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blessing of all the families of the earth, but did not, at that time, extend to them, being concentrated rather upon
Israel from whom, as the appointed channel, the blessing should flow to all nations. We shall now bring scriptural
proof of these statements, and then proceed to show that Matthew 24 and 25 speak of the hope of ISRAEL, and that
this phase of the second advent has nothing to do with the hope of the Church which is His Body.
(1) Proof that the earthly ministry was limited in the first instance to Israel.
`Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the
for the truth of God, to confirm the promises
CIRCUMCISION
made unto the FATHERS' (Rom. 15:8).
`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' (Matt. 10:5,6).
`I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of ISRAEL' (Matt. 15:24).
(2) Proof that the promise made to David concerning a King was in view.
`Where is He that is born KING of the Jews? ... in Bethlehem' (Matt. 2:2-5).
`Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy KING cometh unto thee' (Matt. 21:5).
`What think ye of Christ? Whose Son is He? They say unto Him, The Son of DAVID' (Matt. 22:42).
`David ... being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins,
according to the flesh, HE WOULD RAISE UP CHRIST TO SIT ON HIS THRONE; He seeing this before spake of the
resurrection of Christ' (Acts 2:29-31).
(3) Proof that the promise to Abraham concerning Israel as the chosen channel of blessing to the Gentiles
was in view.
`Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto
Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. UNTO YOU FIRST God, having raised
up His Son Jesus, sent Him to bless YOU, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities' (Acts 3:25,26).
The consideration of these Scriptures in their setting provides sufficient proof for the statements made
concerning the character of the Saviour's earthly ministry.
We are now in a position to consider Matthew 24 and 25, which is a prophecy of the second coming of Christ,
and concerns the hope of Israel as distinct from the hope of the Body of Christ as revealed in the prison epistles of
Paul.
The threefold prophecy of the coming of the Lord as revealed in Matthew 24 was given in answer to the
threefold question of the disciples (verse 3) :
` When shall these things be?'
` What shall be the sign of Thy coming?'
` And of the end of the world (age)?'.
The evidence which follows, sufficiently shows that in this passage the hope of Israel and not the hope of `the
Church which is His Body' is the subject.
Three proofs that Matthew 24 speaks of the Hope of Israel.
First, the word translated `end' is sunteleia, a word at that time well known to every Jew, for it was the name of
the third great feast, namely `the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year' (Exod. 23:16). This is
evidence that Israel's hope is in view.
Secondly, we find that this coming of the Lord is to be preceded by `wars and rumour of wars'. Because of the
fact that there have been, and yet will be, many wars and rumours of wars since the setting aside of Israel, these
words, as they stand, cannot be construed as evidence that Israel's hope is in view. If, however, we turn to the Old