. Where there is continual emphasis on the Love of God and almost total neglect of the Righteous Judgements of God, this is understandable. The wrong teaching about “all” and “every”, together with the absence of teaching about the sovereignty of God, are the root cause of this feeling. In His nature, God is unchanging. That God should create vessels for different purposes is not readily acceptable to many people, but it is the clear teaching of Scripture. For example:

It is God who put the perpetual enmity between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman [Gen 3:15].

It was The Lord who put a mark upon Cain [Gen 4:15].

It was God who saved Noah and his family because Noah was perfect in his generations [Gen 6:9].

God gave different destinies for Noah’s sons Ham, Shem and Japheth.

God even placed different “last days” destinies on each of the 12 Twelve tribes of Israel [Gen 49 and Deut 33].

We find scriptural discrimination between “men” as enowish or adam, etc.

We find words for “men” that do not apply to women in both Hebrew and Greek (iysh and aner).

Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated [Malachi 1:2,3 and Rom 9:13].

God chose Israel and said they should not be reckoned among the nations [Num 23:9] and the God of this people Israel chose our fathers [Acts 13:17].

And she shall bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus, for he shall save His people from their sins [Matt 1:21]. They were and are God’s people before they are saved.

2. “OF EVERY KINDRED, TONGUE, PEOPLE AND Nation”

Rev 5:9,10 ¼ for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation, and hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on earth.

Rev 7:9 I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne …

NOTE: Attention is drawn to out of in the first verse and of in the second verse. Both are the same Greek preposition ek with the literal meaning showing it is not all the nations, peoples etc but a people taken ‘out of’ them and not ‘of’ them.

These two passages appear to stand out against what has been written so far. It looks conclusive as a statement to say that before the Throne of God will stand people from every race on earth. This appearance is used as a basis for the teaching about universal racial or national salvation. Because this does not fit with any foundation in the Law, the Psalms and the Prophets, these verses require closer examination. Firstly, we must look at what this verse is fulfilling. We must ask if there is any stream of prophecy confirming the popular multi-racial view. If there is none, we must go back to the original prophecies.

Exodus 19:5,6 ¼ 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. ¼

NOTE: In the Hebrew all people is plural with the article giving the meaning all the peoples.

These verses are addressed only to Israel, as are a multitude of other Old Testament prophecies.

This is also confirmed in the New Testament by the Apostle Peter regarding the same singular, peculiar people.

1 Peter 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people.

Although there is reference to every tribe, tongue, people and nation, these are all national, not racial, terms. It must be remembered that Israel had twelve tribes which became scattered among nations and peoples.. Their languages became those spoken by their captors and later those of the nations amongst whom they were dispersed or scattered. This is from whence the people of Israel were regathered. They were from among every tribe, tongue, people and nation, as was prophesied. It is repeated again that there is no prophecy about all races being in the Kingdom of Heaven or of any race being redeemed other than Israel. Others had no broken Law-covenant that required redemption. But Israel is redeemedout of [not of] every kindred, tongue and nation and people.

Quoting R.K. Phillips in Incontrovertible Facts Of The Bible, we find:

This ‘Holy Nation’ was to be the next step in the re-establishment of the Sovereignty of the Kingdom of God on the Earth. This Sovereignty of God denotes a sphere of God’s rule and requires that:

1. It has a territory;

2. It has a people;

3. It has laws;

4. It has a King;

5. It has an economy;

6. It has an administration

All these things God was now about to give to the Children of Israel and at Sinai the people accepted God as their King, thus making them a holy nation. God has never rejected that Sovereignty over that throne or that nation.

If every race was included then this would all be meaningless. A number of commentaries refer to the redemption as that of the people who had once been redeemed from Egypt. The Exodus is the first place where there is mention of redemption [Exodus 15:13]. The redemption in Scripture is always that of Israel, and of Israel only. The issue of the redemption of Israel is stated before the Covenant of the Law.

Bullinger comments:

But now the People had been scattered among every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation and therefore they must be redeemed from out of these the second time, like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up, out of the land of Egypt.

