Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible

Guest (Male): The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals presents the timeless teaching of Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: God has purposes in this earth that concern individuals, but God also has purposes in this world which concern nations and even society as a whole.

Guest (Male): Our present text contains announcements that are of tremendous import in world history, for there is nothing less here than the announcement of the setting aside of the Gentile world power and a return to national governmental supervision by God’s ancient people Israel. Again, we think it necessary to outline the whole course of world events as set forth in the word of God.

Over a half a century ago, the late Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse, then pastor of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, saw the need to spread God’s word beyond the hearing of his local congregation. He started the radio ministry which has become known as Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible. The application of God’s word as taught by Dr. Barnhouse is as relevant today as when he first taught over the radio airwaves decades ago.

The message we'll be featuring on today's edition of Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible is entitled "Israel to be Restored." The Gospel of John declares that Jesus came unto his own, but his own did not receive him. The religious leaders and the people of Israel overwhelmingly rejected their Messiah and today the majority of Jews continue to reject him. Will Israel continue in unbelief or will there come a day when they acknowledge Jesus Christ as their Messiah and King and be restored?

The scripture text for this edition of Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible is Romans chapter 11. We're looking at verses 23 and 24. Here again is Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse with a message entitled "Israel to be Restored."

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: Through the Lord Jesus Christ, we come unto thee our Father and our God and in the Holy Spirit. We thank thee for the wonder of thy salvation and the way in which thou hast carried out thine eternal plan. Thou didst choose us in Christ and make it possible for us to have life through his death. May we know what it is today to feed upon this truth and thus grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. We ask it in the name and for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

We come now to our study in the 11th chapter of the Epistle to the Romans beginning with verse 23. "They also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in: for God is able to graft them in again. For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?"

When Adam sinned, all mankind died spiritually. In the Garden of Eden, God was dealing with individuals. After the expulsion from the garden and down through the centuries until Noah, God was dealing with families. After the flood, God separated the human race into three divisions and made certain definite prophecies concerning their future. His chosen people would come out of Shem. Satan would attempt to destroy Shem, and hence anti-Semitism throughout the centuries.

The family of Ham would be Satan’s first effort to destroy God’s people and frustrate God’s plans. Ham was Egypt, the Philistines, the Hittites, and the Carthaginians. The Gentile powers of Japheth successively defeated the various branches of the power of Ham, ending in the destruction of Carthage by Rome. From that time on, the power of Japheth was fully established in the world and continues to dominate the world scene today.

Israel was a nation that came to its peak under Solomon. But soon afterwards, God’s severity had to be manifested against His people because of their idolatry, and as a nation, Israel was broken off from the covenant relationship like branches may be broken from an olive tree. In their place, God confirmed the power of Japheth nationally, which power continues today. Now the argument as presented in our text continues.

When the time that has been foretold shall come to its full moment, God will break off the governing branches of the Gentile nations and shall graft the Jews back in again, ultimately establishing them in the land of Israel as His own people. When this event has taken place, the true church will have been removed from the earth scene and all Israel will become believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Then the entire world will be governed from Jerusalem, its geographical center, and the Jews will be the colonial administrators of all human government, being supervised from above by a visible Christ, reigning with us, the true church, as His invisible bride. We are now brought in our study of Romans to one of the key verses of the entire Bible. Understand Romans 11:25 and you will understand much of the Bible and much of world history and current events.

Fail to understand Romans 11:25 and you will make hash of much of the Bible and remain in darkness concerning much of world history and of current events. This important verse reads, "For I would not, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you be wise in your own conceits: that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved."

Now there are several very important components in this verse, and it's necessary to look at each one separately and then put them all together. First, the question of the relationship of Jew and Gentile is one that God does not want to be obscured. The Greek phrase is one that is used on several occasions by the Holy Spirit: "I would not have you to be ignorant."

Now when God Almighty tells us that he does not want us to be ignorant about a matter, we may be sure that it is important and that there is sufficient light in the scriptures to clarify the subject. In other passages, he tells us that he does not want us to be ignorant concerning the present and future state of believers who have died. We are not to be ignorant of Satan’s devices.

