A Mystery Made Known.

We have reached the final answer to the question: "Hath God cast away His people." As the seventh and last proof of Israel's glorious future, it is the completest of all. "For I do not wish you to be ignorant, brethren, of this mystery, that ye be not wise in your own conceits, that blindness in part has happened to Israel, until the fulness of the nations has come; and so all Israel shall be saved. According as it is written, The Deliverer shall come out of Sion; He shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. And this is the covenant from me to them, when I shall take away their sins" (verses 25-27). These words are not addressed to Gentiles, and no longer does the apostle say, "I speak to you, Gentiles," but they are addressed to "Brethren," that is, true believers. It has the same meaning here as in Romans xii :1. He is now going to make known a secret, a mystery, which by revelation was made known to him and of which he does not want his brethren to be ignorant. It is known to every reader of the Word of God that the word "mystery" and the revelation of mysteries hid in former ages is found exclusively in the Pauline epistles. Our Lord in Matthew xiii, that great dispensational chapter, speaks of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven (verse 11). The seven parables contain mysteries concerning the present Christian age. In the epistles given by the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul we find the full revelation of these secret things, hid in former ages, and now made known. What are these mysteries in the epistles of Paul? We can count seven. "And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness; God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory" (1 Tim. iii:16). This is the mystery of the blessed Gospel itself in all its fulness. In Colossians i:26-27, we have a second mystery: " . . . . the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is, Christ in you the hope of glory." Here the blessed union of Christ and the believer is made known. In Ephesians iii and v we have a third and fourth secret. These are concerning the church, which is both His body and His bride. Then in 1 Corinthians xv:51 is a fifth mystery: "Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed." It is the blessed secret about the coming of the Lord for the gathering of His saints, more fully made known in 1 Thess. iv:16, 17. In 2 Thess. ii is the mystery concerning the iniquity and the final Antichrist, and here in Romans xi it is the mystery of Israel.

These secret things made known through Paul in these epistles are of the greatest importance. Ignorance in these is deplorable; the true Christian position, calling and privileges, as well as what the church is and the destiny of the church, cannot be grasped without a knowledge of these Pauline mysteries.

Not alone does Paul want the brethren to know the mystery here, that they may not be ignorant, but he adds "that ye may not be wise in your own conceits." This would be a very suitable word to put over Christendom, "they are wise in their own conceits." It characterizes the present day confusion and falling away about us. And why is the professing church wise in her own conceit? The answer is evident, because the professing church ignores the mysteries made known.

What a change we would see all about us if the mystery of the church, what the church is, the one body, were known. If the mystery were believed about the union of the believer with Christ, the believer's completeness in Him, how different all would be. Alas! God's secrets are ignored and religious man rather follows traditions and great men, and this is why Christendom is wise in its own conceits. And what keeps us humble? What keeps us from following our own thoughts and imaginations and from being wise in our own conceits? Certainly only our complete submission to that which God has revealed.

What then is the mystery here, which is made known about Israel? It is twofold. First, Israel's blindness is only in part and, Israel's blindness has a limit, it will last up to a certain time. So God hath not cast away His people; a time is coming when the partial blindness of Israel will cease.

That blindness in part has happened to Israel, we have seen in the parable of the olive tree, where we learned that some of the branches were broken off. But when that blindness is to be removed, we have not yet discovered in our chapter. Here is something altogether new. In the Old Testament Scriptures we read much about Israel's judicial blindness, the judgments to fall upon them as a nation, and their future exaltation and blessing. But nowhere do we find definite information when the great event of Israel's reception will take place.

When our Lord, before His ascension, was asked by His disciples, "Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom of Israel?" He answered, "It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in His own power" (Acts i:6, 7). Here in Romans xi:25 we have the secret made known and the time is given, when Israel's blindness will cease. "Until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in." The fulness of the nations is to come in first. This is the great work which has first to be accomplished, the next great event, and as soon as this fulness of the Gentiles has been brought in, Israel's hour of salvation and blessing will come.

The important question is next, What does this term "fulness of the Gentiles" mean? It certainly does not mean what that unscholarly paraphrase of the New Testament, known and circulated under the name of "the twentieth century New Testament" has made of it. That inferior translation says: "that callousness has to some extent come upon Israel, and will continue until all the rest of the world has been gathered in." These translators who call themselves, "twenty eminent scholars" (they have chosen to hide their identity) tell us that the Greek word (pleroma) means "all the rest of the world." What liberty these self-styled eminent scholars have taken with the Word of God! Pleroma does not mean "all the rest of the world," but its true meaning is "the full number," or translated with one word "fulness." The full number of the Gentiles, or fulness of the Gentiles has to be brought in.