Isaiah 11:11 And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people from Assyria, ¼ and from the islands of the sea.

The regathering is always of His People and not of other races. Contrary prophecy does not exist!

The scene of Rev 5:9 is in heaven as it is in Rev 7:9.. Here there is a great multitude out of all nations, and kindreds, and peoples, and tongues. It does not say of all races; the word genos (races) is not used in this passage.

It may not be appreciated that Israel is spoken of as the families of Israel, the Tribes becoming nations.

Jer 31:1 At the same time, saith the Lord, I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people.

3. “ALL THE ENDS OF THE Earth”

Isaiah 45:22 Look unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth.

The word translated as the earth is the Hebrew word erets which is mostly translated as “country” or “earth” in the sense of a localised area or that earth belonging to a people [for example, the land, or earth, of Israel]. In context, this whole chapter is about Israel and no other. It certainly is not used in the generalised sense as the universalists who try to prove the expression the ends of the earth means every race or place on Earth.

4. THE EXODUS

When Israel made the Exodus from Egypt, it is evident that some Egyptians, or some of mixed blood, came out with the Israelites. The claim has been made that these saw the miracles that God had done in the Land of Egypt, and so they joined themselves to Israel. These are then said to be a type of non-Israelite Gentiles joining the church.. This mixed multitude was continually a problem within Israel. It should be remembered that these were not permitted to assemble with Israel, before God, because they were not Israelites. There are two expressions translated, The congregation of the Lord, namely the edah of Israel and the cahal of Israel, and this difference is important because they separate the mixed multitude travelling through the wilderness from the Israelites themselves.

5. “EVERYONE THAT Thirsteth”

Isaiah 55:1 Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters …

The context shows this is addressed to Israel alone. The sure mercies of David [v3] indicate the people of whom He is commander. The everyone [kole] of this verse is touched upon at the end of the previous chapter. Concordances do not convey the meaning of this word, but there is a parallel where the Greek equivalent is considered in the next objection.

6. CORNELIUS

This man is used by many as an example of a so-called “Gentile” non-Israelite being saved. The place of birth, or citizenship tells us nothing about race. But this man’s race can be determined by Scripture, even if he is not described as a “Jew” [or "Judean"]. In the AV of Acts 10:28, Cornelius is described as being of another nation but, the Greek text uses the word allophulos which is a compound of allos [another of the same kind], and phulos [a kindred tribe (phule)].

Cornelius was a devout man, we are told, and he feared [the] God, therefore he was one who could believe. According to Vine, devout meanscareful as to the presence and claims of God.. So Cornelius knew the Old Testament claims of God upon Israel. We do not find devoutbeing used of people other than Israelites. Also, he feared “God” [Acts 10:2] and he prayed to [the]God and was heard by [the]God. “God” here is ho theos, the term used to denote the one true God. So, Cornelius was not a Roman polytheist! He was an Israelite!

7. PETER’S SHEET VISION

Universalists use the account of Peter’s sheet vision to suggest that the unclean animals in the sheet represent peoples of all races, but the rest of the chapter shows otherwise. That they are called Gentiles by translators in verse 45 only confirms that the wrong meaning is put on this word Gentile.. Historically, the House of Israel, which was scattered among the nations, was considered unclean and common by those practising the Jewish (Edomite, Tradition of the Elders) religion. In saying that it was unlawful, Peter knew that what he was doing was contrary to the Tradition of the Elders in Judea. As will be shown later, Peter was being shown that the ten Tribes of The House of Israel would be cleansed under the New Testament. The animals in the sheet represented the unclean and uncircumcised members of the House of Israel.

This vision in Acts 10 is also used to promote the idea that the prohibition against eating certain unclean meats is no longer valid. The symbol is taken literally! When Peter declares what God has shown him, God does not tell him that he should eat unclean meats, but that, God has showed me that I should not call any man common or unclean. The word another in another nation [v28] has already been covered in [6] above to show that this refers to people of the same kind. “Nation” here is phulos and not ethnos or demos which are often translated as “nation” and “people”.. The distinction is noted by Vine under “nation” and refers to allos (another), and phulon (a tribe).

