Hi Folks. Thanks for joining me as we move ahead in our study of Hebrews. We’re moving on to verses 2 and 3 of chapter one today but before we do that, I want to tell you about a friend of mine. He is no longer with us. His name was Joel (name changed for confidentiality purposes) and he was Jewish. He suffered from depression and always proclaimed forcefully that his depression was due to a chemical imbalance that required multiple medications to treat it. The treatment was never effective. He would sometimes say to me, “Art, I guess God wants me to be depressed”. Joel made a profession of faith in Jesus about 25 years ago. Now folks, please keep this true anecdote in mind because Hebrews was written to Jewish people some of whom may have been like Joel.

Hebrews 1:1–3 NKJV

1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; 3who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

Last time we went over verse 1 and we talked about how God spoke to the ancient Hebrews through the prophets at many different times and in various ways. The prophets refers to the Old Testament prophets of course including the 16 writing prophets as well as those prophets who did not write specific books in the Old Testament that have been categorized as books of prophecy. Writing prophets would include those such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. The 16 writing prophets are divided into major and minor prophets but I need to mention at this point that what I am referring to as the 16 writing prophets would be in the Jewish tradition only 15 in number. The difference is Daniel. Hebrew tradition does not include Daniel in the Nevi’im, or Prophets. Daniel is included in the last or third section of the TaNaKh which is the Ketuvim or the writings.

Now folks, we can say from Hebrews 1:2 alone that Jesus’ ministry marked the beginning of the last days. Maybe that surprises you. But listen please.

Hebrews 1:2 NIV

but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.

Folks, God spoke many things to the Jewish people of first century Israel through His Son Jesus and much of what He said has been preserved for us to read today. We will cover some of those things in our study of this book. But let’s talk now for a minute or so about Jesus as God’s Son. Jesus is God’s Son in a very different way than we are sons and daughters of God. We are told that we are sons and daughters in the Gospel of John:

John 1:12–13 NIV

Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

This verse talks about what happens to us when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior; we are born again and are transferred from being in Adam to being in Messiah or Christ. That’s what John 1:12-13 is talking about and as incredible as that is - we becoming sons and daughters or children of God - we are not sons in the sense that Jesus is the Son of God. Because Jesus is not a created being and He is the one and only Son of God, He has to be of the same substance and nature as His Father. He has to be divine, He has to be deity. So please recognize that Jesus is the only unique Son of God and He is a Son - the Son - in a different way than we are. I also just want to remind you that God said He has a Son in the Old Testament in Psalm 2 and in Proverbs 30 and we talked about that last time. God’s Son here is the Messiah.

But getting back to Hebrews 1:2:

Hebrews 1:2 NIV

but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.

In trying to grasp the profound meaning of this verse I think we can get some help by looking at John’s Gospel:

John 1:1–3 NIV

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

Now please take a look at Genesis 1:1:

Genesis 1:1 NIV

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Folks, God’s Son did this. So, Who is this Son? We’ve already said that He is a Son like no other Son and that He is divine - He has the attributes of deity. But can we get a better understanding of that? I think we can. In John chapter 1 He is called the Word which in Greek is Logos and we are told that in the beginning He was with God and was God and that without Him nothing was made that was made. So, how is He, the Logos or Word and also God? Thanks to Arnold Fruchtenbaum, I’ve come to understand that the idea behind the Greek word Logos is better understood by the Aramaic word Memra, which also means word, and which was used in the Jewish Targums or paraphrases of the Hebrew Scriptures, recognized by many rabbis, to describe a visible appearance of God, somewhat similar to, yet different from, the Shekinah glory of God, like the pillar of fire that stayed with the Israelites in the desert following the Exodus. Sometimes this Memra would appear as the Angel of the LORD or the Angel of Yahweh such as we see in:

Exodus 3:2 NIV

There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up.

AND:

Exodus 3:4 NIV

When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.”

Can you see from these 2 verses that there is an equivalence between the Angel of Yahweh and the LORD, meaning Yahweh Himself? The Apostle John was a Jewish man and would have been familiar with the Memra which means word. Logos was the closest Greek equivalent to Memra and so John used Logos as he was inspired to do by the Holy Spirit. This gives us an understanding of how Jesus is the Logos and God. He came as God in the flesh, God incarnate, and He was and is the same Divine Being that he was in the Old Testament where He temporarily came as the Angel of Yahweh. These appearances, in the Old Testament, were of the preincarnate Christ. Folks, this is mind blowing, is it not? But it’s true!

So, the Son of God - the Logos, or Memra, or Word - is like no other Son. Understanding this will help us greatly in this study of the letter to the Hebrews. And as the Divine Son of the Father, it becomes understandable that Yahweh, the Father, would appoint His one and only Son the Heir of all things. Likewise it makes sense that YHWH would appoint His Son to make the Universe, that the Universe would be made through Him. Folks, I don’t want to get ahead of myself. We are in deep waters here but what wonderful deep waters they are! The Shema tells us that God is One but He is a complex or plural One. He is one God with a plural nature. We cannot fully understand this. But God allows us to understand it enough to know that it is absolutely true and that is a wonderful gift to us!

But, getting back to the Scripture:

Hebrews 1:2 NIV

but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.

So, what did the Son speak to us - and that applies to you and me - in these last days? Let me give you just a few things that He said:

John 3:3 NIV

Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”

And Jesus also said this:

John 3:16 NIV

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

This is perhaps the most well known verse in the Bible. Both the essence and the assurance of salvation is encapsulated in this one verse.

And Jesus said this:

Matthew 22:36–40 NIV

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Folks, this is the essence of The New Covenant. This is the law that we are to follow now and it is a law that we can keep with the help of the Holy Spirit who indwells all believers.

And Jesus also said this:

John 19:30 NIV

When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Jesus finished the work of salvation. At a cost that we cannot comprehend, He has done it all.

Folks, let’s move on to verse 3 of chapter 1:

Hebrews 1:3 (NIV)

‌The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

The Jewish religious leaders were angry when Yeshua called Himself the Son of God. Because He was equating himself with deity.

Let’s look at John 5:18 NIV:

‌For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

Yeshua is calling God His own Father or if I can take the liberty, His very own Father. In the Greek His own is idios. By using this word, idios, Yeshua is saying that God was His own private, personal, unique Father. If that were not so He would have used the usual Greek word for own which is autos.

What about Jesus being the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being. How can we understand that better?

