Biblical Hermeneutics

PRINCIPLES OF BIBLICAL HERMENETICS ; M. M. NINAN
From Genesis twelve to Calvary there were thus two ethnic divisions in the Bible, the Jews
and the Gentiles. The Jewish nation was selected not for any particular reason other than to
be the Priests to the nations. They were to declare the good news of God's love to all the
world. Even though they preserved the word of God for the future, they refused to minister
to the nations. As a result this election was removed and at the Pentecost a third class of
people came into existence to be the Priests to the nations, the church. New Testament was
essentially given to the Church. It is thus vital to proper Biblical Hermeneutics to distinguish
these contexts to properly understand the Bible. .
As Paul said in Romans nine, to the Jews belong the adoption as sons, the glory of the
covenants, the giving of the law, temple worship, promises, patriarchs, and the human
descent of Christ Jesus.
JEW: John 4:22—Salvation is of the Jew;
Romans 3:1, 2— Jews given the Oracles of God;
They were chosen to be
(1) Witnesses,
(2) Writers of Scripture,
(3) A channel through which Christ came into the world.
GENTILE: Ephesians 2:11, 12, Ephesians 4:17-19, Mark 7:27, 28
CHURCH: Ephesians 1:22, 23, Ephesians 2:14, 15, Ephesians 5:29-33 & I Peter 2:9.
The church is made up of both Jews and Gentiles as the Jews brought salvation to the entire
world through their Messiah. The wall that separated the Jews and Gentiles was broken down
in Christ .
This mystery of the church age was not forseen by the Old Testament prophets who wrote of
end time events.
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