Was this then the end of God's plan to bless the whole world through the Jewish race, as had been promised to

Abraham? The answer is no, for the Acts of the Apostles is a record of the Lord's further patience and longsuffering

to this people. Through Peter's lips in Acts 3:19-26 comes the call to the unbelieving nation to repent and then `He

shall send Jesus Christ, which was appointed for you' (v. 20 R.V.), followed by the times of restoration of all things

spoken by the Old Testament prophets which is nothing less than the earthly kingdom restored and set up. Peter

likewise tells them that Christ had been raised and exalted in order to give repentance to Israel (Acts 5:30,31), but in

murdering Stephen and imprisoning the Apostles, Israel showed that their hearts were still as hard as ever. The

Divine attitude of mercy and their rebellious response is seen in Romans 10:21 `All day long I have stretched forth

My hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people'.

Now the purpose widens and the Gentile is brought in, but we remember that this is no new thing in God's plan,

for all along He intended to bless all families of the earth through Abraham's seed, and Paul, in Galatians 3, when he

includes the Gentiles among those who are `of faith' (verse 7) refers directly to Genesis 12:3; in the eighth verse:

`And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles through faith, preached before the gospel unto

Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed' (Gal. 3:8).

Compare verses 13 and 14 of this chapter also.

So the churches formed during the Acts period of believers in the Lord Jesus were like a tiny picture and a

foreshadowing of this great world wide purpose. They were thus likened to a `firstfruits' (James 1:18), a pledge of

the kingdom harvest to be.  Not only this, but the epistle to the Romans gives another Divine reason for the

broadening of this purpose, reaching out to the Gentiles during this time. They were to be a means of `provoking

Israel to jealousy' (Rom. 10:19-21). Gentile salvation was to be a means, humanly speaking, of stimulating the

nation hardened as they were in unbelief. When they saw those whom they classed as `dogs' sharing their salvation

and privileges, it might have had the effect of stirring them up spiritually.

As the record of the Acts progresses, it is evident that such an effect did not come to pass. In spite of the

ministry of Peter and the Twelve and of Paul, who had confined his testimony to the Old Testament up to this point

(Acts 26:22,23), Israel the nation was fast sinking into spiritual blindness and darkness. However, they had not yet

been laid aside by God for in Acts 26:6,7 Paul states the hope of the twelve tribes was still possible and as late as

Acts 28:20 he describes himself as being `bound for the hope of Israel'. In Romans 11:1,2 he definitely states `God

hath not cast away His people which He foreknew'.

At the end of Acts 28, a climax is reached when the terrible words of judgment contained in Isaiah 6:9,10 are

quoted of Israel for the third and last time, giving them blinded eyes, dulled ears and a non-understanding heart

(Acts 28:25-28) a condition which has characterised them all down this present age and one which is the very

opposite of the New Covenant of Grace made with them as a nation, for, under its ministration, God writes His law

in their hearts (Jer. 31:31-37).

The salvation of God is now sent to the Gentiles quite independently of Israel (Acts 28:28) and within a few

years Jerusalem and its temple were destroyed by the Romans, and Israel as a nation ceased to exist as such until a

few years ago.

According to some systems of theology, the failure of the Jewish nation means that they are for ever finished in

God's plan and purpose. But, if this is so, God has broken His unconditional promise concerning the seed and the

land that was given as a free gift to them, and if God can break a promise to His earthly people, the whole of

Christian assurance is undermined. We do not believe that such a thing is possible. What saith the Scriptures?

During the Acts Israel was likened to an olive tree, some of the branches of which were broken off because of their

unbelief. But the One Who broke them off can graft them in again (Rom. 11:23), and, at the Second Coming of the

Deliverer out of Zion, ungodliness shall be turned away from Jacob and so all Israel shall be saved, `for this is My