Let’s see if we can we get an idea of the glory of God from the Old Testament because those were the Scriptures that the writers of the New Testament had. Let’s look at Psalm 97:1-6 NIV:

The LORD reigns, let the earth be glad; let the distant shores rejoice. [2] Clouds and thick darkness surround him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. [3] Fire goes before him and consumes his foes on every side. [4] His lightning lights up the world; the earth sees and trembles. [5] The mountains melt like wax before the LORD, before the Lord of all the earth. [6] The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all peoples see his glory.

This is God’s glory folks! Now let’s look at something else:

‌Exodus 24:9–10 (NASB95)

Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and they saw the God of Israel; and under His feet there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself.

Now this was a glorious sight! They saw the God of Israel. But wait a minute! How could that be? Because if you see God you die, right? Now how do we know that?

Leviticus 16:2 (NIV) The LORD said to Moses: “Tell your brother Aaron that he is not to come whenever he chooses into the Most Holy Place behind the curtain in front of the atonement cover on the ark, or else he will die. For I will appear in the cloud over the atonement cover.

AND:

Exodus 33:19-23 (NIV) And the LORD said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. [20] But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.” [21] Then the LORD said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. [22] When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. [23] Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.”

Now let’s read the passage again from Exodus 24:

Exodus 24:9–10 (NASB95)

Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and they saw the God of Israel; and under His feet there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself.

So, they saw God here. Why didn’t they die? I think the reason that they did not die is because Who they saw was the pre-incarnate Christ, the Messiah, the Word of God, the Memra! And when you see the Messiah, you don’t die because He is both God and man in one person.

Folks, Jesus is the exact representation of the Father. He is God. He is God incarnate, God in the flesh, Perfect God and Perfect man. Not two separate beings inside one person. No, Jesus’ nature and character embody perfect God and perfect man in one person. He was and still is today the God-Man. He had to be in order to be our Savior - the Savior of mankind. We’ll hear more about that as we go on further in this epistle.

Folks, let’s continue with Hebrews 1:3:

“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.”

Jesus sustains all things by His powerful word. What does that mean? Word in Hebrews 1:3 is not the Logos. Word here in the Greek is rhema and it means spoken word. So just as God spoke the universe into existence with incomprehensible power in Genesis, Jesus upholds or sustains all things by His spoken word, or we could phrase it like this: Jesus upholds all things by the power of His word. Let’s look at just one example of the power of God’s spoken word in the Hebrew Scriptures, in Genesis:

Genesis 1:14–15 (NIV) And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so.

And God said. The word for said in Hebrew is amar. You could translate it as declared. God declared that the sun and the moon and the stars and the planets come into existence out of nothing and that’s exactly what happened. And we know that all things were made through Yeshua. We read that earlier in John 1:3; let’s read it again:

John 1:3 NIV

Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

That includes the sun and the moon and the stars and the planets! And in like manner, Yeshua/Jesus sustains or upholds all things by the power of His word.

Moving on in Hebrews 1:3 “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.”

‌How did Yeshua provide purification for sins?

Before we try to answer that question, let me pose another question: Could God have merely declared all our sins forgiven without the cross? Would that have taken care of everything? WAS THE CROSS REALLY NECESSARY? I’m going to ask you to keep that question in mind for a minute or two. We’ll come back to it.

Now let’s look at something that might seem slightly off the topic, but it isn’t. Let’s talk about justification. Justification is when God as judge makes a judicial decision, and He states it as a judge in a courtroom would do. He declares it. He declares that our sins are forgiven, and our unrighteous nature is exchanged for the perfectly righteous nature of Christ. God pours out our sins on the Messiah – He takes our sins, and His perfect righteousness is imputed or credited to us. An exchange occurs. God declares us justified. That’s exactly what He did for Abraham. He declares you and me righteous when we are saved. He gives us the status of righteousness. The power of God’s word is beyond what we can comprehend. It created the universe, and it accomplishes our justification.

So, back to the question I asked you to keep in mind a minute ago. Could God have simply declared that all our sins are forgiven and have done nothing more? No. Why not? There are several reasons. For one, the wrath of God must be turned away from us. Something called propitiation is necessary. There must be a sacrifice, a blood sacrifice of infinite value, to appease a wrathful God, and Jesus Christ is the only One who can do that. Please know, folks, that if a preacher denies the wrath of God and says that a declaration of forgiveness from God with nothing else behind it is enough, that preacher is teaching his congregation a false gospel. No, folks, an incalculable price was paid for you and me to be justified. The Son of God gave His life on the cross in payment for our justification. Should this be of particular interest to Jewish people? Yes. In fact, I have a question for my Jewish listeners:

What if the temple and the Jewish priesthood and all the accoutrements of the temple service were recreated tomorrow and the blood sacrifices of animals without defect was resumed? Would that accomplish what the cross accomplished? No. Why?

Let’s take a look at Romans chapter 6:

Romans 6:4-7 (NIV) We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. [5] For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. [6] For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— [7] because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

The things described in these verses – being buried with Christ, being united with Christ, our old self, our old man or old woman, dying in Him on the cross, and then being resurrected, raised to newness of life, in Him – all these things require Yeshua’s substitutionary death on the cross. Because He did not come only to forgive our sins but to make us new men and women. We are born again. No animal sacrifice can ever do that.

‌In closing, let’s read Hebrews 1:3 once more and make a final comment or two:

Hebrews 1:3 :

“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.”

Jesus sits down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. He died for us, He was buried, He was raised from the grave by the power of God, proving that He was the Son of God, and 40 days later He ascended to heaven and sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven, in victory. He finished it all and sat down. Folks, a person sits down when the task assigned to him has been completed. That’s why Jesus said “It is finished”.

What God has done for us is beyond comprehension. Before I close, let’s not forget that He sent His Son so that each one of us could spend eternity in heaven with Him. If you don’t know Him, if you are not saved, if you are not born again, please call upon Him today and say “Lord, I know that I’m a sinner. I don’t want to pay the price of eternal separation from you - eternal death – because of my sins. Please pay the debt that I owe and cleanse me so I can spend eternity with you. Thank you, Lord Yeshua.”

And now, Folks, I want to go back to my friend Joel, who was depressed. Joel professed faith in Messiah but he never read the Bible and he never regularly attended any congregation. He said that God wanted him to be depressed. Folks, I believe that what God wanted was for Joel to ask Him for help. I don’t know if Joel ever did that. I believe that had Joel sincerely called upon the Lord, He would have helped him abundantly. Joel could have come before the throne of grace. Please listen to this verse:

Hebrews 4:16 NKJV

16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

My friends, until the next time, this is Art Wolinsky. God bless you.

