[CS-FSLUG] TD: CS-BibleStudy: Hosea Chapter 1

[Ed Hurst]

Nigel Ridley wrote:
> 31 "Behold, you will conceive in your womb, and bring forth a son, and
> will call his name 'Jesus.' 32 He will be great, and will be called the
> Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his
> father, David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever.
> There will be no end to his kingdom."
> 
> Doesn't this, together with:
> 
> 6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked him, "Lord, are you
> now restoring the kingdom to Israel?
> 7 He said to them, "It isn't for you to know times or seasons which the
> Father has set within His own authority."
> Acts 1:6-7
> 
> mean that the Israelite kingdom is yet to have it's fulfillment?

(Keep in mind, I have a tremendous difficulty memorizing addresses for 
references -- it's not how my brain works. I'm hoping you'll recognize 
the references.)

Not in my view. Paul says more than once that we in Christ are the 
Israel of God. We are grafted in, after many branches were removed.  In 
light of what Hosea and other prophets say about the Messianic Kingdom 
I'm pretty sure the message from the angel was about this New Israel. In 
reference to our previous conversation, I believe the Disciples were 
asking Jesus about those false Messianic Expectations about Israel 
keeping her old identity in the Kingdom, by ruling the world as a 
continuation of the Mosaic Covenant. At that point, they had not yet 
received the Holy Spirit's enlightenment, which was going to wash that 
silly stuff from their minds. We are of those who worship Him in Spirit 
and in Truth (John 4) because the place and DNA no longer matter. They 
were still thinking of the DNA and the location model.

Naturally, I haven't spent a lot of time on some of this, because the 
question doesn't arise if you reject Dispensationalism to begin with. 
I'm not the best authority on the apologetics of defeating that view.

-- 
Ed Hurst
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