King's Business - 1935-02

46

T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S

February, 1935

The GOSPEL

for ISRAEL

By DAV ID L. COOPER Los Angeles, California

T h e Lord is a God of order and system. Before the foundation o f the world, God had His plan for all eternity. During this period which we designate as “ time,” He has revealed some aspects o f His “ eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Eph. 3 :11). Though He has not disclosed all o f the various phases of this sublime plan which He at the present is unfolding, nevertheless He has shown us certain elements of it. I s r a e l t h e D iv in e C h a n n e l of W orld B l e ss in g In Genesis 12 :l-3 appears the record o f the sevenfold covenant into which God entered with Abraham. A casual study o f this passage immediately reveals the fact that the Lord has not fulfilled any o f the items o f this covenant in the manner and to the degree contemplated in the prom­ ise. Since, however, the Lord is faithful, we may be certain that He will redeem every promise that He has made and will fulfill each one to the very letter. The last item of this sevenfold covenant is couched in the following language: “ And in thee shall all the families o f the earth be blessed.”! These words are freighted with meaning. They constitute the germinal thought o f all bless­ ings, not only for Israel but for all nations. This fact be­ comes more apparent as one traces the development o f this promise upon its being renewed to Isaac and reaffirmed to Jacob. Especially does it begin to unfold itself, like the flower in the warm sunshine, as we see in the promises which the Lord made to Abraham after he attempted to offer Isaac, his son, upon the altar (cf. Gen. 22:16-18). From these and related passages it is evident that the prom­ ise o f blessing the world through Abraham is to be accom­ plished through the seed o f Abraham. From the verses just cited in Genesis 22, it is evident that “ the seed” has a two­ fold signification: first, it refers to the literal seed o f Abra­ Biblical Research Society, of, which David L. Cooper is the founder and President, has as its purpose the evangelisation o f the Jews through the medium o f the printed page. Remarkable blessing has attended this work. With its home office at 4417 Bernice Street, Los Angeles, the society cooperates with sixteen Jewish missions at home and abroad and desires to assist all faithjC? ful evangelical agencies that are attempting to reach Jewry?/ TaZT date, the society has published over 355,500 books written By Dr.fi/ Cooper and designed to appeal to the educated class o f Jewish readers. Already there have been 314,300 copies placed in the hands o f Jews. Some o f these books have appeared in a number o f languages :• English, Hebrew, Yiddish, Arabic, German, Span­ ish, Judeo-Spanisk, and Greek. The titles o f Dr. Cooper's works are: (1) The God o f Israel, (2 ) Messiah: His Nature and Per­ son, (3 ) Messiah: His Redemptive Career. These three have already appeared. A fourth volume will soon be ready for pub­ lication : Messiah: His First Coming Scheduled. This will be fol­ lowed by a fifth book: Messiah: His Historical Appearance.

ham; second, to the seed par excellence — namely, King Messiah. In the light o f these facts, we may be certain that it is the plan of God to bless all families o f the earth both in and through the Messiah and also Abraham’s literal seed, the Jews. That this interpretation is correct may be confirmed by Psalm 67. Study o f this passage reveals the fact that this hymn is one which gives us an insight into the Great Tribu­ lation which immediately precedes the establishment o f the kingdom o f God upon the earth. In the first two verses, we read the petition which the faithful remnant o f Israel at that time will utter as they plead with God for deliverance. W e see that they will implore God to be merciful to them and to spare them in order that His way might become known upon earth and His salvation among all nations. Since this poem was inspired by the infallible Spirit of God, we see clearly the plan of God for blessing the world. At the time foreseen in this psalm, the eyes o f the faithful remnant o f Israel will have been opened; they will realize the plan o f God for blessing the world, and will see that they are the chosen vessels to bear His name before all nations. The position is confirmed by Psalm 118:17. When this passage is studied in the entire connection, it will be seen that the faithful remnant o f Israel toward the close of the Great Tribulation will have learned that Israel’s divine mission is to “ declare the works o f Jehovah” to the world. As t h e C h a n n e l i n t h e E a r l y C h r is t ia n E ra When one has seen in the Old Testament the plan of God to bless the world through the seed o f Abraham, he has a right to expect that such should be the case when he turns to the New Testament. What do we find there? A c­ cording to the great commission, as is recorded in Matthew 2 8 :19, 20, our Lord instructed His disciples to preach the gospel to all nations. A t the last meeting, when He as­ cended to heaven (Acts 1 :6-l 1 ), the Lord Jesus Christ out­ lined the program o f world evangelization: They were to be His witnesses and to preach the gospel first in Jerusa­ lem, next in Judea, then in Samaria, and finally to branch out to the ends o f the earth. A casual perusal o f the book lof Acts shows that this plan was carried out implicitly. It is true, however, that we do not have a complete account of the activity carried on by the disciples o f the Lord during the first generation o f the church’s existence, but we have sufficient data to justify our coming to the conclusion that the apostles carried out these instructions to the very letter. In the spring o f a . d . 58, the Apostle Paul wrote the letter to the Roman church. In Romans . 10:16-18 he de­ clared that the gospel had gone out to the ends o f the world. In setting forth this position he quoted from Psalm 19:4

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