Introduction

Hebrews is an amazing book. It is a book of contrasts. It contrasts the Old Covenant given through Moses with the New Covenant first prophesied through Jeremiah in the Hebrew Scriptures and later inaugurated by Yeshua at the last supper, a Passover seder, and at the cross. It was written to Jewish people not long before the second Jewish Temple was destroyed by Rome in 70 AD. Some scholars believe that it was addressed to Jewish believers only, to Jews who were born again but weak in their faith. For several reasons, which I hope to cover with you as we go through this book, I do not believe that. I believe the epistle was indeed written to born again Jews who were weak in their faith, but also to Jews who might be interested in Yeshua but had not made a profession of faith in Him. And I also believe that the author certainly hoped that the epistle would be read or explained to Jews who had no apparent interest in following Jesus; this latter group may have included people who practiced traditional Judaism - the Temple was still standing when Hebrews was written - some who were serious about their religious practice and some who may have gone along with the practice of the Jewish religion because of pressure from their peers. And this book has great application for all of us today, both Jew and Gentile.

Let’s begin today by reading and then discussing the first verse of the epistle. All Scriptures in this series will be from the NIV unless otherwise stated.

Hebrews 1:1 “1 In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways,”

God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways. What does that mean? There were 16 writing prophets, men sent by God to proclaim His word and to make a written record of what they said. These written records survive today as the prophetic books of the Tanach or Old Testament. One of those prophets was not sent to the Jewish people although they must surely have known of his message. That was the prophet Jonah who was sent to proclaim the need for the people of Nineveh in Assyria to repent of their sins and indeed they did so and God did not bring disaster upon them.

So, many prophets were sent over a great many years - hence, “at many times”; the Analytical Lexicon of the New Testament gives a translation for this as bit by bit. That makes sense to me. We have a very patient God. He doesn’t give us His truth all at once because He knows that we couldn’t handle it. Bit by bit might be a good thing for us to keep in mind as we share God’s truth with people. We want to be careful not to feed a person who only has the ability to consume one piece of bread with a 7 course meal. We need to take our Heavenly Father’s example and His truth bit by bit, at least in the beginning.

And the message was also given in various ways. What does that mean? The great law giver, Moses, considered by many Jewish people to be the greatest prophet of all, and who wrote the Torah, the first 5 books of the Bible, wrote about the first Passover in ancient Egypt and the need for a blood sacrifice to preserve life. The shed blood came from lambs. Those things pointed to the first coming of our Messiah, the Lamb of God, and to the cross.

But Moses also wrote about something that came even earlier. That was the very first mention in the Bible of a deliverer, our Messiah, who would in the future crush the head of the serpent who at Satan’s direction deceived Eve and so led Adam and Eve to disobey God which caused something to happen that we call The Fall. God intended for us to live forever but because of the disobedience of our first parents all of us are born spiritually dead and have limited physical life spans. Let’s read about this:

Genesis 3:14–15 NKJV So the Lord God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life. And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”

The Seed that the LORD is talking about here, her Seed - the Seed of the woman - is the deliverer, the Messiah, whom we now know is the Lord Jesus. This is the first time in the Bible that a Deliverer is mentioned. This is the first foreshadowing of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus.

The LORD speaking through Moses again said something of a profoundly prophetic nature in Deuteronomy:

Deuteronomy 18:18–19 “I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him. I myself will call to account anyone who does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name.”

These verses speak of a future deliverer who like you, meaning like Moses would deliver His people from slavery and death but the deliverance of the future deliverer would be permanent. This was a prophecy about Jesus, Yeshua, and of His earthly ministry.

Another prophecy of a future deliverer is in Psalm 2 where the LORD talks about His Son:

Psalm 2:7–8 “I will proclaim the Lord’s decree: He said to me, “You are my son; today I have become your father. Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.”

And the Lord gives us a further hint of His coming Son in the book of Proverbs:

Proverbs 30:4 “Who has gone up to heaven and come down? Whose hands have gathered up the wind? Who has wrapped up the waters in a cloak? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is the name of his son? Surely you know!”

Folks, God the Father has a Son and He has told us about Him in the Old Testament.

And then we have a prophecy given to King David from the prophet Nathan who was not one of the 16 writing prophets, but was a prophet nonetheless. Listen to the Lord speaking through Nathan to David:

1 Chronicles 17:11–12 “When your days are over and you go to be with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever.”

The Lord is here speaking of the throne of the Messiah Who will be King of Israel and Whose throne will be established forever. That will begin when this present age is over and Messiah, the Lord Jesus, will reign for a thousand years from Jerusalem. That time will follow the rapture and the 7 year tribulation. That time is drawing nearer every day. Maranatha! Come quickly Lord Jesus!

Then there was Isaiah who told of the Messiah who would come by virgin birth and who would be God Himself and God with us:

Isaiah 7:14 NIV Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.

Immanuel means God with us and that’s exactly who Yeshua was when He walked among us 2,000 years ago. Folks that prophecy was fulfilled about 700 years later when He was born in Bethlehem. And Isaiah also prophesied this:

Isaiah 9:6 “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

This prophecy has only been partially fulfilled as of the date of this message - November 2025 - but rest assured that it will be completely fulfilled soon when Messiah Yeshua returns to rescue Israel, to judge the world, and to set up His 1,000 year reign.

Later in his book, Isaiah prophesies about a person who would come, a Servant, who would suffer and die for our sins. This was indeed a prophecy about the Lord Jesus. He comes first as a suffering servant and only later as King and ruler, at His second coming, which we expectantly wait for now. Those of you who attend a traditional Jewish synagogue might wonder why this Suffering Servant of Isaiah, chapter 53, is not mentioned or taught about. This portion of Scripture is not included in the weekly Haftorah readings in the synagogue. This prophecy is so clearly about Jesus the Messiah that it is abhorrent to many Jewish leaders especially the Rabbis. That is why it is not taught.

And then the LORD sent Jeremiah the prophet through whom the LORD promised a new covenant:

Jeremiah 31:31–34 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord. 33 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.””

What a wonderful promise from the LORD through Jeremiah. That New Covenant was inaugurated at Jesus’ death and it will be completely fulfilled after all Israel is saved at the end of the 7 year Tribulation.

Romans 11:26–27 “and in this way all Israel will be saved. As it is written: “The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.””

And there are many more examples that I could give you but I don’t want to tire you out.

We will be talking about the New Covenant in this series because it is re-stated in the letter to the Hebrews. The prophecy of the New Covenant was made a reality when Jesus the Son of God gave His life and shed his blood for us on the cross.