We are not to be ignorant of the reason why prayers remain unanswered and plans fail. He does not want us to be ignorant of the fact that in holiness he must deal with his people when they rebel against him and are unrepentant. And in this present text, he does not want us to be ignorant of the mysterion, the mystery, the secret concerning the temporary blindness of Israel.

In modern English, a mystery is something that is unknown and that men seek to find out by diligent study and investigation. We're well aware of the use of the word mystery to describe a detective story in which a crime is committed by a person or persons unknown, and the authorities seek to find the answer to the problem. In ancient Greek, the word was commonly used for matters that were very well known to those who were initiated into the knowledge of rites and ceremonies and philosophies that were unknown to the outsider in the particular religion.

In which these mysteries were well known to its followers. Those on the outside did not know, but those on the inside knew and understood very well. It is in this way that the Bible uses the word mystery. There were truths which had been hidden before but which were now made crystal clear. The first use of the word is by our Lord Jesus Christ himself, when he first answered the disciples giving them the reason for the use of parables.

We read it in Matthew 13. Christ answered and said unto them, "Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given." Now the doctrine of the kingdom rule of the Messiah was one of the best-known truths of the Old Testament. There was nothing hidden about it. Anyone, even the most unbelieving Gentile, could have read the Old Testament and become aware that the earthly kingdom of Israel under the Messiah was announced in meticulous detail.

What was not announced was that this kingdom would have a secret phase when truth would go from heart to heart without any outward manifestation of royalty, pomp, or circumstance. The matter is fully explained a few verses later in the chapter. "All these things Jesus spoke unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable he did not speak unto them: so that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world."

Now I repeat: the outward kingdom had been prophesied and described in detail. There was no mystery about it at all. But the fact that there would be a secret phase of the kingdom in which God would call Gentiles to share with Israel in all of the promises was unheard of to some, unthinkable, but nevertheless, the truth of God. This is that which is further described in the Epistle to the Ephesian church.

Where we read, "By revelation God made known unto me the mystery; which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel." Now all of these verses concerning the mysteries are bound together in the revelation of God’s plan.

In the Old Testament, he had dealt with Israel and there was small hint of any dealings with any other group. Yet as we have seen in our study of previous verses, there were hints, even broad statements of his purposes for the Gentiles, and Israel should have paid sharp attention to these verses. If there is ever anything that seems to go contrary to the full-flowing stream of scripture truth, we will do well to pay close attention in order to find out where it fits into the whole of God’s plan.

The prophets of the Old Testament times looked forward into history as a mountain climber might look forward across succeeding ranges. He sees the peak he wishes to attain and plans his route, thinking that when he reaches a certain point, he will be close to the summit. But to his great disappointment, he discovers on reaching the point that there is a long slope down into a valley that was hidden from his first place of observation and that from that valley there will be another hard climb to the final summit.

In my student days, I did a great deal of mountain climbing in Europe, and once with a young Frenchman and a young Swiss, we approached together the highest peak in Europe, Mont Blanc. We were climbing this peak from the very well-known refuge Vallot, the Vallot refuge, on the slopes of Mont Blanc. We reached a certain place that I took to be our last and final peak and, reaching the summit, had the hard realization that we were on Mont Maudit, which in English means "cursed mountain," and that we had another hour of descent and climb to the ultimate goal.

Many curses must have been pronounced there by despairing men who realized upon arrival that they had been deceived by their own senses as to the path that lay before them. Now Isaiah, Jeremiah, and the others had looked ahead under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and had described two peaks that lay in direct line of sight. Both concerned works of the Messiah. The first line of prophecy in the Old Testament described a suffering Messiah, a lamb led as a sheep to the slaughter.

He was to be meek and lowly, riding upon an ass, the colt and foal of an ass. He was to come out of Bethlehem and was to be despised and rejected of men, a man with no form nor comeliness nor any beauty that men should desire him. He would be put to death by men with his hands and feet pierced, while soldiers below would gamble for possession of his garments. All of these things are stated in the Psalms and in Isaiah and in other prophecy.

The second line of prophecy told of a splendid sovereign, resistless and holy, ruling with a rod of iron and dashing his enemies to pieces as a potter’s vessel. He would sit upon the throne of his father David and of his kingdom there would be no end. He would restore Israel and bring the land into peace and blessing and fruitfulness. These were the two peaks that lay in the line of vision of the Jewish people.