Acts 10:36 The Word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching (proclaiming) peace by Jesus Christ

This follows on to say that a start was made in the Holy Land and continued to the uncircumcised Grecians of the House of Israel [Acts 11:20]. This fulfilled the Word as being sent to all Israel, both circumcised and uncircumcised. In verse 35 we have every nation which, as the next verse explains, are the nations of Israel [the former tribes of Israel which were dispersed among all the other nations]. This confirms what the Old Testament says about the Law and God’s word being given only to Israel. Israel was scattered among “every nation” [v35], and the Word [logos] was sent to Israel specifically, according to this verse. The Word of God was sent to Cornelius, as an Israelite. The in every nation of verse 35 is commonly and incorrectly given the general meaning of every as being every race, as explained in the previous chapter. Cornelius was one of those who feared and believed God. He had that spiritual capacity within him from his conception. These men had the capacity to believe God and so could accept the ‘good news’ and be reinstated as God’s people. “All men” is thus all the men of dispersed Israel and all the men of the Judean nation who were of Israel.

Acts 10:43 To Him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.

The prophets did not witness or prophesy of redemption and remission of sins for all races. Evidently it is thought that they should have, according to the common popular doctrine. The prophets were giving witness about Jesus and Israel [v43].

8. THE ETHIOPIAN EUNUCH

Here we have a man who went to Jerusalem to worship, and was returning and reading the Scriptures in his chariot. It is impossible for a pagan to be returning from an Israelite feast, let alone reading the Scriptures. Although he was of Ethiopia, this says nothing about his race or genes; it only tells us where he was living. If he had been a black man, he would not have been allowed near the temple as he would have been an alien. The Jews would have killed such a person immediately. We can see this when the Apostle Paul tried to take one who was suspected of not being an Israelite into the temple [Acts 21:8]. Would Phillip be sent to one who was not called by God and to one who “could not” receive the Word? The weight of this passage says the Ethiopian was an Israelite, even if his residence was in Ethiopia.

9. THE WIDOW OF SAREPTA

Again, there is nothing conclusive to say the widow was not an Israelite in this passage [Luke 4:24-28]. The principle is no different to that given in Matthew 13:57 where Jesus did few mighty works in His home town. There are however two points that should be noted:

The widow woman obviously knew that Elijah was a man of God, and she knew about sin and therefore the Law which was given only to Israel [1 Kings 17:18].

Elijah was a prophet of Israel sent to Israel and he said to the woman, Thus saith the Lord God OF ISRAEL.

10. “GO INTO THE HIGHWAYs”

Matt 22:9 Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage.

Again, the standard universalist doctrine teaches this Scripture wrongly in an endeavour to say everyone of every race is included in this call. There is a lot more in these verses than meets the eye. The servants were told to go to the cross-roads [diex] but instead they went to the ways [hodos]. Both words are translated as cross-roads in the KJV. At the cross-roads there is a separation place, but on the ways, or the path between two places there is no separation place. The consequence of going to the wrong place to invite people to the wedding was to bring in people who were an un-separated mixture of two kinds. In verse 11 there is a man not having on a wedding garment. This suggests that one group does not have on the wedding garments and the consequence is that the evil or the bad guests are to be cast into outer darkness.

Where do the churches go today to preach? Do they go to the hodos or to the diex? Should we be going to the lost sheep of the House of Israel as Jesus commanded His disciples? Should it not be to Israel to whom the New Testament is made? The New Testament still pertains to those who had the Old Testament and direct statements to the contrary cannot be found in Scripture. [Please read Jeremiah 31:31-34 to review the limitation given].

11. “EVERYONE THAT ASKS RECEIVES”

Luke 11:10 For everyone that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

In the New Testament there are many like Scriptures that use the words all and everyone, whosoever etc. In the Greek the situation is similar to that already pointed out to be the case in the Hebrew. We could take the meanings of these words as either:

All of everything or

All of that part being spoken about.