So we begin the New Testament book of Hebrews. It is an exciting book and one that is full of contrasts. It is also a book that cannot be understood without a knowledge of the Old Testament and that is why we’ve been talking so much about these Old testament prophecies today. Yes, “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways,”

My friends, none of these prophecies and the sequencing of these prophecies could be done by man. It’s not a possibility. Just as the set time for God to send His son to earth, there was a set time, a time set by God, for each of the prophecies that we’ve discussed in this message to happen. Galatians 4:4 talks about the set time. I’d like to read it to you:

Galatians 4:4 “But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,”

Next time we will see what God has done and is doing in these last days. We’ll look further into the book of Hebrews:

Hebrews 1:1–2 “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.”

Folks, for those of you who do not know Jesus and have not accepted Yeshua as your personal Lord and Savior, especially my Jewish brothers and sisters but also my Gentile brothers and sisters who are likewise special, I beg of you: please call upon His name and ask Him to save you today. Please don’t wait! You could die today and be separated from God for eternity. You don’t want that.

Until the next time, my friends. God bless you.

Hi Folks,

I’ve said that I would say no more about imminence but I have to say a little more. Did you know that Charles Spurgeon, J. C. Ryle, and George Mueller, believed in imminence? I’m not saying that they believed that the Rapture was imminent, although I think that they may indeed have believed that (The Second Coming of Christ: Encouragement to Watch and Be Ready for Our Lord’s Return [Updated and Annotated] by Dwight L. Moody , Harriet B. Stowe, et al.) These were men, and one woman, who took the Scriptures literally, including prophecy. They absolutely believed that the Second Coming was imminent and they based this belief on verses like these:

Matthew 24:27 NKJV

For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.

Matthew 24:36 NKJV

“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.

Matthew 24:42,44,50 NKJV

[42] Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.

[44] Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

[50] the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of,

Matthew 25:6,13 NKJV

[6] “And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’

[13] “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.

Now, it certainly seems to me that the Rapture is not mentioned in the synoptic gospels. But imminence certainly is mentioned. What should we make of that?

These saints - Spurgeon, Ryle, Mueller, and others too - didn’t say be ready for the coming of the Lord at any time after the Tribulation. They just said be ready, the Lord could come at any time. That is imminence!

Now, exactly what does all this mean? I’m not certain. But I am certain of this: these saints believed that the Lord could return at any moment, although not necessarily soon, and they did not know when. That’s imminence. And they rejoiced in this. That has to mean something. These folks were looking for the blessed hope! Just read what they wrote. You can find it in the book that I just referenced.

So much for imminence. At least for now.

Now, does the Rapture happen before the Tribulation? Absolutely! Why? Here are a few reasons. It’s not an exhaustive list.

* The Rapture must occur in order for the Antichrist to be revealed.

* 2 Thessalonians 2:7–8 “7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. 8 Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming;”

* Therefore the Rapture must occur in order for the Tribulation to start.

* Therefore the Rapture must occur in order for the Time of Jacob’s Trouble to start, which is the second half of the Tribulation, called the great Tribulation by Yeshua. See Matthew 24:15 and 24:21.

* Therefore the Rapture must occur in order for the Jewish people, in their extreme desperation, to call for their Messiah and to mourn for Him as one mourns for an only Son (Zechariah 12:10).

* Therefore the Rapture must occur for the Lord Jesus to return a second time.

* Therefore the Rapture must occur for the Messianic Kingdom to be set up.

Also:

* The Rapture must occur before the Tribulation in order for the Apostle Paul to say, when describing the Rapture: Comfort one another with these words. If these believers were going to go through the Tribulation, Paul would not have said this.

* The Church is not mentioned in Revelation 6-18. Why? These chapters deal with the Tribulation. The Church is not in the Tribulation because it has been raptured to heaven.

I’ll leave it at that for now. The Rapture is important and it is pretribulational.

So, Folks, that’s it on the rapture for now. It’s been my pleasure and privilege to talk with you all about these things. Please, if you agree or disagree, or if any of this is new or useful to you, or if you think that it is woefully wrong, let me know by leaving a comment on Substack. Thank you, and God bless you all.

This is Art Wolinsky.

Hi Folks. Welcome to the podcast. Last time, I said we’d talk about the purposes of the Rapture on the next podcast and here we are, so let’s dive right in.

The Purposes of the Rapture, not necessarily in order of importance, are as follows:

1. The first purpose of the Rapture is to deliver believers - the Church - from the wrath to come, the 7 year Tribulation.

Which wrath? The 7 year Tribulation or the Lake of Fire? It has to be The Tribulation. Why? Because the Apostle Paul is talking to believers, the Church at Thessalonica. Let’s read the relevant verse:

1 Thessalonians 1:10 (NKJV) and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.

So he can’t be talking about the Lake of Fire. No, he is explaining one of the purposes of the Rapture to these believers. They will be saved from the wrath to come. His message is not an evangelistic one. It is a teaching. This delivering from the wrath to come is first in the sequence of purposes. It shows us today that it is OK for us to tell unbelievers that they can be delivered from the wrath to come, meaning The Tribulation, if they believe in the finished work of Yeshua on the cross.

2. The second purpose of the Rapture is to reveal the Antichrist.

2 Thessalonians 2:7-8 (NKJV) For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. [8] And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.

By means of the Rapture, the Holy Spirit in the Church - He who now restrains - is removed causing the Antichrist to be revealed. And then, the Antichrist will make a 7 year covenant with Israel and that commences The Tribulation (Daniel 9:27).

Daniel 9:27 (NKJV) Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; But in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, Even until the consummation, which is determined, Is poured out on the desolate.”

The following purposes of The Rapture are because of The Tribulation that results from the Rapture.

3. The third purpose of the Rapture is to reap a harvest of souls.

These are unsaved people who will enter the Kingdom of God but not as part of the Church (which has been raptured). Let’s read about three clear instances of this. There may be other instances during these 7 years but these are clear:

a. Revelation 7:4, 9-10 The 144,000 Jewish witnesses:

Revelation 7:4 (NKJV) And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed:

Revelation 7:9-10 (NKJV) After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, [10] and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

b. Revelation 11:3 The two Jewish witnesses in Jerusalem.

Revelation 11:3 (NKJV) And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.”

c. Revelation 14:6-7 (NKJV) The angel who witnesses to every people group.

Revelation 14:6-7 (NKJV) Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people— [7] saying with a loud voice, “Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.”

4. The fourth purpose of the Rapture is the final salvation of the Jewish nation by allowing the Antichrist to be revealed in his final form.