This term must likewise to be distinguished from "the times of the Gentiles," which are to be fulfilled. Thus we read Luke xxi :24, "Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." Here, too, is an "until," that little word of hope and cheer for poor Israel. But the two terms, "times of the Gentiles" and "fulness of the Gentiles" are not identical.

It is well that we see the difference at this time. The times of the Gentiles will end suddenly. The times of the Gentiles began with Nebuchadnezzar, whose dream, divinely interpreted by Daniel (Dan. ii) is a prophecy about the Gentiles, and in that dream we read how the times of the Gentiles will end. The stone, smites the great image at its feet, the ten toes, that future ten kingdom division of the Roman empire. The stone which pulverizes the image, is the second visible and glorious coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Then Jerusalem will be delivered and will no more be trodden down by the Gentiles, but become the city of a great king.

Now, the fulness of the Gentiles is something altogether different. This is an event, which occurs before the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. After the fulness of the Gentiles has been brought in the times of the Gentiles will still go on till the sudden end, the great catastrophe, as seen from Daniel's prophecy.

The fulness of the Gentiles means a certain number, a number known to God alone, called out from the nations to constitute the church; in other words, the fulness of the Gentiles is the completion of the true church. As soon as the church is complete as to numbers, this fulness will be brought in, that is, into His own presence. A day is coming— and how soon it may be!—when the church is complete; the last member has been added to the body and then that fulness is brought in. In Ephesians i:23, the church is called His body, the fulness (pleroma) of Him. An apostate "church" will be left behind amidst the so-called "Christian nations" and the Gentile age will end in its foretold tribulation and wrath.

As soon then as the fulness of the Gentiles is brought in, the church, the body of the Lord Jesus Christ, complete, a change takes place with Israel. God begins to deal again with them in mercy and on a national basis. Thus we see in the book of Revelation after the removal of the church, that a remnant of Israel, 12,000 of each tribe is called and sealed (Revel, vii.) This is a believing remnant and the blindness is no longer upon them. And then, after the rapid fulfillment of the great prophecies concerning the time of the end, Israel prominently in the foreground, the blessed and glorious moment comes at last, when all Israel is saved. And so all Israel shall be saved. The "so," the manner how they are being saved is given in the verse which follows: "According as it is written, The Deliverer shall come out of Sion; He shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob."

But what have we to understand by "all Israel shall be saved?" Some, like Calvin, believe that "all Israel" means the whole number of saved from the very beginning and includes Jews as well as Gentiles. This is wrong for it is not the question of Gentile salvation, but of Israel's salvation. Others teach that "all Israel" means literally all the Israelites who ever lived, the righteous as well as the unrighteous, the believing ones and the unbelievers, in one word that all Jews who ever lived, with perhaps a few exceptions, will be raised up at the time to which the above Scripture refers, and all will then be saved. This is a theory which might be called "Jewish Universalism," for it is nothing less and of necessity must lead to a belief in the final salvation of all Gentiles. Indeed, the advocates of this theory of a universal Jewish salvation, hold the restitution of the Gentiles as well, that all unsaved, with the exception of a few wicked persons of a special class, will be raised from the dead at the beginning of the millennium and brought back to their former condition. A certain Henry Dunn is the modern advocate of this evil doctrine; it has become widespread through the "Millennial Dawn heresy" and alas! thousands of Christian people have accepted it. How such theories are read into the Word of God we learned but recently from a volume treating the Jewish question. Matthew xxiii : 37-39 is used as an argument to show that "all Israel" includes the very people who rejected the Lord Jesus Christ in Jerusalem and all will be raised from the dead to see Him coming again and then be saved. The following verse is quoted: "0 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that killeth the prophets and stoneth them that are sent unto her! how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, and ye would not. Behold, your house is left unto you desolate, For I say unto ye, ye shall in no wise see me henceforth, until ye shall say, Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord." The argument first states that when the Lord says, "your house is left unto you desolate," He meant, of course, the people who stood there, the generation which saw Him and rejected Him, the Lord of Glory. It is then claimed in the most rigid literalism we have ever seen in print, that when the Lord said, "Ye shall in no wise see me henceforth, until ye shall say," etc., that He meant that all those who stood there and saw Him for the last time in the temple, that all these individuals shall see Him coming again and welcome Him with "Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord." According to this belief all these wicked Pharisees and chief priests who rejected the Lord wilfully, who accused Him of driving out demons by Beelzebub, as well as the mass of people who cried, "Crucify Him, Crucify Him!" will be raised from the dead and then see the Lord coming and believe on Him and be saved. That such is not the teaching of the Word of God, nor the teaching of the Scripture quoted from Matthew, can easily be proven. The passage appears only in the Gospel of Matthew, and this is the Gospel of the kingdom, the dispensational Gospel. All has a Jewish national aspect. The words before us are addressed to "Jerusalem" and to the nation, and Jerusalem and the nation will abide to the time when He comes again. At the time of His coming there will be a believing remnant welcoming Him with the words He mentions, and these are a quotation from Psalm cxviii. The nation had rejected Him, but He looks to the time of His coming again, when others of the nation living in that day, shall wait for the heavens to open, and the cloud of glory to bring Him back. Indeed, these unbelieving Jews, these Elders and Pharisees, if they believed not in the offer made to them after the Cross (and perhaps many did) have gone to their place and await the resurrection of the wicked and not the resurrection of the just. But there is a verse which completely settles such argumentation as the one we have mentioned. In Matthew xxi :43, "Therefore, say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof." The question is what nation does the Lord mean here? The nation in His day had rejected Him and the kingdom is to be taken away from the nation—another nation is to receive the kingdom. If the argument is right that "all Israel" is to be saved, that all Jews, the very Pharisees, who heard the Lord speaking, who hated Him with a Satanic hatred, are to be raised from the dead and then receive the kingdom, why did the Lord not say so in plain words and give them such a promise? Here He states most positively that the kingdom shall be taken from you, and it must mean that generation living, and He does not say a word that they ever will get it back. Another nation is to receive it. That other nation is not the church, for the church does not inherit Israel's earthly kingdom. The kingdom is Israel's, the other nation is the Israel of the future, that remnant of His people living in the day of His glorious manifestation.

