Uncovering the
Mystery of the Gospel - Part 3

The Mystery Revealed

When you take into account that the ‘left’ side of the Bible is pretty much devoted to Israel as a people, it would stand to reason that the right side would be as well.  Why then is it that theologians see and focus in on the vast number of prophecies that speak of Israel’s demise, but miss – or even ignore the prophecies of Israel’s return to God?  Could it be that they simply do not recognize references to those prophecies in the words of Yeshua, Paul, and the apostles?    Maybe so – but again, maybe not.

As for us, we can see those references, and because we can, we’re able to begin to unveil this mystery.  So let’s review the background that’s been laid in order to see what God is doing:

• God will sometimes conceal the understanding of His plans until things are in place for it to be revealed.
• To ‘solve’ a Biblical mystery requires wisdom, and wisdom comes from obeying God’s word.
• Paul began to reveal the understanding of the mystery to the messianic congregation in Rome that was composed of both Jews and non-Jewish Israelites.
• ‘Gentile Inclusion’ was not the mystery since God always provided a pathway by which a ‘gentile’ could become a part of the Hebrew people.
• Israel was given a responsibility that they have yet to fulfill
• A key to understanding the mystery is to understand that it is about the Kingdom of God.  The united kingdom of Israel and Judah under King David is the pattern for that kingdom.
• Israel only began to fulfill her purpose when she became one nation under the reigns of King David and King Solomon
• Israel has been a divided for the past 3000 years, and thus unable to fulfill her responsibility

That last point is the problem.  It is at the root of the mystery.  Though Judah today is scattered around the world, they are still a visible people – primarily because they have clung to the Sabbath and festivals.  Israel (the northern ten tribes) are scattered as well, but because they forsook the identifying mark of the covenant – the Sabbath and festivals – they lost their identity.  They are no longer distinguishable from the gentiles among whom they were scattered and have come to believe that they themselves are gentiles. And most importantly, they don’t recognized themselves as being – along with Brother Judah - the recipients of the promised punishment for disobedience, and the blessings associated with their return to God.1

So how can these two peoples – Israel and Judah – ever join back together as they were under King David?  The answer is simply this:  They can’t - unless the curse is removed.  And how can the curse be removed?  Well - THAT’S THE MYSTERY!  

After being taken captive by the Babylonians, Judah appears to have repented of their lawlessness and idolatry which brought upon them the curse defined in Leviticus 23 and Deuteronomy 28 2.  They were subsequently restored to The Land, though never with the glory they had before their captivity.  Israel, on the other hand - has yet to repent and is for the most part still scattered.  How then will they be able to return as Judah did?  The answer – as you might guess – is found in the words of the prophets, and is revealed through the words of Paul and the disciples.

The prophets speak of Israel’s downfall and subsequent salvation. Jeremiah 31 – the ‘New Covenant’ passage shows that God will ‘cut’ a new covenant with both Israel and Judah –

^NKJ Jeremiah 31:31   " Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make (cut) a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah …

This clearly implies that Israel and Judah will become a people again.  So sometime before that happens, Israel is going to have to be redeemed from the ‘curse of the law’ (the scattering) as was Judah. Isaiah speaks of that as well –

^NKJ  Isaiah 54:1 "Sing, O barren, You who have not borne! Break forth into singing, and cry aloud, You who have not labored with child! For more are the children of the desolate Than the children of the married woman," says the LORD. ² "Enlarge the place of your tent, And let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings; Do not spare; Lengthen your cords, And strengthen your stakes. ³ For you shall expand to the right and to the left, And your descendants will inherit the nations, And make the desolate cities inhabited. ⁴ "Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed; Neither be disgraced, for you will not be put to shame; For you will forget the shame of your youth, And will not remember the reproach of your widowhood anymore. ⁵ For your Maker is your husband, The LORD of hosts is His name; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He is called the God of the whole earth.