The Antichrist has already been revealed as the ultimate false Messiah - that was the first seal of Revelation 6:2, the rider on the white horse carrying a bow but no arrows - but at the midpoint of the Tribulation he is revealed as the man of lawlessness who sets himself up in the temple as god and that begins the last half of The Tribulation. The abomination of desolation occurs at this point. In this second half of the Tribulation, the Antichrist will attempt to kill every last Jewish person in the world. 2/3 of the Jewish people will die but 1/3 will survive and these will comprise the All Israel will be saved of Romans 11:26. These will enter the Millennial Kingdom to rule and reign with their Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ.

5. The fifth purpose of the Rapture is to allow the Second Coming of Christ followed by the setting up of His Millennial Kingdom.

Jesus will not return until the Tribulation is completed.

For a summary of some of this material and some additional background information, please see the brief slide presentation embedded in the written presentation on Substack. Click on it to download it. Please don’t miss that.

Application:

* If you are an unbeliever, whether you are a Jew or a Gentile, please take heed. You don’t want to enter the Tribulation. Don’t ever plan to keep on sinning now and then to enter The Tribulation and be saved. Bad idea! It may never happen.

* If you are a Church member and a believer (or not) you must stand with Israel. God expects it. The Jewish people are not perfect, far from it. But God loves them and expects you to do so too. Don’t miss this. Remember:

Genesis 12:2-3 (NKJV) I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. [3] I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Thanks for listening today, Folks. Next time we’ll wrap up our deep dive into the Rapture.

This is Art Wolinsky.

Slide Presentation:

Hi Folks. I said in the last podcast that I would talk more about the purposes of the Rapture. And I will, soon. But I want to put the question of imminence - defined in the last podcast - behind us. You must accept the Doctrine of Imminence. And, yes - it is a doctrine. Once you accept it, the mid-tribulation rapture, the pre-wrath rapture, and the post-tribulation rapture are simply out of the question. You can forget about them.

Some of you may recall that I did a detailed analysis of imminence in an earlier podcast:

In that podcast, I went into the relevant Greek words and even tenses to prove imminence. But I think that what I’ve pasted below, from John MacArthur, sums up imminence so clearly that nothing more is needed. Please read the Summary and put any doubts that you have about imminence to rest.

Soon, I’m going to make the case that the Pretribulation Rapture and the Seventieth Week of Daniel - the 7 Year Tribulation - are not optional doctrines for the born again believer. Why? Because they are both intimately related to God’s future plans for the Nation of Israel. And God’s plans for Israel are very important to Him. I believe that those who disdain these doctrines (the Pretribulation Rapture and the Tribulation) are going to be schooled about them at the judgement seat of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:10) and they are going to lose crowns. This includes my friends who believe in Covenant Theology.

Thank you for reading and listening, my friends.

From Grace to You, the ministry of John MacArthur:

https://www.gty.org/articles/A368/is-christs-return-imminent

Summary:

The New Testament is consistent in its anticipation that the return of Christ might occur at any moment. That pervading perspective of imminence prompts three questions. The first question pertains to whether the Tribulation will precede Christ’s coming for the church. The answer to that question is that it will not because the church is never asked to look forward to the tribulation, but they are asked to look forward to Christ’s coming. The second question revolves around how the return of Christ could have been imminent in the early church. The answer here is that no one but the Father knows when the coming will occur, so that Christians including the early church must always be ready. The third question asks why Christ’s imminent return is so important. This answer relates to the motivation it supplies for believers to purify their lives and thereby progress toward the goal of sanctification and Christlikeness. The threefold call of the imminence doctrine is to wake up and obey right now, to throw off the works of darkness, and to put on the garments of holy living.

Folks, Welcome to the podcast!

I’ve spoken about the Rapture before on this podcast. And yet many people that I talk with are still confused about it. I view that as my fault. I need to present the Rapture in a clearer way. So, here goes. All from the Scriptures.

First, is there such a thing as The Rapture? Most definitely.

From the three most basic passages:

ONE:

1 Thessalonians 4:14–18 NLT

For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him (from heaven) the believers who have died (Jesus will bring their souls). 15 We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died (their bodies) will rise from their graves. 17 Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. 18 So encourage each other with these words.

TWO:

1 Corinthians 15:51–53 NLT

But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! 52 It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. 53 For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.

THREE:

John 14:2–3 NLT

There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? 3 When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.

These three passages clearly fit together as a unit and they describe what will happen. Please just read them, if necessary several times, and take them literally. Then you will know what the Rapture is. It will be a glorious event! There is no judgment involved. That’s why the Apostle Paul says about this event: “Therefore comfort one another with these words”.

But how do we know when the Rapture will occur? I mean, will it be before the Tribulation, after the Tribulation, or part of the way through the Tribulation? It will be before the Tribulation. If it occurs after the Tribulation starts, requiring believers to go through even part of the 7 year Tribulation, the Apostle would not have told the Thessalonians to “comfort one another with these words”.

Another piece of knowledge that tells us that the Rapture will occur before the Tribulation is this: the Rapture is an imminent event. It has the characteristics of imminence. What does that mean? Imminence here has a very special meaning. It is not the definition that you’ll find in Webster’s Dictionary. This is a different kind of imminence. So, what defines this kind of imminence?

This kind of imminence has three characteristics. It describes an event that:

A. Can occur at any time.

B. Has no preconditions attached to it. Nothing has to happen first.

C. Is not necessarily going to happen soon.

It is like something that is hanging over our heads, that could fall upon us with no advance warning at any time, today or years from today. It is not a bad thing like a sword hanging over our heads. That would be a frightening thing. No, folks, the rapture is a good thing, a wonderful thing! I wish it would happen today!

So, because the Rapture is imminent it does not have to occur after the Tribulation or during the Tribulation. That’s how we can know that the Pre-wrath Rapture position, to cite one example, cannot be correct because part of the Tribulation must occur first.

Folks, how do we know that the Rapture has this special kind of imminence? I will explain that in a separate session in the near future.

I want to cover one other thing today, a critically important thing and that is this: What are God’s purposes for the Rapture? Why is Jesus going to come and Rapture us? God knows much better than I do since He is the One who has determined the purposes of the Rapture. However at the moment I can think of three reasons and I will list them now, not necessarily in order of importance. They are all related to the 7 year Tribulation which must follow the Rapture. Here are the three reasons:

1. To deliver the Church from the wrath to come. 1 Thessalonians 1:10 “and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.”

2. To save an incalculable number of Gentiles. This could not happen without the Tribulation and the Tribulation can’t happen without the Rapture. Revelation 14:6 “Then I saw another angel flying in midheaven, having an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who inhabit the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people.”