We are not at liberty to choose which meaning suits us to prove a doctrinal position, but this is what most do. Usually it is done in ignorance or without thought because of the traditional teachings. We cannot mis-apply these words to suit ourselves. We can read the Scriptures from the viewpoint of generalisation or from differentiation, but both cannot be right at the same time. It is always necessary to take note to whom any passage is addressed. This defines the context of the passage. In this passage Jesus isolates those He is addressing. He says twice, I say unto you and uses the pronoun ye. He was talking to his disciples as Israelites.

We find that many of the stumbling blocks are based upon mis-understanding of all, all men whosoever, every, everyone and such words. Lexicons give much space in covering these words. In his coverage of “all” [Greek: pas] which is often translated in these various ways. Vine’s Expository Dictionary says:

Before proper names of countries, cities and nations, and before collective terms like Israel, it signifies either all or the whole, for example, Matt 2:3, Acts 2:36. Used with the article, it means the whole of one object. In the plural it signifies the totality of the persons or things referred to.

This totality only refers to that part which is the subject of the context. Thus all men [of Israel] cannot mean all of every race in the world.

Thayer confirms this [under ref 3956]:

The words “world” and “all” are used in some seven or eight senses in Scripture, and it is very rarely the “all” means all persons, taken individually. The words are generally used to signify that Christ has redeemed some of all sorts — some Jews, some Gentiles, some rich, some poor, and has not restricted His redemption to either Jew or Gentile …

Thayer quoted the last sentence from one of Spurgeons’s lectures and this book shows that view to be incorrect. However, the important point to note is that the “all” is recognised as not being a universal “all”.. Its precise restriction is the purpose of this book. From a note from Josephus [Wars 2:19.1] we read:

Here we have an eminent example of that Jewish language, which Dr. Wall truly observes, we several times find used in the sacred writings; I mean where the words “all” or “whole multitude”, etc., are used for much the greatest part only, but not so as to include every person, without exception; ¼

In considering all similar objections listed, this must be taken into account.

12. “WHOSOEVER SHALL CONFESS ME”

Luke 12:8 And I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God.

The “you” Jesus is addressing is not the multitudes, but the disciples only. The word “men” is one of many words translated as “men”. There are differing kinds of “men” and different words for “men,” in the original languages. Men may have differing origins and be of differing seeds and plantings. To deny this is to deny Jesus’ words. To deny and to teach differently is to deny Me before men.. These things are not being taught today because they do not fit in with the “all” of the all the world universal doctrine.

13. THE WOMAN OF SAMARIA

This passage in John 4:12 is easily satisfied in the words, Art thou greater than OUR FATHER JACOB who gave us this well. She was a descendant of Jacob and thus was an Israelite. How anyone can use her place of residence to say she was a non-Israelite is hard to comprehend. Samaria contained a mixture of races. In Acts 8:14 we can see that certain of the Samaritans received the Word of God. In the first verse we find evidence of the scattering abroad to Samaria. Philip proclaimed the Word in Samaria as did Peter and John. Their proclamation was concerned with the Kingdom of God.

14. PENTECOST

Acts 2:21 And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Here we have another whosoever and so we must determine to whom the whosoever relates. This whole chapter is exclusive to the people to whom the prophet Joel made his prophecy. This was made to Israel so how can any say it was made to others? If every prophecy is made to everyone then we have a grey mass and everything is likewise an obscure grey. Nothing is ever clear! What would be the point of prophets giving different messages to different people if all people were the same?

The whosoever relates only to those to whom it is spoken. Peter makes this very clear in verse 36 Let ALL THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL know that God …. Who was he addressing? The whosoever and “all” is exclusive to that group. The whosoever and the all flesh does not allude to anyone other than genetic Israelites.

At Pentecost some scattered Israelites came to Jerusalem from different countries. This does not say that they were from different races. Would they have come to the feast if they had been pagans or if they were following other cultural beliefs? Such would not even be permitted to enter the temple [Acts 21:28]. Yet this is said to be so to try to prove the generalisation that people of all races came to the feast. The bulk of the House of Israel had become scattered among other nations and the majority of these were to be reached later. The gospel was to be proclaimedwhich began from Galilee [Acts 10:37] and was published through all Judea. Jesus sent His disciples away to the lost sheep of the House of Israel and it is not unreasonable to suggest that some among those sought out attended the Feast of Pentecost. We read about Jews [Judeans] “dwelling” (katoikeo) in Jerusalem [Acts 2:5] and of others “dwelling” in other countries [Acts 2:9] attending Pentecost. To infer that nationality and race are always the same thing is far from honest! And, of course, the notion about the “Church” being a “Gentile” Church of non-Israelites following Pentecost is nonsense simply because there were Jews there.

15. ALL MEN JUSTIFIED BY THE FREE GIFT

Romans 5:18 Therefore as by the offence of one, judgement came upon all men to condemnation, even so by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.

Our prime consideration in this verse is the latter part because we are establishing the identity of these all men. In all this book of Romans, the subject people are of the seed of Abraham according to the flesh [Rom 4:1] and so this book is not written to any others than Israelites. The subject people are indicated as we in this chapter and these people are identified as being Israelites. If there is any hesitation in acceptance of this statement, you should go back and re-read the sections on the exclusive nature of Israel in the book of Romans. In Romans 4:16 we read that the promise might be sure to all The Seed. It is not to all seeds on earth, but to that particular seed or sperma being addressed.

A similar situation occurs in Romans 7:6 That we being delivered from the Law. The pronoun we only refers to those to whom the Law had been given and we have given proof that the Law was given to Israel only. Because of this, the all men in this verse applies only to the seed of Abraham through Isaac and to nobody else.

16. “WHO WILL HAVE ALL MEN TO BE SAVED …”

1 Tim 2:4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

The notes on “all” and “every” in the last chapter, and within this chapter, apply here. That it does not mean a blanket every person on earth is obvious from the fact that all men are not saved. In the following verses there are the words who gave Himself a ransom for all … and these words show that the all concerns only those who needed to be ransomed, that is, those who were under the Law which is exclusively to Israel.

17. SALVATION TO ALL MEN

Titus 2:11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men.

The all men in this passage is the same as that in the passage above. It is again limited by those to whom it is addressed, namely God’s elect [Titus 1:1], and in Titus 2:14 we can see that this again limits the scope of all men to those who were given the law … who gave himself for US, that he might redeem US from all iniquity ….

18. “BUT THAT ALL SHOULD COME TO REPENTANCE …”

2 Peter 3:9 … But is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any [that is, any of us] should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Here we do not have the word “men” mentioned, but in its place we have the indefinite pronoun tis which denotes some or any person or object … any man … whomsoever, or certain men etc … see Strong G5100. Certain men are not all men in general.

Thayer [5100] It indicates that the thing with which it is connected belongs to a certain class, or resembles it.

In this book Peter is writing to the one Holy Nation. He is writing to the strangers of his own blood. Peter again refers to Our Fathers indicating that the people to whom it was written were the children of the Fathers, and so the “any” is racially exclusive. All men on Earth do not have “The Fathers” Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as their progenitors. In this passage Peter is pointing out that God is long-suffering to “US-ward” and not to “THEM-ward”.. Peter is writing to an Holy Nation.. He is not writing to “The Church” as a multi-racial group.

19. THE KINGDOM NOW INCLUDES Everyone

Jesus spoke of The Kingdom.. The disciples where told to go and proclaim The Kingdom and that the time was at hand. After His resurrection Jesus spoke to the Apostles about this Kingdom.

Acts 1:3 ¼ being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.

This appears to be the prime message of Jesus and He taught it right up to His ascension. But who is willing to teach this today? We hear much about the gospel of universal salvation, but this is not what Jesus taught. Try to find the gospel of universal salvation in the Law, the Psalms, and the Prophets. Then try to find it in the New Testament as the fulfilment of the Old Testament. “The Church” might seem to be an answer, but the fulfilment still has to be in us their children [Acts 13:32,33]. If this is so, then The Church still has to be racial; the members still have to be the children of The Fathers.