Yeshua is “the Holy One of Israel”, the redeemer of His people.  Paul made reference to that fact as he continued to explain to the Roman congregation what was happening in their midst -

^NKJ Romans 11:25-26  For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in3.  ²⁶ And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: "The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away unGodliness from Jacob;

The phrase “the Deliverer coming out of Zion” is a remez4 of Isaiah 59:26. As we’ve discussed before, a ‘remez’ is a Jewish teaching tool.  In Paul’s day, it was expected that a person knew the scriptures.  So if a rabbi wanted to interject into his lesson a certain point, he would often simply reference a scriptural passage with the expectation that his student would know the context of that passage.  In the case of Isaiah 59:26 you have to go back to Isaiah 58:1 to gain the context.  There we find that the message was directed to “the house of Jacob”.

History shows that Isaiah was only one of the many prophets that warned the northern tribes of Israel of their impending doom if they would not repent of their lawlessness and idolatry. In chapter 58, Isaiah showed that Israel was going through the “religious motions”, but their heart was not in it.  Therefore, their actions were meaningless.  But Isaiah also showed that if they would repent and return to God, they would be exalted as a people.

In chapter 59, Isaiah went on to show that because of their indifference to God, they would sink into a state of depravity to the point that those who would want to turn back to God would be hunted down like prey (vs. 15).  At that point, God would step in to help them by sending a Redeemer and teaching them His words and His way.

Continuing in chapter 60, Isaiah said that for those who turn to God, “your light has come”.  It’s important to remember that Isaiah’s message is for “the house of Jacob”, and to help clarify that, let’s take a look at verse 10 –

^NKJ Isaiah 60:10  " The sons of foreigners shall build up your walls, And their kings shall minister to you; For in My wrath I struck you, But in My favor I have had mercy on you …”

This is a reference to Hosea1:6  which says –

^NKJ Hosea 1:6-7   And she conceived again and bore a daughter. Then God said to him: "Call her name Lo-Ruhamah, For I will no longer have mercy on the house of Israel, But I will utterly take them away.  ⁷ Yet I will have mercy on the house of Judah …

But that passage is followed by 2:1 which shows that when Ephraim (the northern tribes) repents, God will extend mercy to her just as He had done earlier to Judah -

^NKJ Hosea 2:1 Say to your brethren, 'My people,' And to your sisters, 'Mercy is shown.'

The key verse is Isaiah 59:20 –

^NKJ Isaiah 59:20  " The Redeemer will come to Zion, And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob," Says the LORD.

By referencing this passage, Paul was showing that the coming of the Redeemer is the key to the ‘mystery’.  Why didn’t Isaiah say that “the Messiah” will come … or that “the Savior” will come?  It’s because God wanted to be very specific.  Though ‘Messiah’ means ‘king’, and ‘Savior’ means ‘deliverer’, a ‘redeemer’ buys you out of bondage.  A ‘redeemer’ pays your debt.  A ‘redeemer’ pays the price for your inappropriate actions. 

Going back to Romans 11:26 Paul was showing that blindness came upon Judah until Yeshua redeemed Israel from the curse.  He paid the penalty of her sins and thus release her from the curse – the scattering – that separated Israel and Judah. 

Yeshua came to this earth to be a redeemer5.  By His death,  He paid the penalty for the sins of  those of “the house of Jacob” who had seen the light and had repented of their sins.  By doing so, they could be redeemed from the ‘curse of the law’ - the scattering of Israel. He paid the price so that Israel could once again become part of the ‘commonwealth of Israel’.  And He did this so that they could begin to carry the banner of Messiah Yeshua to His people who had been scattered throughout the nations.

Paul could see it because as a student of Gamaliel6 – a noted rabbi – he was acutely versed in the Torah and the prophets.   Paul also had the scales of blindness removed from his eyes71 so that he could ‘connect the dots’ so to speak and see the role that Yeshua had played in bringing the prophecies of the return of Israel to fruition.

Thus Paul writes as he closes his letter to the Romans –

^ESV Romans 16:25-27  Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages  ²⁶ but has now been disclosed, and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith-  ²⁷ to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ!  Amen.

So the mystery which God had kept secret for long ages is now revealed through the words of Messiah - when put into the context of the prophets.  Now, passages such as -

^NKJ Matthew 10:5-7  "Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans.  ⁶ "But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.  ⁷ "And as you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.'

and –

^NKJ Matthew 15:24  " … I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."

begin to make a lot of sense!  Yeshua was sent to bring back His ‘lost sheep’8 - the northern Israelite tribes - in preparation for the Kingdom of God.  In other words, Yeshua was going to provide a way whereby they can return to God.  That way was going to be that HE would pay their penalty – thus removing the ‘curse of the law’ – the scattering that took place because of their sins.  Paul made this VERY CLEAR in his letter to the Galatians –

^NKJ Galatians 3:13-14   Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree"), ¹⁴ that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.9

Yeshua gave His life to pay the penalty for Israel’s sins so that they could receive the “blessing of Abraham”. By being released from the curse, they would no longer be considered ‘gentiles’ by their Jewish brothers and could now join back into the ‘commonwealth of Israel’ –

^NKJ Ephesians 2:11-13   Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh -- who are called Uncircumcision10 by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands --  ¹² that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.  ¹³ But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

With Israel now being able to join back into the covenant, the four aspects of the kingdom would be in place – 1) Yeshua the “Christ” (i.e. – anointed one) would be the King, 2) Israel would be His people, 3) the land of Israel would be the territory, and 4) the Torah would continue to be the law.  And with Israel once again a united kingdom, she will finally fulfill her purpose – to be a witness to the nations about the goodness and the glory of the God of Israel and His law.

 Conclusion

So – What is the Mystery of the Gospel? It is the story of Israel - that God can take a rebellious group of people, blind them to the point that they think they are ‘gentiles’, give them a hint of His plan of redemption, let them mix it with some of the pagan practices of the nations and spread their understanding of that plan throughout the world by scattering them to the four winds.

Those who call themselves ‘Christians’ have done precisely that.  In fact, for the past 2000 years, they are the only people who have risked their lives and fortunes to spread the words of “the book” to all nations and peoples. Though they have spread a somewhat tainted message of ‘salvation by faith in Messiah Yeshua’ that message has caused billions of people to begin to study “the Book” – the word of God that we call ‘the Bible’.  But there’s more -

When the time is right - when the “Lost Ten Tribes of Israel” have been sufficiently scattered, God will send fishermen for them and begin to draw them like fish to His way. He will reveal to them their true identity and open their eyes to see the truth. Christianity will begin to realize that they are not gentiles, but instead co- heirs11 with Judah to the promise of Abraham.

They will then just as eagerly spread the truth as they did the error, thus fulfilling the prophecies about them. The grand finale is when God gathers these repentant Israelites as well as their Jewish brothers, and make the two ”people of the Book” into one nation, one kingdom - but this time, a kingdom with a solid and unchanging King who will never die.  As a result, Israel will finally fulfill her calling – to become the witness of God’s greatness, mercy, and love and thus save the honor and the integrity of His holy name12.

According to Peter, this Mystery has been hidden through the ages.  –

^ESV 1 Peter 1:10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully …

But Yeshua revealed it to His disciples, and Paul made it clear to those who diligently search for the truth.

Unfortunately, even Paul did not have all the answers, for He thought that King Yeshua would return in his day and restore the Kingdom of Israel.  Little did he know that after his death, Judah would also be scattered and there would be nearly 2000 years of religious wars – oftentimes between Christians and Jews – that would cause God’s people to be scattered even further to the four winds. 

But here we are today, still trying to figure it out, and though we have a much deeper understanding than did the prophets of old, there is more to be revealed and still more to come.

This is the Mystery of the Gospel - the Mystery of the Kingdom of God. It all had to happen this way as Paul clearly stated when he said –

^ESV Romans 11:26   And in this way all Israel will be saved.

Shalom Aleichem