3. To save the Jewish Nation, Israel, by raising up the end times Antichrist, so that this can occur: Romans 11:25–26 LSB For I do not want you, brothers, to be uninformed of this mystery—so that you will not be wise in your own estimation—that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; 26 and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob.”

Art, are you crazy? God will raise up the Antichrist so that all Israel will be saved? Most definitely. I’ll explain next time.

So today we’ve talked about several things:

1. There most definitely will be a Rapture of the Church.

2. The Rapture is an imminent event and we defined imminence.

3. God will accomplish specific purposes through the Rapture.

Next time we will talk more about the purposes of the Rapture.

Thanks for listening!

This is Art Wolinsky.

As most of you know, I’m Jewish. And I don’t think that I’m better than anyone else. Perish the thought!

But what am I to think if the Nation that I’m a member of has been chosen by the LORD, the Master of the Universe, for a certain position and Christian believers keep denying the truth of that? What am I talking about? Let’s read a few passages of Scripture and I think it will become clear.

Deuteronomy 28:1 LSB

1 “Now it will be, if you diligently listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I am commanding you today, Yahweh your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.

Deuteronomy 15:6 LSB

6 “For Yahweh your God will bless you as He has promised you, and you will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow; and you will rule over many nations, but they will not rule over you.

Deuteronomy 28:13 LSB

13 “And Yahweh will make you the head and not the tail, and you only will be above, and you will not be underneath, if you listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God, which I am commanding you today, to keep and to do,

So, the position is this: the Jewish people, who make up the Nation of Israel, is one day going to be the head of all the nations on earth if they obey all the commandments of God. What? What did you just say, Art? Are you crazy? The Jewish people don’t obey God’s commandments.

Now as I’ve said numerous times in the annals of this podcast the Jewish people, myself most certainly included, have not obeyed the commandments of the LORD. But there is going to come a time when the Jewish people will obey all the commandments.

And the LORD also said this to the Jewish people:

Deuteronomy 30:2–3 NIV

2 and when you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, 3 then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you.

But, as I said to you recently folks, “Many people say the Jewish people are still disobedient today. Most of them do not follow God’s Laws, many are atheists, and as a Nation they continue to reject their Messiah. And they are still being punished. Look at what happened on October 7, 2023!

Yes, all true. So how is God going to regather His people if they continue in disobedience? Here’s how:

Deuteronomy 30:6–8 LSB

6 “Moreover Yahweh your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your seed, to love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live. 7 “And Yahweh your God will inflict all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate you, who persecuted you. 8 “And you shall return and listen to the voice of Yahweh, and you shall do all His commandments which I am commanding you today.

Yes, folks, as I’ve said before, God will supernaturally effect a change in the heart of every Jewish person and they, the whole nation, will obey God’s Laws. After that, all God’s promises to the Jews will be fulfilled, in the Millennial Kingdom, after the Messiah returns.”

AND let’s read this passage. I’ve read it to you before.

Jeremiah 31:31–34 LSB

31 “Behold, days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “when I will cut a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant which I cut with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, but I was a husband to them,” declares Yahweh. 33 “But this is the covenant which I will cut with the house of Israel after those days,” declares Yahweh: “I will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 “And they will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know Yahweh,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares Yahweh, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

Folks I think that these Bible passages which I read today prove beyond any shadow of a doubt that Israel, the Jewish Nation, is going to be the head of all nations one day. When will that be, you ask? It will be when Messiah returns, at the end of the seven year Tribulation. At that time He will rule from Jerusalem as King of the whole earth. And the Jewish people, all those who have accepted Him, will be with Him. And with Him will also be many Gentile believers.

So what about those people who say, and I’m talking about Christians now, “We don’t believe in replacement theology. Definitely not. But Israel the head of all nations? No way. I don’t believe that”. That’s replacement theology folks.

Folks, I think that Christians who say that - and there are many church leaders who do - are deceiving themselves. And we are seeing this more and more these days. These people do believe in replacement theology. Please don’t let them deceive you. Tell them what the Bible says. Please!

Thanks for listening Folks.

This is Art Wolinsky, signing off.

Hi Folks,

This is Art Wolinsky. I hope you’re all doing well today and thanks for tuning in.

We’re going to finish our discussion of Covenant Theology today. We’ll come back to it again if necessary in the future. But I want to let you all know that next time we’ll talk about something different and perhaps more basic. But no less profound.

Last time we talked about how Covenant Theology tore the heart out of the Abrahamic Covenant and its major unconditional promises to the Jewish people by allowing the substitution of the words your descendants with the words the Church, thus disinheriting the Jewish people and setting the stage for replacement theology and antisemitism to occur. A very clever strategy of Satan. Of course, God knows what He promised and He will have the final word. His plans and promises will never be frustrated. But regarding the Abrahamic Covenant, there’s one more thing that I’d like to address. It’s a tactic used by some Covenant Theologians. I’m going to read a New Testament verse, which has relevance here:

Romans 4:13 NIV

It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.

Now some folks who believe in Covenant Theology and Replacement Theology try to twist this verse to make it say that the Land that Abraham will inherit is not the Land of Israel but rather is the whole world. But, they say, since there is just one people of God and Abraham and his descendants are the Church, it is the Church that will literally inherit the whole world. Folks, we need to understand what this verse, Romans 4:13, actually means in order to know if what the replacement/covenant theology people are teaching has any basis in fact.

Many people correctly believe that if the plain sense of Scripture makes common sense, seek no other sense. I certainly believe that. So, does the plain sense of Romans 4:13 make common sense? I don’t think so. Does that mean that the Bible is wrong? No. But it may mean that this verse has not been translated correctly. What then was God saying to us here through the Apostle Paul? What does the verse mean? I think it means this:

Abraham’s heirs are the world, meaning all people, that is all people who have faith, i.e., faith in the Messiah (Christ).

But how could this verse mean what you are saying, Art? Bear with me for a moment and I believe that you will see how. Grammatically speaking, the issue has to do with something called a possessive case, also known as a genitive case or in this instance something the scholars call a subjective genitive case. Possessive cases can sometimes be confusing. How so? Let me try to show you. Please pay close attention:

Romans 8:35 says this: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” It really means this: “Who shall separate us from Christ’s love for us?”

