1 Who hath believed our report and to whom is the arm of the
LORD revealed? 2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath
no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. (Isaiah 53)
It initially was the Jews who rejected God's prophets.
| י וַיֹּאמֶר קַנֹּא
קִנֵּאתִי לַיהוָה אֱלֹהֵי
צְבָאוֹת, כִּי-עָזְבוּ
בְרִיתְךָ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל--אֶת-מִזְבְּחֹתֶיךָ
הָרָסוּ, וְאֶת-נְבִיאֶיךָ
הָרְגוּ בֶחָרֶב; וָאִוָּתֵר
אֲנִי לְבַדִּי, וַיְבַקְשׁוּ
אֶת-נַפְשִׁי לְקַחְתָּהּ.
|
10 And he said: 'I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the children
of Israel have forsaken Thy covenant, thrown down Thine altars, and slain Thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only,
am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.' (1 Kings 19, Hebrew Bible) |
There are going to be many that reject the gospel of Jesus Christ, not just Jews.
I was in an evolution group where they actually believe we came from monkeys.
They want you to think that they are rejecting Christ for valid reasons but this
is essentially lack of faith (Who Hath Believed Our Report?)
When people resort to insults it is a sign to heed Christ who said:
"10 ... In what place soever ye enter
into an house, there abide till ye depart from that place. 11 And
whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony
against them. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha
in the day of judgment, than for that city." (Mark 6)
Though this specifically applied to the process of that time, the principle is still
true.
AND
"46 Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: "We had to speak the
word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to
the Gentiles. 47 For this is what the Lord has commanded us: "I have made you a light
for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.'' ....49 The word of the
Lord spread through the whole region. 50 But the Jews incited the God-fearing women of high standing and the leading
men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region. 51 So
they shook the dust from their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium. 52 And the disciples were
filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit." (Acts 13)
Paul went to the Jews first (Romans 1:16-18), they proved that they were and are just
as unbelieving and wicked as the rest, so the apostles and us turn to the Gentiles, which in the following chapter we see
are Jews or Gentiles, whoever would hear the word.
The rejection of the gospel by Jews proved that All are sinners and fall short of the
glory of God and that God concluded all in unbelief so that all would be given the opportunity. (Romans 3:23,24;
Romans 11:25-32)
Debate can be good, Paul did it (Acts 17) but debate doesn't convince those that
are blinded by their sin and that refuse to give up their initial assumptions.
Keith Green summed it up when he said, 'Do Your Best, Pray that its blessed, and let
Jesus take care of the rest.'
6 "Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to
pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces. (Matthew 7)
This is exactly what we are seeing amongst the unbelieving Jews.
During the time of Jesus' statement here they were going to jews, and to tell the disciples not
to throw their pearls to swine is the ultimate insult to the Jew.
Jews have some really dim views of pigs. (Leviticus 11:7; Deuteronomy 14:8)
25 I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery,
brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles
has come in. (Romans 11)
So if you are discouraged, take heart because Jesus and the apostles dealt with the
same problems.
BJ Maxwell 04/13/2006
