TruthVid's 100 Proofs that the Israelites were White, Part 62: 81, The Subjects of Redemption; 82, Strangers from the Covenants

TruthVid's 100 Proofs that the Israelites were White, Part 62

In our last two proofs, we discussed Paul’s commission as an apostle from Yahshua Christ, which states that he was to bear the Name of Christ “before both the Nations and kings of the sons of Israel.” Doing this, we demonstrated how Paul had interpreted that commission as being to the twelve tribes of Israel, and also how he fulfilled it, by bringing the Gospel of Christ to the nations of Europe. Now we shall discuss other aspects of Paul’s epistles which also prove these things, that Paul brought the Gospel to Europe because he knew with all certainty that Europe is where the children of Israel had been scattered abroad, as well as Anatolia and other areas to the north of Palestine. But the scope of these subjects are not all limited to Paul’s epistles.

81) The Subjects of Redemption

There are often assertions made by denominational churches that Jesus came to redeem all of mankind, or all men, as a reference to every single biped that has ever existed, regardless of race or any other aspect of a man’s existence. Then they use the same concept to force Christians to accept people of all races, and even grievous sinners such as sodomites or fornicators. But is that assertion really true? Did Jesus come to redeem all of mankind? Or do the Scriptures inform us explicitly that Christ came to redeem only certain or particular men. And if the Scriptures inform us that Christ redeemed only a certain race or family of men, how can the churches change that on their own? Who gave them the authority, if it is not found in the Word of God?

The word redeem as a verb appears on nine occasions in the King James Version of the English Bible. One Greek word translated as redeem is the verb is ἐξαγοράζω, which according to Liddell and Scott means to buy from, buy up, buy off or redeem which is to buy back, and the noun ἐξαγορασία is ransom or redemption. Another word translated as redeem is more specific. The verb λυτρόω is to release on receipt of ransom, or in an appropriate context to hold to ransom, and in the Passive voice to be ransomed. The noun λύτρωσις is properly the price of release, a ransom or the sum paid for ransom. So the actual act of ransoming is more commonly described by ἐξαγοράζω.

The scope of the act of redemption in Christ is first explained in Luke chapter 1, where Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, speaking under the inspiration of God, for which reason the words appear in the Gospel, had declared: “ 68 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people,” and His people are therein defined, or understood to be as the ancient children of Israel, so a little further on he continues and explains how Gid is redeeming His people: “70 As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began: 71 That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us; 72 To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant: 73 The oath which he sware to our father Abraham…” So the people whom Christ came to redeem are those same people who the prophets said that Christ would redeem, and we must look to the Old Testament to identify them.

Later, in Luke chapter 24, two men who did not quite understand the purpose of Christ were found talking on the road to Emmaus, and one of them said, as it is in the King James Version: “21 But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel….” In Galatians chapter 3, Paul attested that “13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law”, and explained his intent in Galatians chapter 4 where he wrote “4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 5 To redeem them that were under the law…” Only the children of Israel were ever under the law, and it is demonstrable that the Galatians to whom Paul was writing certainly were descended from the ancient children of Israel. Only the children of Israel ever had the law, as we read in the 147th Psalm: “19 He sheweth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel. 20 He hath not dealt so with any nation: and as for his judgments, they have not known them. Praise ye the LORD.” In the Septuagint, that Psalm is attributed to the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, who were both in Jerusalem when Zerubbabel began to rebuild the temple, from around 520 BC.

In 1 Peter chapter 1, the apostle describes his intended readers, Christians of the various provinces of Anatolia, as already having been redeemed, where he wrote “18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: 20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you…” So once again, as it is in Luke, if Christ was “foreordained” for the purpose of redemption “before the foundation of the world”, then we must turn to the prophets to learn of the substance of and reasons for that redemption.

Paul described Christ’s act of redeeming in Titus chapter 2 and wrote that Christians should be found “13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” So here Paul attested to why Israel had to be redeemed, as they were in iniquity. The same Paul had explained in Romans chapter 5 that sin was a transgression of the law, and that sin was in the world before the law, but that sin is not imputed where there is no law. So the only people who could be found guilty in iniquity are those people who were given the law.

