Last night we talked about what it's going to be like when we've been 500 years in the new creation. And uh the perspective that that gives if you as God says if you give yourself to thinking setting your mind on the things above rather than the things that are taking place here and now how that changes things right. 500 years. How many lifetimes we'll have lived by then? How many planets and worlds we will have conquered together. The memories that we will have created. You know, I've lived with my life uh my wife now for 32 years, babe, right? Something like that. I I've I've I've lived longer I've lived longer with her than I have without her. And And uh it's kind of a weird when when you get to that point, it's kind of a a weird experience because when you when you think back on your life, like when I think back on when I was a a child, I know intellectually that she wasn't there, but I it's like she is there. Do you know what I'm talking about? Those of you who have been married long enough and and that's what it's going to be like in relation to this life. 500 years in that place. A hundred years in that place is going to feel like that's all we've ever known. Which means all we've ever known is a life without pain, a life without disappointment. This incredible world that God's going to give to us if we're faithful now, which means what this life that will just be kind of a an intellectual blip on the screen. I can't imagine by 500 years that we'll even be able to experience anything, you know, when we when the thoughts come back up, right? It'll just be the knowledge that we were there. Kind of like when you think about when you were again going back to being a kid, right? It's like I I know that was me, but there I just I can't connect anymore. And this life in comparison to what that's going to be will seem like like a lap on the track. And I think that's really important especially as we, you know, we consider that we might be in the literal last days before Jesus's return and some of the intensity and and some of the trials that uh that we're going through now or that we may be going through in the days ahead. Like it's just it's going to be such a small insignificant part of our experience when were there for that long. And I dare say that if uh we don't have the kinds of minds that uh that were promised that we're going to have that we would even forget names, right? It'll be do you remember so and so? I can't remember their name, but I think this is what happened. Right? And that's the kind of again that's the kind of perspective that we need to continue to have as we go through whatever it is we may go through is that we need to keep our mind mind on what's ahead, not what's in front of us. You know, it's the things that are in front of us. It's the like I've called it over the years, the ghetto mindset of just living in the now that really creates the unbelief that keeps us from getting there, right? You know, the the athletes that continue to win are always the guys who stay hungry. And what keeps you hungry is never allowing yourself to settle. in what you've gained now to always have what it is that you want always always existing ahead of you somehow you're still chasing after the prize and isn't that exactly what Paul says right the prize that is there before me right that is given to me that I'm chasing after and guys that's the perspective every day we're we're living thinking about getting to that place and knowing that After so many years in that place, what we did here is going to seem so small and insignificant. Does that not just make it worth it then to go through whatever it is that we need to and how silly it is to get caught up in all the crap and all the sin and all the now the ghetto thinking stuff and instead really live for that bigger prize. Well, um I digress. That's not what we're going to talk about. The this morning. Uh but what we are going to talk about this morning uh is relevant to uh us possibly reaching others in the now as well as uh the purpose of just defending for ourselves why it is that we believe what we believe. Uh why it is that we identify as new covenant Jews, that we no longer identify as Christians, uh that the religion that we follow uh is Judaism, new covenant Judaism. uh those things are important uh both for reaching others as well as uh giving a defense or an explanation uh to others as to who we are and why it is that we believe what we uh believe. I want to help you with that. We've talked about this uh uh many times, but I believe that I can uh simplify that for you here this morning and next week. And I'm really excited about next week because uh what we're going to talk about next week is I think really going to help us uh individually as well as a church uh in continuing to be faithful to Christ. And so uh all of it coming from Jeremiah 31. So if you would please turn there in your Bibles, Jeremiah 31. Jeremiah 31. And uh we are going to uh consider again this morning here those uh very uh famous verses from Jeremiah 31. Those were the New Testament, right? Test is just another word for uh covenant and this is uh the uh the prophecy uh regarding uh the new covenant. Now there are uh other places in the uh old testament that speak about uh the new covenant but this is the the most explicit because of its use uh of that particular term. So let's go ahead and uh read that and then uh we'll pray and ask the Lord's blessing on our time starting in verse 31. Jeremiah 31:31 days are coming declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made 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, although I was a husband to them, declares the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord. 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. They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, "Know the Lord." For they will all know me. From the least of them to the greatest of them, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity and their sins, I will remember no more. Let's pray. Father, thank you that you love us so much. Thank you for every thing uh that you do, every challenge, every trial that you bring into our lives. It's so exciting to think that uh we may be meeting your son, our savior, in less than a year, maybe even a in a couple of years. To think that we're living in such a time as this. And even though there's a darkness to that, this is possibly the most wicked the world has ever been and the most dangerous for that reason. We're seeing levels of apostasy that we've never seen before. Father, I still nonetheless thank you that you've given us those who, as my brother prayed this morning, who love your son, who love you, this opportunity to serve you in this time, Father. And I pray that what we talk about today and next week would help to encourage us in that endeavor, Lord, to see that that where we stand hand is upon the solid foundation, the foundation established by your son through his new covenant. Make it so we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Okay. Well, the worksheet that you have in front of you, I haven't given you the titles so that way you do a little bit of the work. Hence the uh reason I call it a worksheet. Here are the points that uh I want to uh work out with you as a result of what we read. here in Jeremiah 31. Uh the first point is uh this Jesus is the Yahweh of the Old Testament. Jesus is the Yahweh of the Old Testament or uh the Old Covenant. The Old Testament uh comprises uh uh everything from uh Genesis through Malachi. And of course uh the Old Covenant wasn't established until the uh uh the Exodus. And so uh the Old Covenant is a part of uh the Old Testament. Uh but Jesus is the Yahweh which is the divine name of God that we find in scripture or how God uh reveals himself to uh Moses on Mount Mariah there in Exodus chapter 3. Uh when he asks him who he is uh he replies that uh he is Yahweh and that is the uh the YHW name Yahweh. Jesus is the Yahweh of uh the Old Testament. He is the one one that is speaking to Moses there on uh Mount Mariah and he is the one that is speaking here in