Ruth the Moabite became an Israelite. What initiated her into the People of Israel? Her faith, G-d's grace, right?
Ephesians 2 says that Gentiles are saved by grace and brought "near" by the blood of Yeshua so that they are citizens in Israel. In other words, Gentiles should rejoice because they can join the People of Israel and have salvation, receiving in faith that which is given by grace.
But didn't Ruth also join the People of Israel and have salvation? Receiving in faith that which was given to her by the grace of G-d?
So Ruth received the benefits specified in Ephesians 2 before the New Covenant was ever given?
Here's the real question that I've been leading up to:
It is written that the New Covenant is made only with Israel. Yet Israel includes even Gentiles like Ruth who had not accepted Yeshua as the Messiah, Gentiles who belonged to Israel simply because they rejected idolatry and accepted both the G-d of Israel and the People of Israel and proceeded to live according to the Way of Life defined in the Torah of Moses ("...if you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in His ways. So all the peoples of the earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD..." Deut. 28).
QUESTION:
So doesn't that mean that the "Israel" with whom the New Covenant was made includes Gentiles (since Israel has always included Gentiles such as Ruth)?
[My hope is that certain people will not be offended by my asking this question and that we can all have a civil discussion]
By faith, Ruth ceased to be a Gentile and became a member of the household of faith.
ReplyDeleteRomans 9:6-8 comes to mind. She replaced no one, but was joined TO Israel.
Getting popcorn....
Yes.
ReplyDeleteBut I thought you believed the New Covenant wasn't made with Gentiles?
DeleteJeremiah 31:31 The House of Israel and the House of Judah...
DeleteNo individual Gentiles or Jews for that matter.
Hadn't thought of that... Interesting. It's made with a "House"...
DeleteA most excellent way of phrasing these questions! My only contention is that there's no easy way to reblog from Blogspot to Wordpress, which made it a little complicated to do so this evening. My reblog is at http://thebarkingfox.com/2015/05/04/if-not-the-blood-of-yeshua-what-brought-ruth-near-to-the-g-d-of-israel/.
ReplyDeleteQuestion; If Gentiles are indeed made part of Israel via the New Covenant, are we still called Gentiles?
Comment: One thing I like a lot about your reasoning here is that it invites us to consider how our Creator, Who exists outside of time, can work things backward and forward through time however He chooses. The epistle of Hebrews addresses this in chapter 11 in the context of how all those saints of ages past looked forward to Messiah's work of redemption and to the fulfillment of all the other promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I can't profess to understand it, but it does seem that there is more to the process of salvation than we perceive.
Al,
DeleteRE: "...it does seem that there is more to the process of salvation than we perceive."
Amein!
RE: "Question; If Gentiles are indeed made part of Israel via the New Covenant, are we still called Gentiles?"
Recovering Gentiles. : )
Fellas, It is entirely possible ,that the grace you speak of was instituted "by the lamb slain from the foundation of the world"( Rev 13.8 KJV)
ReplyDeletewhat do you all think??
Love D
Yes, that's a very deep subject. On the one hand, Yeshua is outside of time (not being limited by space-time) and so His atonement would theoretically have been available from eternity; on the other hand, if His atonement had always been available then there would've been no need for a New Covenant (since the Old Covenant would've had direct access to Yeshua's atonement). This is a paradox. But I'm okay with that! : )
DeleteMuch love to you, brother. Thank you for your comment!
I have to go to NY. Maybe we can pick up this thread next week??
DeleteOf course. Have fun in the Big Apple! : )
DeleteBy the way, try Mahmoud's Falafel if you're into falafel. Mahmoud's is the best in world. Ah...now I'm hungry...
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