As for the purifying of a “peculiar people” Paul spoke of that in reference to that act of redemption, and Peter further address his readers in that same manner in chapter 2 of that same first epistle and informed them: “9 But ye are a chosen generation [or race], a royal priesthood, an holy nation [not gentile], a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: 10 Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.” This last clause was a direct reference to Hosea chapter 1, and the words of the prophet were uttered in reference to the children of Israel in captivity. They were put off due to their sin, and no longer considered the people of God, but they were purified in Christ and could be His people once again.

The word redemption is found in only one other place in the Gospel, in chapter 21 where Christ used it in reference to His disciples. But it appears nine times in Paul’s epistles. In Romans chapter 3 he wrote “21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; 22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: 23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” So if the righteous of God is witnessed by the law and the prophets, and only the children of Israel were given the law, then only the children of Israel could possibly be the “all” of which Paul was speaking where he wrote “for all have sinned”. Where he contrasts Jews and Gentiles, in the King James Version, he was speaking of Israelites of the Judaeans and those of the nations, in reference to the nations of Israel.

In Romans chapters 1 and 4, Paul had established that he was writing to people descended from ancient Israelites, especially where in the Greek manuscripts of chapter 4 he informed them that Abraham was their forefather, and went on to profess that the promises of God were certain to all of Abraham’s offspring “according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.” Therefore in Romans chapter 8 Paul spoke to them of “the redemption of our body.” Then he mentioned redemption once again in 1 Corinthians chapter 1. But later, in chapter 10 of that epistle, he professed that the fathers of the Corinthians were with Moses in the Exodus, so they too must have been Israelites.

The next place in his epistles where Paul mentions redemption is in Ephesians chapter 1. There he wrote, in part: “4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. 7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; 8 Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; 9 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: 10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: 11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: 12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.”

The word προορίζω is predestinate in Ephesians 1:5 and 1:11. In the King James Version, it is also translated that way twice in Romans 8:29 and 30. But in Acts 4:28 it is “determined before” and in 1 Corinthians 2:7 “ordained before”. So it should be clear that predestination is the act of choosing something beforehand, in this case referring to people who were chosen “ before the foundation of the world”. Furthermore, where Paul stated that his readers were predestinated “according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will”, we should once again be able to see that will in the gospel and the prophets, or Paul could not have said that the mystery of his will and pleasure were made known. In Romans chapter 16 Paul professed this, where in relation to the same mystery he wrote: “25 Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, 26 But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith: 27 To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen.”

The foundation of the world, or society, is the story of the Bible. But while there was a race of men which were created, there are no men chosen until Abraham, and the promises to him were explicitly handed down to Isaac and then to Jacob alone out of all his sons. Since at that time, the society of the time of Paul did not yet exist, this was before the foundation of the world, which was the society of Paul’s time. So we read in Deuteronomy chapter 4 where Moses, speaking of Yahweh God, said to the children of Israel: “37 And because he loved thy fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them, and brought thee out in his sight with his mighty power out of Egypt…” That is when Israel was chosen; that is when Israel was predestined.

So the children of Israel were chosen and predestinated, yet they were put off in punishment for their sins, and sent off into Assyrian and Babylonian captivity. However that is why they needed to be redeemed, as we read in Isaiah chapter 52 which describes an act of redemption directly associated with the captivities of Israel where it says: “3 For thus saith the LORD, Ye have sold yourselves for nought; and ye shall be redeemed without money. 4 For thus saith the Lord GOD, My people went down aforetime into Egypt to sojourn there; and the Assyrian oppressed them without cause.” Even earlier in Isaiah, in chapter 41, we read: “8 But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend. 9 Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away.” This was written after the Assyrian deportations, as it is after the failed siege of Jerusalem by Sennacherib. A little later in that chapter of Isaiah we read a specific statement indicating that Yahweh would redeem Israel: “13 For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee. 14 Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the LORD, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.”

Then a little later, in Isaiah chapter 44, Yahweh is once again referred to as the redeemer of Israel: “6 Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.” Then later in that same chapter: “23 Sing, O ye heavens; for the LORD hath done it: shout, ye lower parts of the earth: break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein: for the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel. 24 Thus saith the LORD, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself…” Yahweh redeemed Jacob, but as Israel was still in captivity, the act had not actually yet been consummated. The consummation is found in Christ, and it is the purpose of the Gospel to announce that redemption to Israel.