We care not to follow other arguments which are advanced to defend so unscriptural a doctrine. These arguments are flimsy indeed. "All Israel shall be saved" means the Israel living in that day, when the Lord is manifested in power and in glory. In the great tribulation, the time of Jacob's trouble, the whole nation will be sifted as never before.

"And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die, but the third shall be left therein" (Zech. xiii:8, 9).

"And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me, I will bring them forth out of the country, where they sojourn and they shall not enter into the land of Israel and ye shall know that I am the Lord" (Ezekiel xx:38). What will these restitutionists do with a passage like this?

In Matthew xxiv, in the prophecy of our Lord concerning the great tribulation, we read it likewise. As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be again. Judgment came and overtook the ungodly but Noah and his house was saved. So will it be, "One shall be taken (in judgment) and the other left" in the earth (Matt. xxiv:37-41). Judgment and fire will sift the nation during that time of trouble. (Isaiah iv:4.) A remnant of the nation will pass through it all, while the ungodly who worshipped the false Messiah shall be swept away. It is this remnant which constitutes "all Israel," and which shall be saved. However, we must distinguish this part of the nation saved in that day from the godly, believing remnant, which throughout the great tribulation, preaches the Gospel of the kingdom to the nations, the remnant, which is sealed, which suffers and overcomes. This remnant is clearly revealed throughout the prophetic Word. In Revelation xii we have the woman, who flees into the wilderness and is nourished there for a time, times and half a time (3^ years), during the great tribulation; this is the part of the nation Israel, which is preserved. But at the close of the chapter we read, "And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keeps the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ" (Revel. xii:17). The remnant here is the believing, witnessing remnant.

And now the manner of their salvation. "According as it is written, The Deliverer shall come out of Sion; He shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob." This is the return of the Lord as Deliverer of His earthly-people. He comes again to Sion and then out of Sion He shines forth in His mighty power as Deliverer. This a most precious portion we have reached. The fact given here, that the second coming of Christ in His majesty, for the salvation, deliverance and restoration of His people, Israel, living in that day, is revealed throughout the Old Testament. It would be impossible to touch upon all the passages which teach it, and types which foreshadow this great event.

Of the latter we mention the story of Joseph. There we see the man in power and glory, the man before whom the knee had to be bowed, the Revealer of Secrets. And when his brethren came the second time, he made himself known to them. There he stood attired in his royal robe¹ with royal authority. Before him eleven trembling men, hungry, in rags and terror stricken. And now he begins in the tenderness of his heart to weep and says: "Come near to me. . . . I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. . . . then he kissed all his brethren and wept upon them." Blessed type of what it will be when He comes the second time and will "forgive them their sins and remember them no more."

Or we think of Moses. When he came the first time to his brethren to deliver them they rejected him and the second time, forty years after, when the tribulation had risen to its greatest height, they received him and he led them forth. And in the New Testament we have a type in unbelieving Thomas. When the Lord had appeared the first time after His resurrection to the shut in disciples, and Thomas was not there, he declared, "Except I shall see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe" (John xx:25). Seven days pass by.