our uh verses verse 31 behold days or the days are coming declares the Lord and you see that capital L and again we've talked about this before and you see it all over uh the text whenever it's uh that way if you were to go back to the uh the front of your Bible where you have a little uh a legend there that tells you why certain terms are capitalized or italicized. Uh you would find that whenever you see a capital L O R D that refers to uh the divine name of God. It means that what's there in the Hebrew is uh Yahweh. And so uh it is Yahweh that is speaking here. Behold the days are coming declares Yahweh when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and uh with the house of Judah. Why do I say that this is Jesus? Well, uh if we were to go to Luke 22:20 where uh Jesus is there at what is uh uh called or sometimes referred to as the the last supper there where he's with his 12 uh apostles or disciples and uh it is a Passover meal. We know that or it takes place during the Passover. They are celebrating the Passover together and Jesus picks up that cup and he says this is the new covenant in my blood. And we know that by doing that what Jesus was doing was establishing uh the new covenant. But what I think that we don't consider is the audacity of that kind of a statement by Jesus saying and no doubt his his apostles his disciples uh knew this knew what he was communicating by saying that when Jesus does that what he is saying by doing that. This is the new covenant. The new covenant is now being established. I am establishing the new covenant. By doing that, Jesus is identifying himself in that moment, in that place as the Yahweh of Jeremiah 31. Because again, who is the one here in this text that says he's going to uh establish or make a new covenant? It is the capital L O R D. It is Yahw. way. And so by Jesus saying that there uh in Luke 22 uh he is claiming uh just that he is claiming that he is the Yahweh of the Old Covenant of the Old Testament. He is the Yahweh of Jeremiah 31. He is the one uh who spoke uh these words. Hence the reason why in Jude 1:5 it says that Jesus uh is the one that was leading them out of Egypt. Jesus is the Yahweh of the Exodus, that he is the one that parted the Red Sea. Uh in 1 Corinthians chapter 10, it says that they were all baptized uh in the Red Sea, that they too went through a baptism and they too had a a table like ours. They ate uh from Christ. They drank from the rock that was Christ. And so uh Jesus is the Yahweh of uh the Old Testament. Uh that brings us then to our second point. And by the way, I have structured this uh in such a way that uh you can use it hopefully with others. And so I'm building now off of what I just said with that first point. If Jesus uh is the Yahweh of the Old Testament, that brings us then to uh point number two, salvation, if we are to be saved, it is a marriage to Jesus. Salvation is a marriage to Jesus. We're able to now uh carry his name through the rest of our outline because we have identified that the person here speaking the capital L O R D Yahweh is indeed Jesus. And so it is Jesus who is calling for a new marriage covenant. Going again back to uh our verses uh verse uh 33. Verse 31 uh I will make a new co ant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, but not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day when I took them uh by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. So he's speaking there about the Exodus, my covenant which they broke although I was a husband to them. And by uh saying that there uh he is identifying uh what kind of covenant uh it was that was made with old covenant Israel there on Mount Si in Exodus 24. And uh that's the kind of question we want to ask when we're looking at scripture and we see this word covenant come up. What kind of covenant? Because there are various types of covenants that existed in the ancient near east. Well, here uh Jesus is telling us the kind of covenant that he made with Israel and the kind of covenant that he is again making with Israel. This new covenant. It is a marriage covenant or a covenant that is marital in nature and it is also then a salvific covenant or it is a covenant related to salvation. Why do I say that? Well, the end of verse 34. For I will forgive their iniquity and their sin through this new covenant through this new marriage covenant. I will forgive their iniquity and their sin I will remember uh no more. more. So putting that together or all together again here, God's covenants for salvation, this is the conclusion that we can draw. God's covenants for salvation are marital in nature. In other words, they're marriage covenants. Now, we today don't usually attach that word covenant to what happens when uh two people get married, but that's that's what happens. That's what they're doing when they're taking their vows, right? Their vows are in relation to the to the covenant that they are entering into with one another. And that covenant is then a marriage covenant. One of the parties is the husband, the other is the wife. Here in relation to this particular marriage covenant, Jesus is saying I uh am uh the husband. And we have all kinds of examples in uh uh the New Testament uh to support that that the new covenant itself uh is indeed uh a marriage covenant. Uh for example, 2 Corinthians chapter 11 uh Paul says uh in uh verse two, for I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy, for I betrothed you to one husband so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin. Now that term betro is similar, not exactly the same. Uh but similar to uh what we talk about today as getting engaged and so Paul says that's what I did with you is I I engaged you to Christ uh the technical term for that is uh at least in biblical times and how we view it uh is uh a incoit marriage or a marriage that has begun uh but not with all the benefits yet intact or not the benefits or all the benefits have not yet been realized an incoit uh marriage. This is uh why uh going back to places like Matthew 1 where it's talking about Jesus's parents uh Joseph and Mary, it says that uh Joseph was betrothed uh to Mary and uh yet it can speak of them also as husband and wife because uh a betroal is the beginning of the marriage uh covenant. And so that is how uh Paul is speaking here about our rel relationship to Christ. He is the husband which means the covenant, the salvation covenant that we enter into with him uh is marital uh in nature. Uh that of course is uh why Paul can speak the way he does in Ephesians 5:25 about husbands loving their wives in the same way that Christ loves the church. He being a husband to her and why in Revelation 19:7 uh it can speak about the church as a bride. Revelation 19 verse 7 says, "Let us rejoice and be glad and give glory to him for the marriage of the lamb." The lamb referring to Christ has come and his bride has made herself ready. And so uh it is a marriage. Salvation is a marriage uh to Jesus. And Because that is the case. Uh because uh the salvation relationship or covenant that we enter in with Jesus is a marriage. It operates uh according to the principles of marriage. And uh the principles of marriage are gain and maintain right gain and maintain. Uh I gain that relationship through those uh vows that I take. Right? The vows that are taken during uh a marriage even today, right? Both parties are taking particular vows. house of fidelity in relation to one another and that's how they gain uh that relationship or they enter into that marriage covenant and then what is expected is they will now uh fulfill those vows by being uh being faithful right and the same is true in our relationship uh with Christ we gain Jesus as our husband and savior through formal vows of lifelong love and loyalty and we do that uh in the waters of baptism And so uh just like uh marriages today there's a covenant sign. In our case it's a ring right we exchange rings and that's the the sign the public sign uh that we have entered into with that other person into this very exclusive relationship of a marriage. And so God has always had a sign associated