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The Daily Word of Righteousness
You Are My People, #27
For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. But be ye glad [you children of Israel] and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. (Isaiah 65:17-19)
What of the new Jerusalem, the holy city that is destined to rule the nations of the saved on the new earth? Is this the natural kingdom of the Jews, or the spiritual temple of Gentiles having come down from Heaven? Why would a Gentile city be called the new Jerusalem? Where would the Jews be then?
If the new Jerusalem comprises flesh and blood Jews, why is it referred to as the Bride of the Lamb? How can the "throne of God and of the Lamb" be in a flesh and blood city (Revelation 21:9; 22:3)?
But if the new Jerusalem is the Gentile Church, now glorified, what do we do with the promise (above) to the Jews concerning the new heavens and new earth, and the new Jerusalem?
These are but a few of the questions that must be answered scripturally and logically before we have a basis on which to postulate two kingdoms—a spiritual kingdom in Heaven and an earthly kingdom.
There Is Only One Royal Priesthood; One Elect; One Stick in God's Hand; One Divinely Ordained Faith; One New Man. One royal priesthood.
Notice how Peter was able to accept the fact that God was reaching out to Gentiles, making them part of the royal priesthood of Israel. First, Peter refers to the believing Gentiles as "strangers":
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, (I Peter 1:1)
Then he acknowledges that they are members of the elect of God.
But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light; (I Peter 2:9)
There is only one chosen generation, one holy nation, and that is the nation of Israel. That a remnant of Gentiles should ever be made a part of the priesthood of God is a wonder of wonders.
Peter, by viewing the unbelieving Gentiles as the true Gentiles, acknowledges that the elect Gentiles have become part of Israel.
Having your [the elect Gentiles] conversation honest among the [unbelieving] Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation. (I Peter 2:12)
Do you see, in the verse above, that Peter is cautioning the believing Gentiles (now regarded as members of Israel) concerning their behavior among the unbelieving nations?
The believing Gentiles have become part of the holy nation of Israel, just as Asenath, the wife of Joseph, and Joseph's two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, although in whole or in part Egyptian, came to be regarded as an integral part of Israel.
To be continued.