They had their eyes so filled with the second glorious peak that they did not know when they came to stand on the first. The Messiah was to die on the mountain of Calvary, but he was to bring triumph from heaven to the Mount of Olives. The nation in its miserable slavery under Rome and in the pride of its desire to run its own affairs without the true God saw nothing but the prophecy of glory. Even John the Baptist was bewildered by what he saw.

He had expected the Messiah to triumph gloriously and himself to be a partaker of that glory. Instead, he found himself in prison and seemingly Jesus was doing nothing about it. He sent his disciples to question the Lord saying, "Are you the one who is to come or do we look for someone else?" Christ sent a gentle answer to him telling of all the spiritual blessings that were being accomplished and ending with this warning, "And blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me."

Paraphrased, this might read, "I am come now to perform the works that will lead to my suffering and crucifixion death. The triumph will come much later. Blessed is the man who does not have his eyes so filled with the light of the promises of glory that he shall be blinded to the fact that Messiah must first come to suffer and to die." All that lay between the first mountain of suffering and the second mountain of glory was hidden to the men of the Old Testament times.

It is still hidden from those who do not see this double line of truth. All of this is the mystery that was unknown before the time of Christ but which was made crystal clear when he announced it after his resurrection and when the Holy Spirit made it plain through Saint Paul. On the road to Emmaus, on the day that our Lord Jesus rose from the dead, he said to the two disciples who showed that they had not understood what had happened at Calvary, "Oh foolish ones and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Ought not the Messiah to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory?"

Now to the believers at Rome and through this epistle to all the world of men, the Lord makes his plans clear. He announces that he does not want men to be ignorant of his plans in connection with the differences between the first coming and the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Here in Romans is the other side of the coin that is described in Ephesians. There, we are told that between the mountain of Calvary and the mountain of the Lord’s return, the gospel will be set before all mankind and that we who were formerly Gentiles could and would be brought into the promises along with believing Israel.

And thus the church side of this double truth is set forth. But now in our text in Romans, we are being told that all that has taken place during the past 1900 years cannot nullify the promises that had been made to Israel back in Old Testament times and that we are to expect God ultimately to continue where he left off at the moment Israel was temporarily suspended from the place of prime blessing. The specific items which God now details for our knowledge are five in number.

One: a judicial blindness has fallen on the nation of Israel. Two: that blindness has fallen on only a part of this people, for even today some are acknowledging the Lord Jesus personally as Savior from sin. Three: the blindness that is upon Israel is temporary since it lasts only until the times of the Gentiles shall be fulfilled. Four: the end of the times of the Gentiles shall come. Five: at that time, all Israel then living on this earth shall be saved.

We have looked at the first point concerning judicial blindness and have seen it in some detail in the earlier studies in this chapter. Since it was therein set forth that the table of Israel had been made a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a recompense, and that their eyes had been darkened by their own acts of unbelief and idolatry. It has also been seen that there were individuals of whom Paul cites himself as an example who had not departed from God, thus proving that God had not cast off his people.

He further illustrates this fact by reminding us that there were 7,000 in the days of Elijah who had not bowed the knee to Baal and that the same principle still holds good in this day. The little word that makes this verse so important is "until." When the verse was first written, the readers did not have our advantage of 1900 years of history furnishing great illumination and illustration of the word of God. The word "until" must be understood exactly as we use it commonly today.

Johnny, you can stay up until nine o'clock. Mary, you can have the car until supper time. Sir, the bank will lend you this money until the first of the year. Now we understand the meaning of these sentences without any doubt whatsoever. It is thus that we must understand our text. A hardening has come upon part of Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. We can restate this truth in another form: when the fullness of the Gentiles shall come in, the blindness of Israel shall be done away with.

When God comes to the time of the judgment of the Gentiles, he will restore Israel to her former place of privilege with himself. The very important question then arises: what is the fullness of the Gentiles? The Revised Standard Version has gone against all linguistic standards in interpreting this verse instead of translating it, for in the RSV it reads, "until the full number of the Gentiles be come in." But the fullness of the Gentiles is not a question of number but of judgment.

