Two Folds made one.
Apr 23, 2020 22:20:52 GMT -5
Post by Radrook Admin on Apr 23, 2020 22:20:52 GMT -5
Two Folds made one.
Clearly, Jesus spoke of two folds that would be made one.
John 10:16
“And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.”
“And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.”
In order to understand this scripture we need to know what these two folds were. First we have the nation of Israel who was in covenant relationship with the creator based on God’s promise to Abraham that through his seed, or descendants all nations would be blessed.
Genesis 22:18
and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me."
and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me."
It was a promise that based on the words of God spoken to Adam and Eve after they sinned. Words that promised a savior he referred to as the seed.
Genesis 3:15 (NKJV)
And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel.”
And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel.”
God chose to provide this seed, this savior, to mankind through the line of Noah, Shem, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob who would later be called Israel, and via the tribe of his sone named Judah, through the lineage of king David of that tribe to Jesus the seed.
Matthew 1:1
This is the record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham:
This is the record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham:
During this interval of time, the Nation of Israel would be in a covenant relationship with the creator established at Mount Sinai until the arrival of the Messiah. The rest of the world would remain distant.
Ex 19:8
7So Moses went back and summoned the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the LORD had commanded him. 8And all the people answered together, “We will do everything that the LORD has spoken.” So Moses brought their words back to the LORD.
7So Moses went back and summoned the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the LORD had commanded him. 8And all the people answered together, “We will do everything that the LORD has spoken.” So Moses brought their words back to the LORD.
Then a new covenant would be inaugurated and the rest of mankind, which Israelites called gentiles would be permitted to come into a covenant relationship with God as well. This new Covenant is mentioned to the Hebrew Christians in one of Paul’s letters.
[Hebrews 8:4-13
” But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises.read more.
For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second. For finding fault with them, He says,
“Behold, days are coming, says the Lord,
When I will effect a new covenant
With the house of Israel and with the house of Judah;
Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers
On the day when I took them by the hand
To lead them out of the land of Egypt;
For they did not continue in My covenant,
And I did not care for them, says the Lord.
“For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
After those days, says the Lord:
I will put My laws into their minds,
And I will write them on their hearts.
And I will be their God,
And they shall be My people.
“And they shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen,
And everyone his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’
For all will know Me,
From the least to the greatest of them.
“For I will be merciful to their iniquities,
And I will remember their sins no more.”
When He said, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.
” But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises.read more.
For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second. For finding fault with them, He says,
“Behold, days are coming, says the Lord,
When I will effect a new covenant
With the house of Israel and with the house of Judah;
Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers
On the day when I took them by the hand
To lead them out of the land of Egypt;
For they did not continue in My covenant,
And I did not care for them, says the Lord.
“For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
After those days, says the Lord:
I will put My laws into their minds,
And I will write them on their hearts.
And I will be their God,
And they shall be My people.
“And they shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen,
And everyone his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’
For all will know Me,
From the least to the greatest of them.
“For I will be merciful to their iniquities,
And I will remember their sins no more.”
When He said, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.
So with the arrival of Jesus and the offering of his life as a ransom sacrifice for all mankind, the spiritual division between Israel and rest of mankind would be dissolved. They would become one flock with one shepherd as Jesus had promised under a new covenant.
Galatians 3:28 NIV
There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 4:4 "One body there is, and one spirit, even as YOU were called in the one hope to which YOU were called; "
1 Corinthians 12:13 "For truly by one spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink one spirit.
There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 4:4 "One body there is, and one spirit, even as YOU were called in the one hope to which YOU were called; "
1 Corinthians 12:13 "For truly by one spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink one spirit.
In his letter to the Gentile Christians who lived in Ephesus Paul mde this unification of the two flocks very clear.
Ephesians 2:11-18 "Therefore keep bearing in mind that formerly YOU were people of the nations as to flesh; "uncircumcision" YOU were called by that which is called "circumcision" made in the flesh with hands- that YOU were at that particular time without Christ, alienated from the state of Israel and strangers to the covenants of the promise, and YOU had no hope and were without God in the world. But now in union with Christ Jesus YOU who were once far off have come to be near by the blood of the Christ.
For he is our peace, he who made the two parties one and destroyed the wall in between that fenced them off. By means of his flesh he abolished the enmity, the Law of commandments consisting in decrees, that he might create the two peoples in union with himself into one new man and make peace; and that he might fully reconcile both peoples in one body to God through the torture stake, because he had killed off the enmity by means of himself. And he came and declared the good news of peace to YOU, the ones far off, and peace to those near, because through him we, both peoples, have the approach to the Father by one spirit.
For he is our peace, he who made the two parties one and destroyed the wall in between that fenced them off. By means of his flesh he abolished the enmity, the Law of commandments consisting in decrees, that he might create the two peoples in union with himself into one new man and make peace; and that he might fully reconcile both peoples in one body to God through the torture stake, because he had killed off the enmity by means of himself. And he came and declared the good news of peace to YOU, the ones far off, and peace to those near, because through him we, both peoples, have the approach to the Father by one spirit.
One flock under one shepherd just as Jesus had promised. So there is absolutely no scriptural basis to conclude that the other sheep Jesus mentioned refers to Christians who would live on Earth instead of going to heaven as is taught by the WTBTS.