Now with regard to our verse in question:

Abraham’s heir is the world. But the world doesn’t have an heir. World is a figure of speech here in that it represents all the people in the world. And in the context of this verse it means all the people in the world who have faith, namely faith in Jesus Christ, the Jewish Messiah. And that fits perfectly with this passage:

Romans 4:11–12 NIV

11 And he (Abraham) received circumcision as a sign, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. 12 And he is then also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

The bottom line is this: All people who follow and trust the Messiah, those who have faith in Him, are spiritual children of Abraham. Romans 4:13 has nothing to do with land.

So I believe Romans 4:13 should read like this:

“It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be the spiritual father of all people who have faith in the Jewish Messiah, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.”

Folks, let’s look at one other passage today that is often twisted by those who do not subscribe to Israel’s elect status and who teach that when a Jew believes in Yeshua, he is no longer a Jew:

Galatians 3:28–29 NIV

There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

It’s important to note that this passage is not referring to physical or material things. How could it be? Is there no male and female today? Is your wife a man? My wife isn’t a man. And there are definitely Jews and Gentiles today, too. And sad as it is, there are slaves and free people today. Folks, this passage is referring to spiritual things. When Jews and Gentiles and men and women and slaves and free people are saved they are all saved in the same way - through faith, by the blood of Jesus the Messiah. And they are then spiritually the same. But Covenant Theology which teaches that there is and always has been only one people of God removes all distinctions thereby eliminating the Jewish people as a people along with certain distinct promises made to them by God. And Covenant Theologians use this passage to bolster this false teaching. So Folks, when a Jewish person believes in Yeshua, he or she does not cease to be Jewish.

Let’s sum up what we’ve learned today:

* Abraham is the spiritual father of all true believers in Yeshua. Abraham is not the heir of the world. The world doesn’t have an heir.

* There are indeed still men and women, slaves and free people, and Jews and Gentiles in the world. But in Christ Jesus, all people are spiritually the same. No argument there.

Folks, I hope this has been helpful to you today. See you next time. Until then, this is Art Wolinsky. Thanks for listening.

How many of you have heard that God has promised the Jewish people a Land, the Land of Israel, in perpetuity? We talked about this last time but a brief review might be helpful. It’s in the Bible, in a covenant that God made with Abraham when he was still Abram:

Genesis 15:18–21 NIV

18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates—19 the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.”

Folks, this Land is not just a piece of real estate. It is part and parcel of a series of promises that God made to the Jewish people thousands of years ago. The fulfillment of these promises has not been completed yet. The final completion is yet future. But how is it that through a theological sleight of hand some Christians have tried to subvert or nullify these promises? It has happened through something called Covenant Theology. Covenant Theology is not Biblical. That does not mean that every Covenant Theologian who has ever lived was or is an antisemite; far from it. But Covenant Theology, because it is not Biblical, lays the groundwork for false teachings about the Jewish people and consequently for antisemitism and replacement theology and we are seeing this use of Covenant Theology more and more.

What is Covenant Theology? It began after the Reformation, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It is a teaching that says that the entire Bible, from right after The Fall of Man, comes under one Covenant, the Covenant of Grace. This Covenant of Grace, which is nowhere explicitly mentioned or taught in the Bible, subsumes or overarches all other Biblical Covenants that follow the Fall of Man. These are clearly mentioned in the Bible and include four unconditional covenants (the Abrahamic Covenant, the Promised Land Covenant, the Davidic Covenant, and the New Covenant) and one conditional covenant (the Mosaic Covenant). If you try to find a clear and easy to understand definition of the Covenant of Grace in the writings of Covenant Theologians I believe you will have great difficulty in doing so. That is because there is no Covenant of Grace in the Bible. The grace of God is in the Bible in abundance in both the Old and New Testaments but there is no Covenant of Grace. But because Covenant Theology is not Biblical, certain false doctrines based on Covenant Theology have come into being over the centuries. Let me give you one major example today. We’ll start by looking at some New Testament Scriptures that talk about Abraham.

Romans 4:11–12 NIV

11 And he received circumcision as a sign, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. 12 And he is then also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

And:

Galatians 3:7 NIV

7 Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham.

These New Testament verses are telling us that Abraham is the father of all who believe in Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus) whether they are circumcised or uncircumcised (in other words all those who are born again, whether Jew or Gentile). The Gentile believers are obviously spiritual and not physical children of Abraham.

Because Covenant Theology teaches that there is one Covenant of Grace that runs from Genesis 3:15 to the end of Revelation 22, that allows Covenant Theologians to use Romans 4:11-12 to over-ride Genesis 15:18 and to make it read like this:

Genesis 15:18 “18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants the Church I give this land, from the Wadi of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates—”

That is what I would call theological slight of hand and I don’t think the motivation for that is good. I believe that it comes straight from the Father of Lies, the Devil.

Remember folks, the Bible does not contradict itself. If God made an unconditional covenant with Abraham, He is not going to nullify that later. In fact, listen to what the Apostle Paul says:

Galatians 3:17 NIV

17 What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise.

In other words the Mosaic Covenant does not make void the Abrahamic Covenant, nor does the Covenant of Grace because the Covenant of Grace does not exist. And Covenant Theology is bogus.

Next time we’ll talk about other distortions of the Scriptures that some Covenant Theologians attempt to create in an attempt to nullify God’s promises to Israel.

Thanks for listening folks.

This is Art Wolinsky.

Hi Folks,

What does one do when he finds himself at a church that seems just a bit peculiar? It’s almost as if there is a paradox. It is a very uplifting place. The people are loving and friendly. The Lead Pastor frequently says to the congregation: I love you. I believe he means it. The preaching is unusually solid and Bible based and the application of the Bible based truths that are taught each week are appropriate and strong. And there are a multitude of spiritual activities that an attender can choose to be involved in. It is a great church!

But something is missing. Unfulfilled prophecy, eschatology (the end times), and the modern Nation of Israel are never mentioned or talked about even though much of the Bible is about these things. And looking back over past messages on podcasts, even on the day after the massacre in Israel (October 7, 2023), the worst day of slaughter for the Jewish people since Hitler’s Holocaust, not one word of any kind was said about it from the pulpit by the Lead Pastor that Sunday morning. A few weeks ago I asked one of the two associate pastors if the church leadership believed in replacement theology. I received a prompt, courteous, and truthful answer: “We believe in Covenant Theology”. That raised a red flag for me since I understand Covenant Theology to be intimately connected with replacement theology. So, what does a believer do in a situation like this?

What is Replacement Theology? It is a teaching which deprives the Nation of Israel and the Jewish people of the specific elect status which God gave to them in the Bible. People who believe in Replacement Theology are sometimes confused about certain things. Let me list some of them, with my answers in upper case, in an attempt to clear things up:

Are the Jews still God’s Chosen People? YES.

Are the Chosen people all saved and are they all going to spend eternity in heaven? NO. Only the elect, those with circumcised hearts, will spend eternity in heaven with God.

Do Jewish people have a way of salvation that is different than the way of salvation for Gentiles? NO. There is only one way of salvation for all people: through faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ, the Messiah, on the cross.

Is the gospel still to the Jew first, (Romans 1:16). YES. Is “Salvation is of the Jews” (John 4:22) still true? YES. The Jews are no better than anyone else but God chose them for a specific purpose. The husband is no better than the wife but God chose him and not the wife as head of the family (Ephesians 5:23). It was and is like that with the Jews, the elect Jews. God has a certain order of things and He hasn’t changed that. Thousands of years ago God said this to the Jewish people through Moses: Deuteronomy 28:13 “The Lord will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom.”

Did God make specific promises to the Jewish people as a Nation? YES. He did this in part through specific covenants, unconditional covenants, that He made with them. We’ll look at the Abrahamic Covenant as the first example of this. Covenant Theology attempts to nullify or change the promises made to the Jewish Nation through these covenants.

Do saved Gentile people, including those in the Church, participate in the promises that come through these covenants? YES! But they do not participate in promises made specifically to the physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. One of those promises is the Land of Israel.

The Abrahamic Covenant

Do you remember when God made certain promises to Abraham in the Torah? In fact He made these promises to Abram even before his name was changed to Abraham. Let’s look at some of these.

Genesis 15:17-21 NLT

After the sun went down and darkness fell, Abram saw a smoking firepot and a flaming torch pass between the halves of the carcasses. [18] So the LORD made a covenant with Abram that day and said, “I have given this land to your descendants, all the way from the border of Egypt to the great Euphrates River - [19] the land now occupied by the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, [20] Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, [21] Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.”

The smoking firepot and flaming torch, representing God, passed between the divided animal pieces alone indicating that God cut this covenant with Abraham unilaterally. It was an unconditional covenant. It was a covenant made with Abraham and his physical descendants, the Jewish people. The Land promised to Abraham was much larger than the Land of Israel is today.

Then God promised certain other things to Abraham after he offered up his one and only child of promise, his son Isaac, on the altar after God had commanded Abraham to do so. It was a test of Abraham’s faith. God interrupted the sacrifice and said this to Abraham:

Genesis 22:16-18 NLT

“This is what the LORD says: Because you have obeyed me and have not withheld even your son, your only son, I swear by my own name that [17] I will certainly bless you. I will multiply your descendants beyond number, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will conquer the cities of their enemies. [18] And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed-all because you have obeyed me.”

Well folks, all the nations of the earth have been blessed through Abraham’s descendants. Most important of all, the Messiah is a descendant of Abraham. The Jewish people were and are descendants of Abraham and they have been a great blessing to the world.

But along the way, the Jewish people were seriously disobedient, breaking the Law in many ways, worshipping idols, and offering up their own children as sacrifices. And when their Messiah came, they rejected Him. There would be severe punishment for doing these things. The Jewish people were cast out of their Land twice and after two thousand years they still have not fully returned.

And yet because of the unconditional covenant that God made with Abraham earlier, God renewed His covenant with the Jewish people and added to it shortly before they entered the Promised Land. This additional covenant, another unconditional covenant, is probably best called the Promised Land Covenant (a name given to it by Matthew Ervin). Let’s read it:

Deuteronomy 29:1,12-15 NLT

These are the terms of the covenant the LORD commanded Moses to make with the Israelites while they were in the land of Moab, in addition to the covenant he had made with them at Mount Sinai. [12] You are standing here today to enter into the covenant of the LORD your God. The LORD is making this covenant, including the curses. [13] By entering into the covenant today, he will establish you as his people and confirm that he is your God, just as he promised you and as he swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. [14] “But you are not the only ones with whom I am making this covenant with its curses. [15] I am making this covenant both with you who stand here today in the presence of the LORD our God, and also with the future generations who are not standing here today.

And He also said this to them:

Deuteronomy 30:2–3 NIV

2 and when you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, 3 then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you.

But many people say the Jewish people are still disobedient today. Most of them do not follow God’s Laws, many are atheists, and as a Nation they continue to reject their Messiah. And they are still being punished. Look at what happened on October 7, 2023!

Yes, all true. So how is God going to regather His people if they continue in disobedience? Here’s how. The Promised Land Covenant continues:

Deuteronomy 30:6-8 NLT

“The LORD your God will change your heart and the hearts of all your descendants, so that you will love him with all your heart and soul and so you may live! [7] The LORD your God will inflict all these curses (the curses of Deuteronomy 28) on your enemies and on those who hate and persecute you. [8] Then you will again obey the LORD and keep all his commands that I am giving you today.

Yes, folks, God will supernaturally effect a change in the heart of every Jewish person and they, the whole nation, will obey God’s Laws. After that, all God’s promises to the Jews will be fulfilled, in the Millennial Kingdom, after the Messiah returns. That is yet future. At that time, these things will occur:

Isaiah 2:2–3 KJV 1900

2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, That the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, And shall be exalted above the hills; And all nations shall flow unto it. 3 And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, To the house of the God of Jacob; And he will teach us of his ways, And we will walk in his paths: For out of Zion shall go forth the law, And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

Folks, the God of Jacob is the God of Israel.

And here is one more passage:

Zechariah 8:23 NIV

23 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “In those days ten people from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the hem of his robe and say, ‘Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you.’ ”

Folks, these are just two of many examples in the Bible!

In the meantime the following verse regarding the Jewish people has not expired:

Genesis 12:3 NLT

3 I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.”

And God’s special love for the Jewish people will never pass away:

Isaiah 49:15–16 NIV

15 “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! 16 See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.

Now, what is the point of this message?

* There is a future for Israel and the Jewish people as a nation and a people. God has ordained this. The Bible attests to this.

* Covenant Theology is not Biblical and it evacuates the promises and prophecies regarding Israel that are in the Bible.

* Covenant Theology therefore delegitimizes Israel and its right to the Land and its right to exist. Covenant Theology therefore promotes replacement theology and antisemitism even though individual covenant theologians may not be antisemitic.

So, what should church leaders do? Those church leaders who subscribe to Covenant Theology should understand its negative aspects and reverse their position on Israel and the Jewish people. This is not a political issue. Leaders must take a stand.

Next time we’ll talk about what Covenant Theology is and how it delegitimizes Israel.

Thanks for listening!

This is Art Wolinsky.