THE HOPE OF ISRAEL - The Preterist Archive

238 The Hope of Israel: What Is It?
Christ to the Gentiles" (v. 16), is citing 0. T. Scriptures
to show what were God's purposes and promises
from of old concerning the Gentiles. His promises in
that regard began with the assurance given to Abraham
that in his Seed should all the nations of the earth
be blessed (Gen. 22:18). Those promises were renewed
through Moses, David, and Isaiah; as the apostle
in this passage sets forth. And those were "the promises
made unto the fathers" that Christ came "to confirm."
Yet the writer of the article we are reviewing
ignores the perfectly plain sense of the passage, and
takes it for granted, first, that God had promised the
fathers of Israel that He would reconstitute that nation
in a post-gospel era (whereas He promised no such
thing, but the very opposite) ;
and second, that Christ
came to confirm that (purely imaginary) promise.
Surely the importance of the matter at issue demands
at least a serious attempt to show that the Scriptures
quoted lend support to the view advocated by, the one
who quotes them. But none is made in the paper
now under review.
Following this is a very cursory reference to Romans
11, from which several short bits are quoted, and
again with no explanation of the bearing of the quotations.
It is my understanding of the matter, and in
another chapter (Chap. XVII) I have attempted to
show, that Romans 11 contains proof of the most conclusive
sort that there is no future 'in the purposes of
God for the natural seed of Jacob as a nation, but that
there is the hope and promise of personal salvation for
individual Israelites "if they abide not still in unbelief"
(Rom. 11:23).
Lastly Acts 15:14-17 is quoted, and it is stated that
the phrase "After this" means after this present gos-