Poor Thomas, how unhappy, in doubt and uncertainty he must have been! And after eight days again His disciples were within, and Thomas was with them. Then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, "Peace be unto you." And what will He do, He who searches the hearts? Will He now condemn Thomas for his unbelief? Will He upbraid him for being so slow of heart? Not a word of it. "Then saith He to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side; and be not faithless, but believing. ,, And Thomas answered Him: "My Lord and my God." Surely, thus it will be again when they who knew Him not will behold Him, the pierced One. There are thousands of orthodox Jews living to-day who firmly believe in the coming of Messiah, thousands in whom a changed attitude towards the person of the Lord Jesus Christ is noticeable. Was He perhaps the Messiah or was He not the promised One? The question will be answered for them in that day. "Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the earth (land) mourn; and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory" (Matt. xxiv:29, 30). "Behold He cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him, and all the tribes of the land shall wail because of Him. Even so. Amen" (Revel. i:7). "And they shall look upon me, whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for Him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for his firstborn" (Zech. xii:10, 11). What a day that will be! Tribulation has reached its height. There seems to be no escape. All at once there comes an ominous lull. The sun is gradually darkening and the moon dulls, while stars fall and the heavens and the earth are shaken. But what means that shining cloud up yonder? In the midst of the awe inspiring, fearful phenomena of nature, a cloud full of fire and glory! The remnant has been praying for divine interference, for a manifestation from above. "Oh, that Thou wouldest rend the heavens, that Thou wouldest come down" (Is. lxxivrl). They know at once from their own Scripture that that cloud is the Shekinah, the garment of Jehovah. Their whole past history comes up before them. Did not Jehovah dwell of old with our fathers and lead them? Did He not scatter our enemies? Surely this is Jehovah who shines forth! And so we hear them crying out in that dark, dark night. "Lo this is our God, we have waited for Him, and He will save us; this is the Lord; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation" (Isaiah xxv:9). But the cloud ^omes near, flashes of glory light up the heavens (Hab. iii :3); the mighty light, like that light which fell upon Saul of Tarsus, the Pharisee of the Pharisees, stronger than the midday sun, illumines everything. And again they glance upward and behold sitting upon the cloud is one like the Son of Man (Daniel vii:13). Again they look upon that wonderful, wonderful scene and they see that Son of Man is pierced. And as it flashed upon the brethren of Joseph that the man in the royal robe is their brother, whom they had sold, thus it will flash upon Israel, it is Jehovah-Jesus, whom they had rejected, their Messiah-King, who comes in power and great glory. Then they will say: "We hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised and we esteemed Him not. Surely He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows;

yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed" (Isa. liii:3-5). "And His feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives" (Zech. xiv:4). He has come again in like manner as He went away. And then He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob and take away their sins. The iniquity of the land and the people is removed in one day. (Zech. iii:9): "Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the land be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children. . . . Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her; rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her" (Isaiah lxvi:8, 10). "And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions" (Joel ii:28). "Neither will I hide my face any more from them; for I have poured out my Spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord God" (Ezek. xxxix: 29). But we must refrain from quoting more from the promises and the glory which are Israel's. There is not one word of all the gracious, blessed things, which the Lord has promised to Israel by the mouths of His holy prophets which will remain unfulfilled in that day.

The passage here, "the Redeemer shall come out of Zion," is a quotation from two Old Testament Scriptures. Isaiah lix:20: "And the Redeemer shall come to Zion and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord." The second, Psalm xiv:7: "Oh, that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! When the Lord bringeth back the captivity of His people, Jacob shall rejoice and Israel shall be glad."

May that day be hastened. May we pray earnestly, "Even so, come Lord Jesus;" may He come soon to take us unto Himself and then it will be only a little while and these glorious scenes will be enacted upon this earth, Jerusalem will be delivered and become a praise in the earth, and the scattered nation will be gathered by the great Shepherd of Israel, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Righteousness and peace will kiss each other then and the knowledge of the glory of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters the deep. There will be singing in the heavens and singing on the earth, "Peace on earth and glory to God in the highest." The center of rejoicing will be Jerusalem and a redeemed people, "Sing and rejoice, 0 daughter of Zion; for lo, I come to dwell in the midst of Thee, saith the Lord. And many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day and shall be for my people and I will dwell in the midst of Thee, and thou shalt know, that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto thee" (Zech. ii:10, 11).

Thus the great question: "Hath God cast away His people?" is fully answered. After our meditation on these wonderful answers we have learned why the Holy Spirit makes the answers so emphatic. Far be the thought! God's own Word, faithfulness and righteousness, are at stake. If He had cast away His people, if there were no future for them, no fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies, then might we well close our Bibles and despair.

All praise and glory to God for He hath not cast away His people.