Again, reading from Isaiah chapter 48 we see that promise repeated once more: “17 Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go.” Then again in Isaiah chapter 49: “7 Thus saith the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the LORD that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee.” Where it says “He shall choose thee” it speaks of the children of Israel, and not the Jews or some church. Speaking of the children of Israel in the Babylonian captivity, in the 78th Psalm Asaph wrote: “35 And they remembered that God was their rock, and the high God their redeemer.” Asaph was a prophet of the captivity.

Over a hundred years after Isaiah, speaking in reference to both Israel and Judah, we read in Jeremiah chapter 33: “24 Considerest thou not what this people have spoken, saying, The two families which the LORD hath chosen, he hath even cast them off?” In spite of that, in Jeremiah chapter 31 and in Ezekiel chapter 37 we read promises of a new covenant with Israel, and with Israel alone. Paul’s hope and his labors for the twelve tribes of Israel was ostensibly the same as that which had been expressed in the 130th Psalm where we read: “7 Let Israel hope in the LORD: for with the LORD there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption.” In Jeremiah chapter 15 there is a promise of reconciliation for Israel, and we read in a passage that should be crossed-referenced to Luke chapter 1 a promise: “21 And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible.” In Hosea chapter 13, there is another promise of redemption for Israel, not only from sin but this time from death: “14 I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.”

These prophecies which contain specific references to the redemption of Israel, and to Yahweh their God as their Redeemer, only they are where we may learn of the purpose and will of God in relation to redemption, and therefore it is only the children of Israel, and not all mankind, who are redeemed in Christ. We also saw in these words of the apostles that Christ was preordained for that purpose, but also that the children of Israel were preordained, or predestined, for that purpose. This is evident as the word προορίζω, which in the King James Version was translated as predestine, also means to ordain beforehand, and it was translated in that manner as well.

Therefore if, in the words of Paul, those who were redeemed by the cross of Christ were preordained, or “determined before”, then when was that determination made, except in the words of these prophets? There is no Scripture which bears record to the ordaining of anyone for the purposes of redemption or salvation outside of the children of Israel. The truth is that the only people who were redeemed were those who were under the law in the first place, and they were predestinated before the “foundation of the world”. So we read in Romans chapter 8: “28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. 29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.” [In all of the gifts of Christ, there is no room for anyone else but Israel.] This passage should be cross-referenced to Amos 3:2, where once again we see the need for the redemption of Israel where Yahweh speaks concerning them and we read “2 You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.” If Yahweh professed having known no one but Israel, then only Israel could be the foreknown, and it is only the foreknown who were also the called, the predestinated, the chosen and the redeemed. If anyone besides Israel can be any of these things, it must be explicitly stated in Scripture, and not merely claimed on the basis of mistranslated words, such as gentile, or phrases taken out of context, such as “all men”.

This leads us to another aspect related to this redemption, which also describes the children of Israel:

82) Strangers from the Covenants

In that same epistle of Paul where we began our discussion of redemption, in Ephesians chapter 2, we read, from the King James Version: “11 Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; 12 That at that time ye 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 ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.”

First, the Ephesians were not “Gentiles in the flesh”, which in the context of the time of Christ is a ridiculous statement. The Greek word ἔθνος never had the meaning of non-Jew, or non-Greek. The Greeks called people who were not Greek, who did not speak Greek, Barbarians, and not Gentiles or τὰ ἔθνη, which is the plural form with a definite article, and that is the form here. Furthermore, if Paul really wrote to them that “ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh” then he was also asserting that the Ephesians were no longer “Gentiles in the flesh”, and if by Gentile Paul was referring to non-Jews, does that mean that Gentiles converted to Christianity somehow become Jews? And if so, then how could there be people who are not Christians that are still called Jews?