with uh his marital or salvific covenants. Going back to Abraham with circumcision the same was true uh under the old covenant with circumcision and now uh that sign is uh baptism right we get baptized that's why Peter can say that baptism now saves you uh because you're entering in to that salvific marriage covenant in those waters of baptism and then we maintain that right the rest of our life then is about fulfilling those vows being faithful not perfect but faithful to Christ uh to our vows of love and loyalty uh to him. Uh 1 Peter 3:21 again you know the text this is review for you uh but 1 Peter 3:21 there that I just mentioned says corresponding to that baptism now saves you that's why it says that uh because there's something taking place there more than just getting wet right what's actually happening is is we're taking the covenant sign uh that Jesus himself has prescribed saying if you do that. I recognize that is you entering into that relationship with me and because you do that and because you make the pledge necessary to do that. In other words, because you vow your faithfulness to me, I will vow my faithfulness to you and I will give you those uh those uh particular blessings that go along with that. And uh that is uh what we saw there in Jeremiah 31 that phrase I will be their God and they will be my people will get goes all the way back all the way back to Genesis 2 uh as it relates to the uh the first husband and the first wife, Adam and Eve. And that's why we have the plaques that we do here because we find that throughout the Bible as really uh uh the the vows or the promise that God makes uh to us in uh that marriage covenant or contract that he will be our God and he will give us those things that he's promised to give. us if we will do our part and be his people. Meaning that we will fulfill our vows of love and loyalty to him. And that term there appeal that you see in 3:21 uh means just that. Uh the term can also be translated uh pledge which is just another uh another term uh for uh that word vow, right? A solemn vow, a promise that I make. to another person and that's what's happening. He says and why uh he can say baptism now saves you because there's a pledge there's a vow that I'm taking to Christ as a part of his bride or becoming part of his bride uh the church this is uh as we've talked about before uh this is exactly what that word faith means where the bible says that we are uh saved by faith uh well that term pistus in the Greek uh is also translated as pledge in other places. Uh places like 1 Timothy 5:12 takes that same Greek word pistus and translates it as uh pledge or vow because again that's what it is. And this idea of maintaining uh that text that we saw in uh Revelation 19 that identifies it as a marriage. Here we pick up also this idea of uh maintaining uh the bride is making herself ready. And so what you have here is the uh uh the picture of the end of days, right? That now this betroth though or our engagement is now over. We've come to the day of of of of marriage where we confirm those vows we took in our betroal. And so uh the bride is making herself ready for that. And the reason that uh uh that can happen that we've come to this place, this glorious place of celebration is because of what we read in verse 8. And it was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean. For the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. In other words, she has maintained her betroal. She has been faithful to her husband. She has been faithful to Christ. She has been faithful to her Lord. And so now those vows will be confirmed, which means that marriage goes from incoit, a marriage where all the blessings have not yet been realized to realizing uh all of the blessings, right, for all uh eternity. And it is and just that gain and maintain. You gain the relationship by faith and you maintain it by faithfulness. This is why uh in places like Matthew 28 there at the very end uh before Jesus ascends back to heaven uh what does he say? And this is probably uh the best most concise passage for showing somebody that that's what the relationship with Jesus is. It doesn't end with faith. We now have to uh maintain that through faithfulness which by the way that word pistus uh means both of those uh things it can be translated faith or faithfulness uh places like uh uh Romans chapter uh two uh uses that term pistus and translates it as uh faithful. But here in Matthew 28 we have both parts uh both baptism which is the part where we gain it and then uh the obedience or faithfulness that maintains it uh in Jesus's uh final words uh or charge to his church uh Verse 18, uh Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father and the son and the holy spirit." There's the gain peace. And then here's the maintain. What do you do? It's not over after that. Uh it continues in this way. Teaching them to observe all that I've commanded you. Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And this goes uh even back, like I said, to uh the prior covenants because they were marriage as well. You go to Genesis 17 where God is finalizing that covenant there with Abraham and what does he say? Walk before me and be blameless that I may make my covenant with you. You see, there's a part it's a two-way street, right? God has uh his part, his obligation to us which is picked up in the Lord's prayer, right? That he give us our daily bread, that he provide for us, that he pardon us, that he forgive us our sins, that he protect us, from temptation and the evil one and that he give us paradise for yours is the kingdom and the glory forever and ever. Right? That that's his part. That's his obligation to us and we have our obligation to him which is what we live to hallow his name. We live to lift up his name to protect his name. That's why we come to church. We're here to lift up his name. It's about him. It's not about us. It's about him, right? Protecting his name and seeing that his will is done. That his kingdom come. And so both parties have obligation, right? Uh commitment and uh that was true even with Abraham, right? Walk before me and be blameless that I may uh establish my covenant with you. It goes on uh in 18 verse 19 to say this or God says this uh for I have chosen him speaking about Abraham so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord to keep it. It's another way of saying maintain it. Keep the covenant. Keep the covenant. Uh to uh keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice so that the Lord may bring upon Abraham uh what he has spoken to him. There you see the uh the conditionality that I just spoke of as it relates to the covenant. Hey, you don't get the blessings unless you keep your part of the deal. We're never concerned about God keeping his part of the deal, right? That's why as a part of God's name when uh Moses right wants to be or God rather hides him in the cliff of the rock. He says, "Show me your glory." And as God goes by, he says, "I am a God abounding in loving kindness." And this really goes back to that divine name, Yahweh, which is picked up as this idea of the I am, which is I am what I do. You're to judge me according to what I do. Which is why God is always recalling his people back to what he does as the means to their assurance that he's a God that they and trust, right? What God among the gods has taken a people for himself from the superpower of the world? What god drowns the mountains, the high places of the other gods underwater? What God keeps his promises the way that I have in bringing you into the land that I promised that I would give to you. The book of Joshua says that not one of the promises that God made to his people failed to come to pass. And God says, I'm that kind of a God abounding in loving kindness, keeping my covenant to my people, to my wife. And that's Jesus again speaking those words. And so he expects the same from us that we'll do our part and that we'll keep uh keep those promises that we've made to him and those vows that we made when we gained that uh salvific or marital covenant relationship with him. And the same