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Recall from our previous discussion, that God prizes faith above lineage. It is the heart that matters and it is the heart that will be transformed, even within the law and prophets:
“Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: Though I removed them far off among the nations, and though I scattered them among the countries, yet I have been a sanctuary to them for a while in the countries where they have gone.’ Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.’ And when they come there, they will remove from it all its detestable things and all its abominations. And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh,”
Ezekiel 11:16-19 ESV
“I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”
Ezekiel 36:25-26 ESV
God’s people are to be unified and brought near by one law, applicable to both native born and foreigner alike (Exod 12:48-49, 45:4-8, Lev 19:34, Num 15:13-16, 15:29, Deut 10:18-19, Is 56:8, Eph 2:18-19). God’s inheritance are His people, Jacob – Israel (Deut 32:9), and they are a distinct people who are not defined according to the fixed borders or places of worship that are on the earth (Deut 32:8-9, Joel 3:2, John 4:20-24). They are a Kingdom of priests, a holy nation set apart by God (Exod 19:5-6, 1 Pet 2:9), and a people defined by faith and promise, not by the flesh (Deut 10:16, Acts 10:34-36, Rom 2:25-29, 9:6-8).
From these passages we can gain an insight into God’s character, and it seems apparent that if God uses a lineage, it is His choice, but we are not to place our confidence in it. This is emphasized in the book of Matthew, where we read from John the Baptist that God can raise up sons of Abraham from the rocks if He needs them. He does not require lineage, it is merely a tool to further His purposes at certain times.
7 But when he [John the Baptist] saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. 10 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Matthew 3:7-10 ESV
To bear fruit, we must have a humble heart and place our faith in Christ and live as His example. Through Christ, God will show mercy again on those who received no mercy (the scattered), and call those who once were His people, His people no longer as they reject the Messiah (Hosea 1:4-11). Through rejection, the southern house will cease to yield fruit, and the axe will be laid to the root of the tree (Matt 3:10). Yet, we will see in the NT scriptures, that though the South reject Him, they will be made jealous of those who were once scattered and return, such that they too return to be called His people in New Jerusalem. This is the concept of staggered judgement. In Matthew 8, we see Christ use the example of the Centurion to demonstrate the elect being gathered from within the scattered gentile nations, who are welcomed to the table with Abraham, Issac, and Jacob. We also see that those genetic descendants of the southern tribe who reject Him (who become ‘Not My People’) are thrown into outer darkness.
“5 When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, 6 “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” 7 And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.” 8 But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant,[c] ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 10 When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel[d] have I found such faith. 11 I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven 12while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13 And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment.”
Matthew 8:5-13 ESV
In Matt 8:10, the verse reads in ESV, “Truly I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such a faith.” (Matt 8:10). The verse implies then that Christ is distinguishing the southern house as Israel and contrasting it with a gentile Centurion. But a better translation is in the KJV, “Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.” (Matt 8:10 KJV). This better captures the Greek meaning, for Christ is saying that among those whom He deems Israel at that time, this Centurion’s faith was the greatest. He is including gentile believers who were grafted into Israel in that comparison, He is not distinguishing the southern house as being solely God’s Israel. Again, we know that these gentiles represent the Lost Sheep of the House of Israel
Christ understood well that many in the House of Judah would reject Him, but Israel is larger than the southern house, it includes all tribes. In Matt 15, we see Him test a Canannite woman (gentile) to see if she belongs to the House of Israel, for that is whom the Centurion in Matt 8 likewise belongs. In their conversation, she proves herself, and He rewards her.
21 And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” 23 But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.” 24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25 But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” 26 And he answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” 27 She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” 28 Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly
Matthew 15:21-28 ESV
We know from Deut 10:12-19 that the heart is what matters. Those who keep the law without love for God in their hearts bear bad fruit, and the kingdom is taken away from them. These people of Judah are typified in the Jewish religious groups of Christ’s day (‘Not My People’ – Hos 1:4-11). God set Judah as a delightful plant in His vineyard (Amos 9:11, Is 11:8, 2 Ki 19:34) they were a tower/refuge placed within as faithful tenets. Recall from Isaiah 1:8-9, “8And the daughter of Zion [the southern tribe] is left like a booth in a vineyard, like a lodge in a cucumber field, like a besieged city. 9 If the Lord of hosts had not left us a few survivors [of the southern tribe], we should have been like Sodom, and become like Gomorrah.” (Is 1:8-9 ESV). The Lord wants to see what the remnant tenants have to show for their fruit, but they reject His prophets. The Lord of the vineyard then sends His Son, and the tenents kill him. Jesus asks them what the owner should do to the tenants, and the Pharisees say they should be killed. Jesus agrees, for their rejection, they will be ‘Not My People’ and He will give His Kingdom to the scattered (gentiles), who are other tenants of His vineyard.
““Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country. When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?””
“They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.” Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: “‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.” When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them.”
Matthew 21:33-45 ESV
Christ is both sanctuary and stumbling stone for the two houses of Israel.
13 But the Lord of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. 14 And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 15 And many shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.”
Isaiah 8:14-15 ESV
25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”
29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 And the next day he took out two denarii[c] and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”
Luke 10:25-37 ESV
Lest you stumble, understand that the Kingdom is about the heart, it is not about lineage. We see in John, that Jesus again speaks to a spiritual Israel guided by the heart, not born of lineage. This spiritual lineage is to be gathered and become one flock under one shepherd (one stick, the branch of Jesse – Hos 1:11, Hos 3:5, Amos 9:10, Is 9:7, Ez 37:2).
4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
John 3:4-6 ESV
Again, Christ came to save the lost sheep. He granted mercy to those who had no mercy. Those who had been given mercy (the south) will be ‘Not my people’ in their rejection of Him. But in the end, they too will be redeemed in staggered judgement, for there will be one head of both houses.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6 This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. 7 So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”
John 10:1-9,14-18 ESV
God’s people (Israel) are not defined by land or lineage, they are a people chosen by God according to their heart, in order that they may reflect His goodness. This understanding is not new either, for we see it proclaimed in Deuteronomy, “16 Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn.” (Deut 10:16 ESV). Again, this is not to say that land and lineage are completely unimportant, for God did choose to use them as an instrument for His glory, but it is to say that it must be understood that beneath it all, God’s people, Israel, are defined spiritually. God cherishes the heart.
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