Even further, if Christians are no longer to be of any nation, how are the leaves of the Tree of Life in the City of God for the “healing of the nations”, as we read in Revelation chapter 22? Or how could there be “nations of them which are saved” in Revelation chapter 21? But those nations are also the children of Israel. Since Paul used a definite article accompanying the word which really means nations, and not Gentiles, then he was referring to definite nations, and not just any nations. Every man is a member of one ἔθνος or another, even a Jew. But Paul was informing them that they were “the nations in the flesh”, and in relation to scripture and the promises of God, that means they were among those nations which were of the seed of Abraham, the many nations which his descendants would become, for which reason Paul was communicating to them this message. Paul used a similar statement in 1 Corinthians chapter 10, where he described “Israel according to the flesh” as being one and the same as the nations, not Gentiles, which were sacrificing to idols.

Additionally, we must notice that in that clause the King James Version added a word which is not in the original, which is being. Furthermore, the word aliens in verse 12 is a noun in English, but the Greek word from which it was translated, ἀπαλλοτριόω, is a verb which means to estrange or to alienate, and it is not a noun. So, leaving intact all which we can of the original King James language, we must translate the Greek passage to read: “11 Wherefore remember that ye in time past, the Nations in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; 12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being alienated 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 ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.”

The word ξένος translated as stranger in this passage does not describe someone of another race or nation, but rather only a guest, someone with an expectation of kindness or hospitality. The children of Israel were strangers to the covenants of promise because they were alienated from the commonwealth of Israel. In order to be alienated from something, one must have at one time been a part of that thing. There is another word in verse 19 of this chapter, πάροικος, which is sojourners but which the King James Version translated as foreigners, where it says “19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God…”

Liddell & Scott explain that πάροικος is an adjective which means dwelling beside or near, and then where it is used as a Substantive, or noun, it is a sojourner, alien, where they cite the New Testament. The corresponding noun παροικία is defined as a sojourning in a foreign land, where they also cite the New Testament. But there are other ways to say alien to refer to people of another race, and a πάροικος can only be an alien if he is the one who is engaged in a παροικία, a sojourning, whereby he is an alien only from the perspective of the people of the land where he is sojourning. Paul may have been seen as a πάροικος by the Ephesians, but an Ephesian in his own land could not have been a πάροικος to Paul, as it was Paul who was in their land. Here the Ephesians to whom Paul writes are not in Israel or in any other land but Ephesus, so being Ephesians in Ephesus they cannot be aliens in the manner of a πάροικος unless they are not originally from Ephesus.

So Paul is essentially informing the Ephesians that they are descendants of the ancient Israelites, who in ancient times were alienated from Israel, because historically speaking, they were not really from Ephesus. Moreover, the covenants of promise are not a reference to the Levitical covenant, which was not of promise. Rather, the Levitical covenant demanded the obedience of Israel, and for that they were put off in punishment, and the covenant was broken, as it is explained quite explicitly in Jeremiah chapter 31 and in Zechariah chapter 11. The covenants of promise are the unconditional covenants made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, which Yahweh had to keep, and for which He promised a new covenant. The new covenant was also promised exclusively to the children of Israel, in Jeremiah chapter 31 and Ezekiel chapters 20, 34 and 37.

So if the Ephesians were Israelites who were scattered among the nations by Yahweh, as foretold by the prophets, then they would be sojourners, and Paul is describing them as having been alienated from Israel. Sojourners are emigrants, not merely immigrants. A people alienated from their own nation and living abroad are sojourners, for that reason. But Paul could not have called the Ephesians πάροικος if they were in Ephesus, unless they were really not originally from Ephesus, and he was explaining that to them. Speaking of the punishment of Israel we read in Jeremiah chapter 14, from the Septuagint: “O Lord, thou art the hope of Israel, and deliverest us in time of troubles; why art thou become as a sojourner upon the land, or as one born in the land, yet turning aside for a resting-place?” There in that passage this same word, πάροικος, appears where in English we see sojourner.

So after making this statement describing the Ephesians as having been strangers, or sojourners, and as having been alienated from Israel, Paul attests that they were from that time “19 … fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; 20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone…” Therefore once again we must understand that all of these statements in the New Testament must be understood in accordance with the prophecies concerning the ancient children of Israel in the Old Testament.

We shall revisit the epistle to the Ephesians again, when we discuss Paul’s having referred to his ministry as the ministry of reconciliation. First we shall discuss another concept found in the New Testament, but only in Paul’s epistles, and that is adoption.