was true with Abraham and the same was true with those under the uh the old covenant with Moses. You remember they go back up there onto Mount Si and before they can be sprinkled with the blood, the blood representing uh their forgiveness, right? We're not going to the new creation if we've got sin on our souls. It's not going to happen. God does not want people there that are going to wreck the new creation like we wrecked the first creation. And so we need that. And so before Moses will give that, what do the people have to do? They have to commit to they have to vow. They have to pledge to what? We will obey every thing, Lord, that you have said. And uh again, the same is true with us. As a matter of fact, in first Peter uh the very first two verses of of First Peter uh are a uh or an illusion uh to uh what takes place in Exodus 24 uh 7 and 8 that I just paraphrased there for you. Uh Deuteronomy chapter 7. I have this uh I have a little wooden plaque in my house that uh is exactly what we find here in Deuteronomy 7:9. and and that because it's uh one of my favorite verses. And the reason it's one of my favorite verses is because it's one of the most concise as it relates to this uh to this relationship we're talking about right now. And so is a great way for me to remind myself of both uh God and what he does, his character, and how he keeps his side of the deal and how I need to keep mine. It says this, "Know therefore that the Lord your God, he is God, the faithful God, the faithful God who keeps his covenant and his loving kindness to a thousandth generation with those and here's the condition. He keeps it with those who love him and keep his commandments. Hey, I keep my side of the deal. He keeps his side of the deal. Well, that brings us then to the third point then. So, the first Jesus is the Yahweh. That's who's talking then there in our primary text for today, Jeremiah 31. And that salvation that he's offering here in this new covenant uh is a marriage. He is the husband in that marriage. That brings us to point number three. Jesus only saves Jesus only saves Israelites or Jews. Those two terms even though from a a chronological perspective did not happen or come about at the same time. Both of those terms are used by Paul for example to refer to himself and they do rever uh refer to the same group of people. An Israelite is a Jew. when a Jew uh is an Israelite and Jesus only saves these kinds of people. In other words, you need to be a Jew if Jesus is going to save you. Why do I say that? Well, verse 32, going back to the verse that we just read there, uh who does it say uh rather verse 31, uh who does, uh verse 31 say uh that this new covenant is with it? is with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. The house of Israel and the house of Judah. That's not talking about anybody other uh than the Israelites or the Jews or the Jewish uh people. Why do you have two houses here? Well, because at the time that Jeremiah is being written, uh you have a divided kingdom, right? You have the 10 tribes uh uh that represented that territory later known as Israel and then after that in the time of Jesus and really uh at the time of the exile becomes what is known as Samaria that endures until the day of Jesus you have Samaria up there in the north uh and then you have Judea in the south which was formerly Judah or the house of Judah so 10 tribes above and two below uh Judah and uh Benjamin and so that's why uh uh Yahweh Jesus speak the way he does here. That new covenant is going to be uh with uh both parties. And that was important and we'll see or we'll talk more about that uh next week. But that was important that both were included here uh because at the time uh that group in the north, those 10 tribes, they were already gone. That's why scholars will refer to them sometimes as the lost 10 tribes of Israel. Uh they were removed uh years before what Jeremiah is prophesying about they were removed in the Assyrian deportation. And so that particular territory has now been uh has become a mixed bag of people because at the same time that they were being deported uh others pagans, Gentiles were being imported uh by the king who uh uh finishes the deportation. Uh he imports all of these other people into that territory. So the people never came back. You don't see the Jews in that particular territory coming back. And so, uh, they're known as the lost tribes. Well, it's relevant then that when Jesus speaks these words here that he picks that up if they're part of the equation, and we're going to see, uh, how that relates to us specifically, uh, next, uh, week. But the point not to miss is that this uh, this covenant, this marriage covenant, this salvific covenant with Jesus is exclusive then uh, to to the Israelites or to the kingdom of Israel, which is why he picks it up in the singular. He picks it up uh in the singular right after uh saying that. So he says, "This new covenant is with the house of Israel and uh with the house of Judah." Uh but then picks it up uh again, it's just the house of Israel. Look at verse 33. But this is the covenant I will make uh with the house of Israel. And uh that kind of interplay between uh the divided two houses in one happens all throughout uh the text of scripture after that division takes place which is after uh the reign of uh Solomon. And so again, the point not to miss, who's the covenant with? It's with Jews. It's exclusive uh to uh the Jewish people, the house of Judah and uh the house of Israel. Uh going back to uh the very first verse here, Jeremia 31:31. Notice God says, "At that time, declares the Lord, I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people." And there again is that covenantal phrase. Anytime you find that in scripture that tells you that we're talking now marriage covenant, this is marriage covenant language. You may remember the fancy term, the bundus formal, the marriage formula. I will be their God. There it is on the front end. I will be the God of Who who is he possessing as his people? They shall be my people. All the families of Israel, those in the north as well as those in the south. But again, Israel and only Israel. And uh just to drive that home, meaning that this is who his covenants with and it has not changed. Uh uh even though that's uh what really a lot of people think. Those in the Christian camp operate that way as though Somehow Jesus went out and got him a whole new people and started a new religion. Uh notice what Jesus again, this is Jesus speaking here. That's why it's important to keep that in mind. Uh thus says the Lord Yahweh, the one making this new covenant, which again according to Luke 22 is Jesus himself. So thus says Jesus who gives the sun for the light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for the light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar. The Lord Lord of hosts is his name. If this fixed order departs, the sun for the light by day, the moon and the stars for the light by night. If this fixed order departs from before me, declares the Lord Jesus, then the offspring of Israel also will cease from being a nation before me forever. Thus says the Lord, if the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out below, then I will will also cast off all the offspring of Israel for all that they have done, declares the Lord. Uh it's still with them. It'll always uh be with them and be about them and only them. And uh that uh that uh word there nation that we see in verse uh 36 there from being a nation right now doesn't have much import for you. Uh but we're going to see here uh in just a second how much that should have importance to you because uh by saying that they will be a nation before him, he is saying this is where my kingdom uh resides. This is where my kingdom resides. And I think we would all agree that if you're going to be saved by Jesus uh then you need to be a part of his kingdom. And uh his kingdom is exclusive uh to Israel. Uh showing the connection to Messiah. If you go over to uh chapter 33, 33, So Messiah right is uh uh is just a term that means anointed one. Specifically in