James 1:1 James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad: Greetings.
We have already mentioned that Israel after the flesh is the shadow of the Israel of God. We have also seen in the previous section that God divided the nation of Israel into twelve tribes founded by the twelve sons of Jacob. And so we see that God did that to mirror the twelve tribes that constitute the Israel of God. The apostle James confirms that truth for us in the above-quoted passage of scripture, for in this passage James is not writing to the Jewish nation, he is writing to the church; and in doing so, he refers to the church as the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad. And so we see two truths revealed to us in this passage. Firstly, we see that the Israel of God, which includes both Jewish and Gentile believers, is made up of twelve tribes. Secondly, we see that God views His saints as being scattered abroad throughout the earth.
1 Peter 1:1-2 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, (2) elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied.
We have seen in the previous passage that the apostle James referred to the church as the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad. In the above-quoted passage of scripture, we see that the apostle Peter concurs with James' statement, for in this passage, Peter is not writing to the Jewish nation, he is also writing to the church; and in doing so, he refers to the church as the pilgrims of the Dispersion. So what does that statement mean? When the Lord refers to His saints as pilgrims, He is confirming the truth that this world is not our home and that we are just pilgrims who are passing through. So why does the Lord refer to His saints as the Dispersion in this passage? The answer to that question is given to us when we look at Israel after the flesh; for the term "Dispersion" is used to describe Jews who live outside of their God-given homeland, i.e. the land of Israel (John 7:35). And so we see that the Jewish nation mirrors the Israel of God in this area as well, for the term "Dispersion" describes the saints on earth living outside of their God-given homeland, i.e. the new Jerusalem (Revelation 21:1-3). And so we see that both James and Peter refer to the church as being scattered/dispersed throughout the earth.
Isaiah 11:9-16 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord As the waters cover the sea. (10) "And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, Who shall stand as a banner to the people; for the Gentiles shall seek Him, and His resting place shall be glorious." (11) It shall come to pass in that day That the Lord shall set His hand again the second time To recover the remnant of His people who are left, From Assyria and Egypt, From Pathros and Cush, From Elam and Shinar, From Hamath and the islands of the sea. (12) He will set up a banner for the nations and will assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. (13) Also the envy of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off; Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not harass Ephraim. (14) But they shall fly down upon the shoulder of the Philistines toward the west; together they shall plunder the people of the East; they shall lay their hand on Edom and Moab; and the people of Ammon shall obey them. (15) The Lord will utterly destroy the tongue of the Sea of Egypt; With His mighty wind, He will shake His fist over the River, and strike it in the seven streams, and make men cross over dry-shod. (16) There will be a highway for the remnant of His people who will be left from Assyria, as it was for Israel in the day that he came up from the land of Egypt.
In the previous passages, we established that the Israel of God is referred to as being scattered/dispersed throughout the earth. This particular truth helps us to correctly interpret prophetic scripture dealing with the recovery of the remnant of God's people for example. The above-quoted passage of scripture is a case in point; for it refers to the Lord recovering the remnant of His people throughout the earth. In this passage the Lord specifically refers to a second time that He will do this, thus implying that there are two gatherings of the remnant of His people. Because they only recognize one Israel, many bible scholars interpret this passage to mean that God's first recovery of the remnant of His people took place when the Jews returned from Babylonian captivity in the year 539 BC, and the second recovery of the remnant of His people began when the Jews started to return to the newly created State of Israel in the year 1948. However, because this passage also refers to the various nations of the earth obeying the remnant of God's people, these various bible scholars are therefore forced to create an unscriptural dispensation, during which the nation of Israel will govern the earth. Because the subject matter of this series deals primarily with the nation of Israel, we will discuss both the 539 BC and 1948 AD events in detail, and what we will see is that the first recovery refers to the 1948 event, not the 539 BC event, thus indicating that the second recovery event has not yet taken place. That particular truth aligns with the context of the above-quoted passage of scripture, which deals specifically with the second coming of the Lord Jesus and His gathering together of the church (the Israel of God). In other words, it has nothing to do with the nation of Israel; and so because we have established the truth of two Israel's, we can therefore correctly interpret this passage of scripture to show that the second recovery event refers to Israel of God and not Israel after the flesh.
Michael E.B. Maher
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