THE HOPE OF ISRAEL - The Preterist Archive

The Hope of Israel: What Is It? 89
connection God says, "And the former shall not be remembered
or come upon the heart (marg.). But be ye
glad and rejoice forever in that which I create: For
behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people
a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in My
people ;
and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard
in her, nor the voice of crying" (Isa. 65:17-19. See
Rev. 21:4).
What we have said above about this new "nation"
finds strong support in the word spoken by Christ to
the leaders of the Jews :
"Therefore say I unto you, The Kingdom of God shall be
taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits
thereof" (Mat. 21:43).
And He has clearly identified that "nation" by the
word He spoke to His disciples, "Fear not, little flock ;
for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the
kingdom" (Lu. 12:32).
Clearly then the kingdom of God was not to remain
with that nation ;
nor was that nation itself to be converted
in millennial times, or ever ; but on the contrary,
the kingdom was to be "taken from" them, and given
to another nation. That Divine act of taking the kingdom
from the one nation and giving it to the other
(specially created to that end) was, of course, a finality.
And in this connection we would bring to mind that,
immediately following Isaiah 53, where the sufferings,
death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord are foretold,
is a prophecy concerning the barren woman who
was to become a joyful mother of children, whose
Maker was to be her Husband, and of whose children
it is said that they shall be all taught of the Lord, that
their peace shall be great, and "their righteousness is