the case of Jesus as Messiah, it means that he is the uh he is the king. He is the Davidic king or he is the king promised in the line of David who would come. And this is the big thing not to miss. All the Jews were expecting this. And even those today that didn't recognize Jesus, this is what they're looking for they're looking for Messiah because when Messiah comes, here's what they knew. That he would restore the kingdom of God to Israel. That's why it was so important that this Davidic king, this messianic king come. And uh that's what Jeremiah 31 is about because at that time a new covenant will be established when the kingdom itself uh is established. And verse 14 of 33 picks that up or a continuation then of what we've already seen uh in chapter 31 verse 14. Behold the days are coming declares the Lord. There again is our capital L O R D Yahweh Jesus when I will fulfill the good word which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and the house of Judah. Notice who it's concerning. In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous branch of David to spring forth and he shall execute justice and righteousness on the earth. In those days Judah will be saved in Jerusalem will dwell in safety and this is the name by which you shall be called the Lord is our righteousness. If you skip down to uh verse 23 for sake of time and the Lord and the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah saying have you not have you not observed what this people have spoken saying the two families which the Lord chose he's talking about now the split kingdom here he has rejected them thus they despise my people no longer uh they and no longer are they as a nation in their sight. Thus says the Lord, in contrast to that, if my covenant for day and night, so this is going back to what we saw in 31, stand not and the fixed patterns of heaven and earth I have not established, then I would reject the descendants of Jacob and David, my servant, not taking from his descendants rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But I will restore their fortunes, and I will have mercy on uh them. And I've given you a whole host of other verses that uh you can look at. The only one other than what we've looked at here that I want us to consider uh is in the book of Ezekiel who was the uh the contemporary to uh Jeremiah meaning he also was an exelic prophet a prophet speaking to those who were about to be deported uh into Babylon. And uh he has this to say uh in verse uh 16 37:e 16 which uh many of you know uh Ezekiel 36 because That's where it talks about the pouring out of the spirit. Uh, which is very akin to what we see in Jeremiah 31 that we'll talk about next week as the Lord writing his law on our hearts. Well, just after that or following that uh in 37 in 37 starting in verse 16 we read, "And you, son of man, take for yourself one stick and write on it for Judah and for the sons of Israel his companions. Then take another stick stick and write on it for Joseph and the stick of Ephraim and all the house of Israel his companion companions. Then join them for yourself one to another into one stick that they may become one in your hands when the sons of your people speak to you saying, "Will you not declare to us what you mean by these?" In other words, that you've done this. You've written essentially Judah on one and Israel on the other. What do you mean by putting these together? Say to them, "Thus says the Lord, God, behold, I will take the stick of Joseph. Notice again here we have Yahweh speaking, which is in the hand of Ephraim and the tribes of Israel, his companions, and I will put them with it with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in my hand. The sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes. Say to them, "Thus says the Lord God, behold, I will take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land. And I will make them one nation in the land in the mountains of Israel. And one king will be for all of them. And they will no longer be two nations and no longer be divided uh into uh two kingdoms. They will no longer defile themselves with idols or with their detestable things or with any of their transgressions. But I will deliver them from all of their dwelling places in which they have sinned and will cleanse them and they will be my people and I will be their God. And if uh there's any question as to who the king is that will unite them and do this. Verse 24, my servant David will be king over them. And so again, here all speaking about new covenant. And uh as we're going to see next week, there's a really good reason as to why uh God waits until uh these exilic prophets to actually speak about the new covenant because we're going to see that God actually uses uh the exile as a means to fulfilling some of the proph promises that he makes uh in relation to uh the new covenant uh itself. Uh moving on though in the outline here, the kingdom of God established by Jesus is likewise uh exclusive to Israel or the Israelites or the Jews. Again, uh kingdom of God, kingdom of God. And for sake of time, let me just kind of uh comment on the verses that you'll see there. Uh those first uh two coming from 1 Chronicles and 2 Chronicles. Uh the reason that I have those in the notes is because in both of those uh it speaks about here it's speaking about uh Solomon uh in the first and uh it's speaking about how the kingdom of God that he was put on the throne of the kingdom of God for Israel. And so there you see the connection between this idea of kingdom of God or sometimes I think it's in Luke uh one of them uses kingdom of heaven the the other uses kingdom of God. Either way they're speaking about the same thing but the again the point not to miss is that they're both connected. to always they're connected to Israel. And so uh if you want the kingdom of God, you want to be the kingdom of God, you need to be a part of the kingdom of Israel. Okay? There's no separation between those two things. It's not like the kingdom of God is somehow separate uh from Israel. It is co-extensive always in scripture uh with uh Israel. Uh and that is why in this expectation that Messiah was going to come and he was going to do that. He would restore the kingdom of God meaning he would bring God back. act that God's sanctuary would again be among the Israelites, among the Jews. That's the point. If God for God to be among them, for his kingdom to be among them, he needs to again uh be among uh them. They knew that that would happen when Messiah uh came. Hence the reason you turn over now to the New Testament, Acts chapter 1. Acts chapter 1. And uh you look at Verse six, this is just before Jesus ascends back to heaven. Um it says, "So when they came together, they were asking him saying, Lord, is is it at this time you are restoring the kingdom to Israel?" Why are they asking that? Well, because they knew him to be Messiah, and they knew that that was a part of his mission. They knew that he would do that. And he started that, right? He establishes the new covenant. But again, going back to the the marriage that we talked about, incoet versus coet, And so they're like, "Okay, this is started, but when are we going to when are we going to realize all the benefits?" Right? That's what they're asking here. But again, don't miss it. Restoring the kingdom, the kingdom of God to Israel. Hence the reason over and over and over and over throughout the gospels, Jesus is talking about the kingdom of God, right? Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand. You know, when I first got saved, I couldn't figure out why that was always the conversation or the kingdom of God uh the parables that we see in Matthew 13. Why all this talk about the kingdom of God? Because that's what Messiah was supposed to do. When Messiah comes, he establishes the kingdom of God. But again, I know I keep saying this, the point not to miss is where that kingdom for where we're at right now. Where that kingdom is is with Israel. Which means if you're not a part of Israel, if you're not a Jew, you're not in the kingdom of God. If you're not in the kingdom of God, you're not married to Messiah. You're not married to Yahweh, Jesus, the one who made the new covenant. You dig? That's how it works. And we have all kinds of prophecy uh related to that. Even Jesus there at the very beginning of Matthew where you have uh all this talk of 14 generations, 14 generations, 14 generations. And smack dab in the middle of that is uh David. And this is I think they call it a gematria. Uh the the Hebrew letters equaled their this was also their numerical system and so there were values associated uh with the uh with the alpha code or the the letters and uh the name David uh equals 14 and that's being picked up there as a point to make that this one Jesus who finishes that as the final uh phase of that 14 generation thing that we see that he is indeed the Messiah who was to bring them out of the deportation and to restore then them to the land or to the nation of Israel which was the kingdom of God. And so it's all about that. It's all uh about that. That's the reason also uh that we've talked about uh in Daniel chapter 7 uh where uh we are told that uh and this is a text even though we've been there before that's worth looking at again. Uh this never gets old at least not for me where uh Daniel has this vision and uh it's a vision of of what's coming in the in in in the future. And um as he's uh in this vision, the vision of the four beasts, I just looked at what they what they call it here in the in our Bibles or the subheaders. It says that as I kept looking, verse 9, thrones were set up and the ancient of days took his uh seat. And then you skip down to verse 13, it says, I kept looking in the night visions and uh behold, the clouds of heaven, one like the son of man was coming and he came up to the angel ion of days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion, glory, and a kingdom that all the peoples and nations and men of every language might serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away and his kingdom is one which will not be destroyed. Now the Jews understood, at least some of them, that there was a connection between what was happening here and Messiah. That Messiah was also divine because what you have here is what some of the old Jews used to call the two powers in heaven. You have the ancient of days which is God the father but then there's someone else there who's also divine who's also Yahweh and this one is the one who's receiving a kingdom and the Jews understood the king that him him to be receiving to be uh this the kingdom of God in Israel and again this is being written by a prophet in exile Daniel we know uh served under Nebuchadnezzar uh the Babylonian king who took them uh or who deported them out of uh Israel. And uh you connect that back to uh Nebuchadnezzar himself to his dream that he has uh of the golden statue. And there's where you read about this kingdom that is now being given to this one like the son of man uh who is also divine. This messianic figure who is also divine, who is also uh Yahweh. And that kingdom we are told uh in verse 34. And this is a big connection to it being Israel. It says uh you continued to look. This is Daniel talking to Nebuchadnezzar uh looking until a stone was cut out without hands and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them. And that's that final kingdom, the Roman kingdom. Uh as it's as it was worked out to be in history uh that it crushes that this this stone that becomes a kingdom or as it talks about in verses 44 and 45, it becomes a mountain that has dominion forever and uh connecting it back to what we saw in Daniel's vision in Daniel 7, it says, "In the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed. And that kingdom will be not left for another people. It will crush and put to an end all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever. In as much as you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and it crushed the iron, the bronze, and the clay, and the silver, and the gold, which was all of those various different kingdoms that made up that golden uh statue the great god has made known to the king what will take place in the future. So the dream is true and its interpretation uh is trustworthy. Uh well the Jews would have understood exactly the kind of kingdom that it was talking about or the identity of that kingdom by the fact that it was made of uncut stones because that that meant that it was the kingdom of Israel. Uh the kingdom whose altars uh were made of uncut stones for this very reason uh to communicate that this is not a kingdom built by hands of men but a kingdom made uh by God. It was a divine uh kingdom. And uh this kingdom is exactly the kingdom that Jesus uh confirms is now being established by him in Matthew 16 when uh when Peter says to him, "You are the Lord. You're the Christ." Peter is admitting confessing, "You are the son of man that receives the kingdom from the ancient of days in Daniel 7's prophecy. This is the fulfillment of that. You are that." And Uh, and Jesus says, "Hey, look, my father who's revealed that uh to you. He's the one that gave me that kingdom. He's the ancient of days that has done that. And I will now take that stone." That's what it's talking about there where it says, uh, "And upon this rock, literally that stone, it's an illusion all the way back to Daniel 2 that we just read." And he's saying, "This is that divine kingdom. I'm that divine 91. And this is that divine kingdom, that uncut stone. And I will build my church. I will build Israel established under this new covenant on that rock. And the gates of Hades will not uh will not uh press against it. It will crush all other kingdoms. And that includes even uh spiritual kingdoms, the kingdom of darkness. And so uh all of that again related to uh the Jews. God or Jesus's covenant, his salvific covenant, his marriage covenant is with the Jews. You can't get away from that. It's everywhere. It's with the Jews. You want to be saved, you need to be a Jew. Uh this is also picked up uh somewhat in the language of Ephesians 2:12 where it says uh in 11 it says we were without hope and without God. And it says the reason why is because we were without the covenants of promise. because we were excluded. Literally reading from the text in 212, we were excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, which is just another way of saying the only way you're going to get saved is if you become a part of the commonwealth of Israel, right? Uh this is also reinforced in by the fact that uh in Matthew 1:18, it says that Jesus, his name, me, uh refers to the fact that he's come uh to save his people from their sins. Who's his people? The Jews. Hence the reason that Jesus during his earthly ministry only went to the Jews. Matthew 15:24, I have been sent to the lost uh to the lost sheep of Israel. And he does that uh opposing a gentile who has come to him. He does the same thing with his disciples. He says, "Only go to the lost sheep of Israel. Only go to them." Hebrews chapter 2, you know the text. But another uh text important if you're sharing this with someone so they can see the importance of this. Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, he himself, Jesus, likewise also parttook of the same, that through death he might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is the devil, and might free those who for fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. That's all great news. All talking about salvation and deliverance from the devil. But notice verse 16. For assuredly he does not give help to angels, but he gives help to and notice only one group, the descendants of Abraham. And uh Abraham is the first Jew. Genesis 14 uh calls uh Abraham Abraham uh the Hebrew, which is just another word that is now been kind of intermingled and become synonymous with all those other terms, Israelite, Jew, uh or Hebrew. As a matter of fact, according to Jewish tradition, Uh Abraham was not only the first Jew but was the first convert to Judaism, the first convert uh to out of what we've started with, right? Jesus is the Yahweh uh that we see here making the new covenant. That new covenant is a marriage covenant. This salvation plan is a marriage. And uh he only gets married to Jews. He only marries Jews. And uh Jesus who makes this Jewish new covenant, here's what what number four should read like. Like Jesus's Jewish new covenant is Judaism 2.0 is Judaism 2.0. Jesus's Jewish new covenant. Jesus's Jewish new covenant is Judaism 2.0. Not a new religion. Christianity is a new religion. You remember in the gospels that uh Some of the Jewish leaders were happy when uh they thought that Jesus had gone away and they said, "Oh, maybe he's gone to the Gentiles. He's gone off and he started something new." They were happy about that because they didn't have to deal with him anymore. That's not what he did, right? Jesus's Jewish new covenant is Judaism 2.0, right? It's an upgrade to the original, but it's still the original. Right? This is what they call mutatus mutandis, right? Same illegal term. It means contract or covenant with a few uh with a few adjustments. That's all it is. Mutatus mutandis. It's still Judaism, but uh with a few upgrades and a few changes or adjustments. That's all it is. Why do I say that? Well, again, going back to our primary text, Jeremiah 31. Look at the text. Look at what it says. He says, "I will put my law," verse uh uh verse 33, "I will put my law within them. What's God's law? Well, it obviously refers to the Old Testament scriptures. And the Old Testament scriptures are what make up what? Judaism. Judaism. It's not talking about Christianity or something else. My laws, my religion, the laws are the laws of that religion. What you do to be a part of that religion, a part of that people, a part of that covenant. It's Judaism. Add Jesus established, as I said, a new covenant, not a new religion. That word new covenant or that phrase new covenant assumes an existing covenant. This is incredibly important. If you say, I'm I'm I'm I'm establishing a new covenant, the question that should pop up is, well, what was the old and what is it in relation to? Right? If you don't know what that is, but you know that there if I'm using the word new, there must be an old. Do you see my point? And that means that whatever they are, they're they're they're They're possessed by the same thing, right? It's new in relation to that which is now possessed by the old. And so by calling it a new covenant assumes an existing covenant, it replaces or modifies in the same religion. In other words, it is still Judaism, just Judaism modified and upgraded. Like I say here, Judaism 2.0 or like what we sometimes call it, new covenant Judaism. We've talked about this as well. Jesus would have been a false prophet if he started a new religion. God warns against that, right? Even as it relates to his law somehow being replaced. Uh Deuteronomy uh 12:28, he says, "Don't add or don't take away." And then uh if that that flows right into chapter 13 where he talks about uh the false prophet who comes and tries to pull you away from God and his religion or his laws. Hence the reason when Jesus comes on the scene, he says what he does in Matthew 5:17 and 18. I did not come to abolish law. I didn't come by saying that. He's saying, "I didn't come to abolish Judaism, but to see that it's fulfilled." And then he says, "What? Till heaven and earth pass away." Last I checked, it's still here. Right? Why does he say that? The f what he's really saying to his people, to the Jewish people who are listening to him, is I'm not a false teacher. If he had said anything other than that, they would have thrown him out. They would have rejected him because they would have known, according to Deuteronomy 12:13, that's a false prophet. If you're leading us away, if you're telling us the first thing you're going to do is create a new religion, then we know that you're a false teacher, that you're not Messiah. Right? This is why also in John 4:22, you know the text there where he's at uh having a conversation with a woman at the well, and what does he say? John 4:22, salvation is from the Jews. Literally, what it says, Salva, he says, you don't know what you're talking about. That's what the first thing he says. You don't know what you're talking about. She thinks she knows. She thinks she knows God. She thinks she has a relationship with God. He says, "You don't know what you're talking about. Salvation is from the Jews. If you want to be saved, you got to be a part of this. It's a Jewish thing, right? That's why the cup that we take that's a part of this table was established at Passover, which is a Jewish festival, is a Jewish holiday." And you say, "Well, yeah, that's where it started, but it doesn't it's not still there." Well, you read 1 Corinthians 7 and 8. It says, "Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed still using uh the Jewish language and he expects us to respond accordingly because you remember that Passover was a burnt offering which meant that we were again committing ourselves fully to God. And he says that's why there's to be no levan among you, no sin among you which is why they were to put out uh the individual in their church uh that was uh uh that was refusing to turn from uh his uh sin or was in sin. Philippians chapter 3, the final text there that I would have you consider. Philippians chapter 3:2. I don't I think we read over uh verses like this and don't really think about what's being says. Paul says we are the true circumcision. And he's talking about the church. He says we're well that phrase, if you spend any time reading your Bible, it'll say circumcised and the uncircumcised, which are just two terms that refer to circumcised are the Jews and the uncircumcised are the Gentiles. And so for Paul to say we're the true circumcision, what is he saying? He's saying we're the true Jews. We are, right? He says that worship in the spirit that worship Christ, which goes right back to what Jesus says uh as to what's coming in the new covenant uh as it relates to those assemblies which represent uh Israel in John uh 4. And so all these passages showing that uh again that this is not a new religion. It's a new covenant in the existing uh religion. Furthermore, the Yahweh Jesus of the old new covenant is different is a different god than the false god of Christianity. Uh again, we don't have time uh to go through uh these verses here. Uh you know them uh though uh two points to make that abundantly clear or that should make this is that uh Jesus is a part of a family of three separate persons or beings. who are distinct Yahwehs. This goes back to the Daniel 7. You have two gods there, not one. You have two beings that are divine. You have two beings that are being identified as Yahweh. And ancient Judaism believed that they understood that that term Yahweh uh referred to a plurality of beings who were God. That's why at the very beginning of your Bible in Genesis, it says, "Let us make man in our image." It's plural. And yet, what does Christianity believe? In a three-headed God, three persons who are one being, even though they can't explain that, they say that's true. That's what's called the uh the doctrine of the trinity, right? And that's false. That's not what the Bible teaches. Hence the reason uh that by the time of Jesus where you have a corrupted uh Jewish nation, they're again apostate. That's why they reject Jesus. Uh when Jesus is talking about himself in terms of being Yahweh, they want to kill him. John 5:18. But this is all over scripture. So a different God, right? Christianity who claims to follow Jesus serves a different God. Secondly, Yahweh Jes Jesus gives everyone exactly what they deserve. Again, just like his name, we're made in his image. God says, "I am what I do. My reputation, who I am, righteous or evil, is determined by what I do, and I expect to be judged according what I do. God says, "You're made in my image." That's exactly the way I treat you. I am the God that gives to everyone according to what they uh do. Well, that's not Christianity. Christianity is God doesn't give you what you deserve. And that's false. That's absolutely false. That means that what we're talking about uh is belief in a God that is different than the one communicated in the pages of scripture. And you can't make a distinction between Jesus of the New and and what we see in the old, the God of the old, because again, we just saw That's our first point. Jesus is the God of the Old Testament. And that's why Hebrews can say he is the same today, yesterday and forever. Same God operated the same way. So however he was in the old, he is in the new. No counseling in between. Uh the early church also called themselves the way. You remember that was uh how they first identified themselves. Uh and uh it's really interesting because that particular phrase is coming from Isaiah 40. It's what Uh John the Baptist preaches when John the Baptist says uh prepare the way for the Lord. He's he's he's he's quoting from Isaiah 40 which was a very well-known verse among the Jews. They understood that that passage would be uh the passage that was spoken as preparation for Messiah. And and so uh that term before Jesus about 150 years before Jesus started to be used by different sects within Judaism to refer to those who were preparing for the Lord. Lord. So uh by uh those early followers the early church to use that they understood that they understood that to be a sect within Judaism not a different religion of those who were preparing for the Lord. It's really interesting. We're going to talk more about this tomorrow on bear Jew. But they were also a group who uh believed that the larger nation had gone apostate and so they had separated themselves into the wilderness to wait there as the remnant preparing for the Lord. The Essenes was their name. But that term continued to be used and the Jews no doubt would have understood it uh that way and they were considered the early church were considered a sect within Judaism not a different religion. How do I know that? Uh well uh Acts 24 when uh Paul is before a grippa and uh he is there and uh he knows that uh uh that uh there is dissension among the Jews be uh because of him and he wants to explain to actually it's uh Felix sorry not not agria um uh he speaks this way about uh this group verse uh 14 but this I admit to you that concern that according to and there it is the way which they call a sect and a sect is just a term that means a group within a larger group that's why that term is used in relation to the Pharisees the sect of the Pharisees okay so he's saying we're a group within larger Judaism, the sect that they call a sect, I do serve the God of our fathers, believing everything that is in accordance with the law and that is written within the prophets. You know what he's saying there by saying that we I I believe everything is in accordance with the law and that is written with in the prophets. He's saying I I'm an Orthodox Jew. I follow Orthodox Judaism. He can't say that unless that's the case because that's what he's saying there. And that idea of being a sect is a sect within Judaism. that they call the way, which they would have understood to mean, hey, we're waiting for Messiah. Messiah's gone and we're waiting for him to come back. We're preparing people unto uh that particular uh end. Lastly, it should be pointed out uh that where the first disciples of Jesus met and worshiped uh was in Jewish synagogues dedicated to the practice of Judaism. Obviously, it isn't like they had Buddhists hanging out there or Christians at chapter uh 9:2. This is where we hear about Paul getting letters to go to the synagogues to arrest those uh who were messianic Jews who were following Judaism, but they were following uh that upgraded version, new covenant Judaism that had been established uh by Jesus. By the way, you say, well, why why the word Christian? Where you have it in Acts 9 as well, it says or Acts 11, it says they were first called Christians. That term was a derogatory term. Don't take my word for it. Look it up. Christian was a derogatory term uh that was actually created by the Jews. You actually I think there's evidence even of this in the Acts 11. It's picked up in 1 Peter 4 as well. Uh it was a derogatory term. That's why uh Peter can say, "Hey, even if you're being persecuted in this way, they're using this derogatory term of calling you a Christian." The the Jews created that who rejected Jesus to try to distinguish themselves from the sect within Judaism that followed Juda uh Jesus. You see, because they didn't want they didn't want to acknowledge them as still part of Judaism. They're the ones that came up with this term. It was a derogatory term. How we see it in scripture is derogatory. It's a slur. That wasn't the term, in other words, that they took to themselves. The early church was not calling themselves. They were being called by them, others, those outside uh who didn't like them. Uh the term we use, of course, versus new covenant Jews to distinguish ourselves uh from those who are still living under the old covenant and don't recognize Messiah. In conclusion, then the point not to miss, having Jesus as your savior is a Jewish thing, not a Christian thing. Jesus didn't come to establish a new religion, but a new covenant for his existing religion, Judaism. That goes right back to what we see in Jeremiah 31 at the very beginning with the house of Judah and Israel. God is concerned with saving his people, his people, every other religion claiming Jesus is therefore false. That's evangelical Christianity. Roman Catholicism who is so stupid that they take that word stone to think that it's talking about Peter who was they claimed their first pope has nothing to do with any of that, right? It's all very Jewish in nature. Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Mormonism, all of these different groups, they're new religions that claim Jesus as their savior. They're false. their faults. The question then to ponder in light of where we're going next week. The question to ponder, and I've given you all these verses if you want to do the brain damage of looking them up. Uh we will talk about uh some of them at least uh next week. But what about all the prophecy and passages promising salvation to the Gentiles? You say, "Hey, wait a minute. You say it's about the Jews, but what about all this stuff about the Gentiles?" Right? The Gentiles have seen a great light. This is picked up in Matthew 4 where Jesus goes and and uh decides to live which is uh very much a part of this. Why does he not go down when he comes to earth and live in Jerusalem? Why doesn't he live there in the holy city? Why does he go up into uh the lost tribes territory and and live in the northern portion of that the part that was first deported according to second kings in the land of Nahal and Zebulun in Galilee. Why does he go there? And in Matthew 4 then we have those words from Isaiah 9 that the Gentiles have seen a great light. What about all those passages promising salvation uh to the Gentiles? What I've heard you say today is if this is a Jewish thing, you've got to be a Jew. Well, then what about uh all those passages and all those prophecies promising salvation to the Gentiles? And Gentile is just a word uh that means non-Jew. Literally, it's the word pagan. Uh that's been taken out of the English translations because that has a you know, a derogatory tone to it. But it means those not part of Israel are worshiping Yahweh according to uh his religion. So, think about that because we're going to answer that question uh next week. Let's pray. Father, thank you that we've had the time to cover things. Most if not everything that we've talked about is things we've talked about before, but uh hopefully by putting it in this uh new framework, it makes it uh easier as something that uh uh can be communicated uh to others for others to understand to give them the hope, right, of of of your sal ation in your son. And I just pray that you would use it to that end also uh father to uh continue to strengthen us and as a means of protection that we know what we believe and uh can defend that uh for our own good and for our own conscience sake. Make it so we pray in Jesus our great king's name. Amen.