The disciples asked Jesus before His ascension, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore the Kingdom TO ISRAEL? [Acts 1:6]. Look again at this. To whom is the Kingdom to be restored? Is there ever a suggestion that any but genetic Israel will be included in that Kingdom? The meaning ofIsrael includes ruling with God.. If Israel was made up from all the nations, then who are the other nations over which Israel is to rule with God? Jesus used the word ‘salvation’ only twice, but 78% of the gospels are about the Kingdom.

Consider these expressions:

The KING Is the King of ISRAEL.

The REDEEMER Is the Redeemer of ISRAEL.

The HOLY ONE Is the Holy One of ISRAEL.

The FATHER Is the Father of ISRAEL ["My Son"].

Look in vain for these titles to apply to other than Israel.

20. THE LORD’S PRAYER

When we pray as Jesus taught, OUR Father which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name, THY KINGDOM come, what are we saying?

Is the pronoun our referring to all races or to Israel?

Is God ever called the Father of races other than Israel?

Is Thy Kingdom ever other than the Kingdom over which the King of Israel will reign?

A close examination will indicate that the particular “Father” referred to is Our Father, the One in The Heavens. It is not “their” father.

21. THE ISRAEL OF GOD [Gal 6:16]

It is common to hear that The Israel of God means The Church. This statement is used as a basis for sermons about universal salvation. It is so easy to make a wrong statement and then use that statement as a foundation. But being based on a wrong foundation, this doctrine cannot stand. The Israel of God means the Israel of the Supreme Divinity. It says nothing about God being the God of all the races. This book of Galatians is written to them that were under the Law, that is to Israel. There will be those who say that there is now a spiritual Israel as well as a natural Israel, as a way of promoting universal salvation. So let us look at this.

22. THERE are TWO ISRAELS: ONE NATURAL, ONE SPIRITUAL

To say that there is a natural Israel and a spiritual Israel is the only way out of the dilemma some people have in trying to fit their doctrines and prophecy together. Their dilemma arises from the wrong basic traditional teaching that:

The Jews are National Israel, [or "Natural Israel" or "God’s natural people"].

The Gentiles are The Church, [or "Spiritual Israel" or "God’s heavenly people"].

In a later chapter we will labour to show that “The Jews” are not Israel and that “Gentiles” may be Israelites. Obviously there are two groups of peoples concerned. There is no denying this. This is why it is so important to determine exactly who the two groups are.

In the Old Testament there is no dispute about this. Israel separated into two Kingdoms which were basically:

The House of Israel [ten Tribes] ¼ known as Ephraim.

The House of Judah [two Tribes] … known as Judah.

These two Houses had enmity between them, and according to prophecy, they retain this enmity until unity is restored under the New Testament which the two Houses receive nationally. The timing of the reunion is at the time of the regathering of both Houses of all Israel. Ephraim and Judah are unique identities, through Scripture from the time of the division of Israel into two Kingdoms, until the regathering of Israel as a whole.

Isaiah 11:12,13.. ¼ and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim.

Here in the Old Testament we find two groups within all Israel which stay two national groups until the time given to once again become one group. They are still the two groups to whom the New Testament was given.

Heb 8:8,9 Behold the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; …

There is no record in Scripture of the New Testament being made with any other two groups. This verse says that they are the same race with which God was involved in the Exodus from Egypt. Again we have definition in the words their fathers.. This gives a racial statement of meaning that cannot be spiritualised. The problem that then arises is, that if the covenant people were to be spiritualised into two different groups, one Israelite and the other non-Israelite, then one of the original two national groups would have to have vanished or the two combined.. Despite the fact that this cannot be found in prophecy in the Old Testament, or in the New Testament as fulfilment of prophecy, the belief about Jews and non-Israel Gentiles is still taught as being truth. In order to accommodate all races, another doctrine had to be created and this is actively promoted.