by Rick Combs
The fulfillment of the Promise in Genesis 3:15 came with the birth of Israel’s Messiah in a little town called Bethlehem. From the declaration of God to Abraham some 2000 years prior, the nation that would be the blessing to all the nations is finally here. Israel was called by God to be the kings and priests in the earthly kingdom. Jesus was born in fulfillment of the prophecies that the Messiah, the Son of God would conquer this nation’s enemies and bring in the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God was “at hand”.
The Lord Jesus was born under the Law of Moses (Galatians 4:4). When He ministered to Israel, it was exclusively to them (Matthew 15:24). Everything He did and everything He said was according to this Law (Matthew 5:17). The Law of Moses was given to Israel some 1500 years earlier, and it regulated the whole life of the Jew as well as the Nation of Israel.
God’s good news to Israel was the Gospel of the Kingdom. Miracles attended its proclamation, and remission of sins was accompanied by water baptism, a rite in Israel’s history for the cleansing of sins. The feast days, the commandments, the many sabbaths were all part of the Jew’s religion which is called Judaism.
In short, it is in the four gospels that record the earthly ministry of Jesus the Messiah unto Israel. Moses was the spokesman who gave the body of the Law to them from God. The pattern for revelation is this; it is spoken from God to Moses for Israel. Israel in turn was to be the priests who would go to the nations of the world and proclaim the message of the reconciliation of the earth back to God.
Whatever we read about in the four gospels is about THAT.
The whole point of the four gospels is to prepare Israel for Jacob’s Trouble, or the 7-year Tribulation and Jesus’ coming. This was done by Jesus’ preaching, working of miracles, and the formation of His 12 disciples. These disciples would become the apostles who would further prepare the little flock believers of Israel following the event of the cross. We begin to see this preparation on the Day of Pentecost in the beginning fulfillment of Joel chapter 2. This is recorded in the book Acts chapters 1-7 by Luke.
During this time period, some of the 12 apostles wrote to these Jewish believers, many of whom were scattered into surrounding nations due to the persecution already commencing. We have them today in the Hebrew epistles namely Hebrews, 1&2 Peter, 1-3 John, Jude, and Revelation. This is all for the purpose of preparing them for the anti-Christ’s deception and persecution of Israel as well as the world. At the end of the tribulation period, Jesus who is the rightful owner of the earth will descend from Heaven and conquer His enemies and establish His Kingdom on earth for 1000 years (Revelation 19).
Jesus preached to His people that He, the King is here (Matthew 4:17). In response, they needed to repent, be baptized and prepare themselves for this Kingdom that would be just a few years into the future. But first, the time of testing and tribulation must come to separate the wheat (believers) from the tares (unbelievers) as Jesus taught in Matthew 13:24-33.
In our next post, we will continue as we look at the establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth by the Lord Jesus Christ.
Until then, grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.