The fullness of the Gentiles means that the abominable sins of the Gentile nations fill up the cup of wrath which God shall pour upon them at the second coming of Christ. Our Lord used a phrase that leads us to this same conclusion. He prophesied that Jerusalem would be destroyed, and this took place about 40 years after his death in the year AD 70. Christ said in Luke 21, "And they shall fall by the edge of the sword and shall be led away captive into all nations, and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles shall be fulfilled."

After describing the great signs that shall take place in the sun, the moon, and the stars, with the great distress that shall take place upon the earth, he concludes, "And then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory." Now at this point, we must read the whole Bible through in order to see what the Lord is going to do at that second coming to this earth. There can be no doubt that there are scores of verses which promise blessings on national Israel at that time.

On the other hand, there can be no doubt that there are scores of verses which tell us that he shall rule over the nations, the Gentiles, the Goyim, with a rod of iron and shall dash his enemies to pieces as a potter’s vessel. As I look out over the whole of the Bible, the Old and the New Testaments, I see the matter in this way: God has builded a dam of his patience and has decided in advance the exact breaking point of that dam when it shall be filled with his wrath.

Throughout the centuries, the wrath level has been rising like the water level rises behind a dam. God has announced that the day will come when the wrath level will push down the dam and that then his wrath will flow in judgment. This wrath level is the fullness of the Gentiles. Slowly it has been rising throughout many centuries. It may be nearer the breaking point than we think. But surely the breaking point will be reached. Surely the fullness of the Gentiles shall come in.

Surely the Gentile powers shall be destroyed. Surely the moment of God’s blessings for Israel shall come. The Lord Jesus Christ will appear at the end of the swirling maelstrom of wrath and all Israel shall see him, looking upon him whom they have pierced. And there will not be one member of the ancient race living on the earth at that time who will fail to see that he, Jesus, is the promised Messiah as well as the crucified and risen Savior. And they will all believe in him at that day.

Only then will God be able to pour out on this earth such blessings as the world has never seen. Only then shall come righteousness and peace. There is no other way. And our God and Father, we can only cry, "Hasten that day. Come quickly, Lord Jesus." Hear us, we pray thee, and bless this truth to every heart. We give thee glory and praise through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Guest (Male): The scriptures foretell the future restoration of Israel and point to Jesus as their Messiah. Has God restored you to fellowship with him through faith in Israel's Messiah? You have been listening to Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible. We hope you have benefited from today's message entitled "Israel to be Restored." You may listen to additional Bible teaching by Dr. Barnhouse via the internet. Visit us online at alliancenet.org.

An audio copy of today's teaching is available by calling us toll-free: 1-800-488-1888. Today's message again is entitled "Israel to be Restored," or simply request message number R11-9. We would also like to make available to you a free copy of our booklet entitled "Declaration of Dependence." The Declaration of Independence was one of the most important events in American history, but Adam's declaration of independence from God was the most tragic event in human history.

This free booklet calls believers to turn away from spiritual autonomy, independence, and self-will and to reaffirm our complete dependence on the Lord. Ask for your free copy of "Declaration of Dependence" when you call or write. Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible is a radio ministry of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. We exist to promote a biblical understanding and worldview.

Drawing upon the insight and wisdom of Reformation theologians from decades and even centuries gone by, we seek to provide contemporary Christian teaching which will equip believers to understand and meet the challenges and opportunities of our time and place. We also produce the radio broadcast "The Bible Study Hour" featuring the teachings of the late Dr. James Montgomery Boice, and "Every Last Word" featuring the teaching of Dr. Philip Graham Ryken.

For a full list of radio stations carrying our programs, please visit our website at alliancenet.org. Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible comes to you through the generous gifts of our listeners. If you have benefited from the broadcast and would like it to continue, please prayerfully consider a donation to help us keep this ministry on the air. For more information or to make a contribution to help further our work, contact us by calling toll-free 1-800-488-1888.

That's 1-800-488-1888. You may also write us at Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, Box 2000, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103. Visit us online at alliancenet.org. Be sure to ask for a free resource catalog featuring books, audio teachings, commentaries, booklets, videos, and a wealth of other materials from outstanding reformed teachers and theologians, including Donald Grey Barnhouse, Dr. James Montgomery Boice, Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones, and Dr. Philip Graham Ryken. Thanks for listening. Join us again next time for more classic teaching on Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible.