Alrighty, here we are again attempting to define the last days biblically
And we're doing that by crawling through the prophets at a snail's pace I
realize that but it is what it is we are still in Zechariah last lesson we looked
at the concept of God's people in the last day and today we're going to look
at the theme of the nations because there's about seventeen references to
the goyim the nations Zechariah is just saturated with this theme in fact the
idea that all nations would be joined to the Lord or I think as Isaiah puts it
you know all nations would flow to the mountain of the Lord in the last days it
becomes thematic throughout the prophets you know in themes don't just spring out
of thin air they are developed and they're developed throughout the story
by the prophets so in other words the nations are introduced at the beginning
of the story then the story develops then things happen but you know what
this the nations remain in the story and they play a role and have a part in the
story and they're relevant to the end of this story so what is introduced in the
beginning develops Animorphs and I think it comes full circle into fulfillment in
the last day so scripture kind of sets in motion or sets the nations on a path
and whatever was supposed to happen in the last days with all nations in this
redemptive story they would indeed come to pass really when all prophetic themes
would come into full of fulfillment and fruition in the last days and they did
in fact open up our Bibles to Matthew you know what we have arrived at the end
of the story did a lot of people don't realize that the New Testament really is
the end of the story we've arrived at the final generation of that age before
the end the end that all the prophets spoke up okay so lonely' behold here we
are the first century we have Jesus talking to his disciples and he's
talking about that very same in Matthew 24:14
and this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness
to all the nations and then the end will come man I cannot tell you how this
verse really has been just ravished destroyed torn from its context and
interpreted in such a way is to actually create like entire doctrines and
theologies you know that are predicated on this idea that you know the gospel
has to go out to every single person and in tribe in the remotest parts of the
planet you know before Jesus can return and boy you know I gotta be honest I
think this verse right here really it's so stinking easy to understand if we
just have an ounce of understanding in regard to context the scene for Matthew
24 is set up at the end of Matthew 23 imagine that and is contextually
confined to a rather simple question really that the disciples asked him
about the events surrounding the destruction of the temple in their
generation at the end of the Jewish age they were living in that's it that's how
stinking simple it really is and when we understand and when we know what the New
Testament writers meant by world and nations I think the answers really kind
of start falling in our lap Paul speaking of this very same end here that
Jesus is talking about in Matthew 24 he's speaking of the very same gospel
the very same great Commission that Jesus sent his disciples out that needed
to go out to all the nations Paul says this Romans 1:8 first I thank God
through Jesus Christ for you all that your faith is spoken throughout the
whole world Romans 10 18 but I say have they
Hurd yes indeed their sound has gone out to all the earth and their words to the
ends of the world Colossians 1 5 and 6 because of the hope which is laid out
for you in heaven of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the
gospel who sang about the gospel here which was which has come to you as it
has also in the world Colossians 1:23 if indeed you continue in the faith
grounded in steadfast and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel there's
that gospel again which you heard which was preached to every creature under
heaven this is the first century folks remember when jesus told His disciples
to to go out and make disciples of all nations right and then he would be with
them till the end of the age do you remember that well the end of the age
came and it sounds to me like they completed their mission the gospel went
out to all nations before the end came just Jesus likes he's just like Jesus
said it had to so how in the world that's the question how in the world did
the gospel out to all nations the whole world to every creature how is that
possible well when you and I say world we tend to think planet earth right
right but that's certainly not what the ancients thought that's not what Paul
was thinking here in his mind Paul was concerned with their world he was
concerned with their inhabited world and very often that was a covenant world if
you will but I'll talk more about that so what about the nations when I say
nations what do you think most people think nations today they think worldwide
entire planet every single nation on planet Earth right yeah right I mean it
almost seems obvious but no not so fast if we're going to define things
according to the Bible then all nations just like the world must be
contextually limited limited to the redemptive narrative itself what we have
right here okay all nations can only be all nations in this story and you might
think okay yeah exactly Ryan all nations in the story are all nations on planet
earth no duh hello McFly right is that what you're thinking again not so fast
unfortunately I think mini most I would say consider the Bible kind of a record
of human history it's like a world history book from the very beginning to
the very end you know what that ain't true the Bible is a story of redemption
it's a story of covenant it's a story that was played out through covenants
the Bible is not about world history the Bible is about redemptive history and
quite frankly the history of a particular covenant people the United
States is not part of the storyline Australia was never one of the nations
that participated all nations is limited because it's about the redemptive
history of a covenant people that began in Adam and then it narrows its focus
down to primarily one nation israel who was one nation out of many nations so
the story of israel and their surrounding nations okay that goes back
to their collective origins to the very first character in the story Adam so out
of Adam come all the nations that are going to be included in this story and
that's really where I think we need to start so let's start with the beginning
in the story and Genesis with Adam so when I say all nations is contextually
limited to all nations in the story and the story begins with this Adam
character that means is contextually limited to all nations in Adam in Adam
in right here BAM I hit on a very
controversial term because like most people I think I think most people
assume that you know like world means the planet Earth and Nations means all
nations on planet Earth so - I think most assume that an atom is a term for
all humanity all humans they say past present future were or are or will be in
Adam and I think this assumption that all humans are in Adam flows from the
dominant view that this Adam character in Genesis was the very first human ever
created and out of him you know came every person and nation on planet Earth
but you guessed it you know what that's not the only view it's not the only view
in town and I'm just gonna be honest here I'm gonna show you my hand up front
and I'm gonna let you know that I do not believe that I do not think the Hebrew
Scriptures are explaining to us the origins of man I do not think the
creation in Genesis is the creation of the physical universe along with the
creation of mankind I think Genesis is the creation of a
covenant man covenant man being placed into a covenant world heaven and earth
coming together in Covenant in my opinion Adam was not the first man in
the world but rather he was the first covenant man or he was the first man in
his covenant world if that makes sense at least the first covenant man recorded
I guess at least to the Hebrews in other words Adam whether you want to believe
Adam was a real life you know literal human being or if you want to believe he
was mythical or some figurative character constructed later to represent
Israel's beginning or Israel's creation whatever you want to believe you know
this I believe was basically taken out of the
mass of the existing humanity and he was placed into this garden scene into
covenant with God and that's really the creation of Genesis 1 and 2
that's the original creation being described and from the beginning seen in
the garden what do we have we see the entrance of boundaries through a command
and entrance of law transgression of law you got the curse you got the death and
that really lays the foundation for the rest of the story which is the road to
redemption now if you want to believe that Genesis is about the beginning of
human history go for it it doesn't really bother me I don't believe that
either way I mean that's a whole series all to itself either way we've got Adam
in the beginning and I'm sure that we can agree on that right so let's just
follow the storyline if we can out of Adam come come Cain and Abel and Seth
and actually he had other sons and daughters but and then they in turn have
offspring and before you know it underneath this what I like to call it's
an umbrella of Adam so I see humanity way up here all of humanity and then I
see Adam right here and he's kind of plucked out of humanity and then under
this umbrella beginning with Adam so you got this covenant umbrella if you will
of Adam and then under that we've got the roots of this family tree and Adam
kind of spreading downward in outward okay so you got all sorts of nations
that are produced from Adam nations coming out of Kane out of Seth and so on
and so forth and later on you know we see the ancestral lines of Noah
for example producing many nations in fact
many familiar nations they're all familiar nations you know like Egypt and
Babylon and Assyria and all the heights the Canaanites the Hittites the
Jebusites and all that good stuff all those are coming from those lineages
okay they're all conducted so in Genesis Tim we see the
dividing up in the scattering of these nations along with the confounding of
languages so the point is underneath this umbrella of Adam all these ancestor
lines coming out of Adam in my opinion are in Adam but you know that is they're
linked to their very first father up here the first original creation that
began in Genesis which is Adam so you know and we have to remember throughout
this entire thing kind of the big picture this story and a lot of people
don't like the fact I call this story but this story from beginning to end is
about the first Adam and the last Adam first last Adam Adam Adam Christ that's
the story in everything in between so that's first Corinthians 15 Romans 5
talks about the first and last Adam so you got death you've got the curse
you've got bondage to law that entered went with Adam but that would be taken
away with the last Adam that is Christ so the promise to crush the adversary
that began way back in the garden scene genesis 3:15 it all ties back to Adam
and what I'm telling you is that all nations in this biblical story I believe
are in Adam as simple and as obvious as that sounds I think this just gives lost
on a lot of us especially full preterists and this is what I'm going to
kind of explain here like I said earlier this is a really disputed controversial
topic but it's important because the concept of being in Adam is
intrinsically linked to the subject of the nations and that's kind of why I'm
going on about it see there are different understandings of what being
in Adam means and so let me just give you three quick views here okay so I
want you to visualize 3-row so you got row number one row number two in the
middle row number three over here so row number one is in Adam me
all humanity again very common view all humanity row number two are all lineages
in or under Adam but not all humanity row number three is only one lineage or
one covenant line under Adam and again not all humanity
so all humanity not all humanity not all humanity okay okay so row number one all
humanity is in Adam Adam was the first human being created so all humans are
naturally in Adam right because all humans literally come from Adam okay
that's simple row number two all lineages under at a member I got
humanity web here and then I've got Adam kind of being plucked out in underneath
him underneath Adam all lineages under Adam so in Adam row number two is a
covenant old term Adam it's not the first little human so then all ancestral
lines under the endemic umbrella that I'm talking about are in Adam so you've
got the world of humanity then out of humanity and was plucked out and the
Covenant world of Adam is created okay from there from that point all nations
within the story tie their lines back to this first covenant man Adam that's
where in Adam row number three okay only one covenant line under Adam is in
Adam okay and this gets a little so this is more specific so just like row number
two Adam is not the first literal human and like row number two in Adam is a
covenant 'el term but in Adam here is designated for only one specific
ancestral line within all the lineages of Adam so there's only one covenant
line under this umbrella that's in Adam and that is a faithful line they say
that runs from Adam - Seth - Noah - Shem - Abraham then
- Jake up and then - twelve tribes and then you've got down to Christ you see
that line there so only this particular covenant line was that in Adam so there
you go row number one row number two row number three if you could possibly
remember that good luck now I don't really know of anybody but me who really
goes with row number two and maybe that should worry me but that's the way I see
it I think it is the most consistent so follow my logic here maybe let me try to
explain this we see both law and covenant entering in with Adam and the
Mosaic law was later given to one line within the Covenant okay Paul says in
Galatians 3 that the law was added well what was it attitude well it was added
to an existing covenant and the existing promises that feed on back you know to
Abraham and the Noah and the atom okay well why was it added it was added
because of transgressions what transgressions transgressions that
already existed under an already existing covenant and with whom did the
transgression begin with it began with Adam because Adam was in covenant under
law Paul said where there is no law there is
no transgression romans 4 Adam couldn't transgress a law unless there was a law
to transgress that makes sense to me there are other verses that we could
cover and people don't like it when I use these they say well you're just
proof texting them and that doesn't really mean what what it means or what
it says so Isaiah 43 27 your first father sinned and you're mediators have
transgressed against me this is Adam he was Israel's first father your first
father sinned Hosea 6 7 but like Adam they transgressed the
now you know this really is the story of the Bible it's about the transgression
okay the transgression that began in Adam and
you know what it became this ongoing transgression of a collective covenant
people and then you know what happened the Mosaic law was added to it so that
the transgression might increase that's that's interesting Romans 5:20 the log
was added so that this transgression that started way back in Adam it was
going to increase well why did what God want to increase this transgression well
I'm gonna tell you why Daniel 9:24 seventy weeks are determined for your
people and for your holy city Daniel right to finish the transgression to
make an end of sins boom right there redemptive history was set was planning
to finish the transgression the goal of this saga is redemption to finally and
fully deal with sin and the transgression the ongoing transgression
of a people under law God needed to take that law with what you need to do and he
did so God gave him the Mosaic law and said look okay people let's speed this
thing up here let's get this story going here let's snowball this thing so we can
get to the last days and let Messiah do his thing okay that's kind of a rough
paraphrase but you get the picture so all that to say Adam was in covenant
thus Cain Abel Seth were in covenant at least to begin with and why wouldn't
they be because this my friends is how covenants actually worked they would
have been born into it you know it's funny we make a big deal about this when
we compare the covenant of Moses and week with the covenant of Messiah and we
say all the time well you know people entered the covenant of Moses through
earth right and then people entered the coveted Messiah through faith right
don't mean that's and that's a true statement see but the Mosaic Covenant
was connected to it was an extension of and it was added to an already existing
covenant that began with an in Adam okay so those in Moses were also in Adam just
like all those other lineages in Adam but not all lineages in Adam were given
the law of Moses that was reserved for jacob's line alone okay you really need
to visualize that Adamic umbrella with all these various nations and ancestries
coming out and you got this one special line that would be given the law the
Mosaic law and would be and through them Messiah would come who would reverse or
cure or remedy the original curse of the law that began way up here with Adam
okay so again if the first covenant originated Adam how would his children
enter that covenant well birth just like Moses there's no scriptural reason to
suggest Cain and Abel and Seth would not be born into and under that original
covenant of their father Adam okay there's just you know there's no reason
to believe that so those who hold to that number three view that in Adam
means only one particular covenant line you know from Adam Seth Noah Abraham
Jacob Christ you know was in Adam I think they're neglecting really how
covenants worked but let me be clear on this yes yes yes yes yes there is an
emphasis I think you know on that particular covenant line that would lead
to Moses and Messiah and you know that would produce Israel yes there's an
emphasis on that okay that's not in dispute it's pretty obvious I think you
know scripture records an emphasis is really a select number of lineages
but there's no scriptural reason to exclude the other lines are all lines
from the original covenant umbrella of Adam they were in Adam you know I think
some suggest that only this one specific line within Adam was quote chosen
because it was a faithful line they say it's the covenant line of faith well
does that mean that every individual within that Adam Seth Noah Abraham line
were of faith every single individual well no of course not I think that's
silly and I think that I think it's equally
absurd to suggest that every individual you know in Cain's lineage or Esau's
lineage you know that they didn't have faith because their father Cain or ISA
or whoever didn't have faith okay that doesn't make sense so here's the point
and this is so important and so many people get confused on this and we
talked about this last lesson this was this was the main point of the last
lesson God's people we need to be careful not to conflate or confuse to
separate but very related ideas here you've got God's chosen people
individual people of faith and you've got God's chosen people the collective
body of covenant people so you got God's people God's chosen individuals of faith
you got God's chosen the collective body of people okay they're there they're two
separate things but they're very related okay there was always people of faith
within the covenant and people not of faith I mean it's pretty obvious and
Paul you know what Paul addresses these two types of peoples are these two
peoples and Romans when he says for they are not all Israel which are of Israel
that's Romans 9 so during that transition period you know in the New
Testament all in Moses were in Adam okay but not all of those who were in Moses
would be or were in Christ look here's what I'm saying we cannot use faith as
the qualifier for in Adam status just as we can't use faith as a qualifier for in
Moses status okay there were plenty of faithless people in Moses but they were
still in Adam and in covenant you see that I think that's pretty logical I
think that's pretty clear but we can and we do use faith as the qualifier for in
Christ status right in Christ because entering the New Covenant was different
that was entered through faith the covenant of Adam later at or later you
know then later on you got Abraham and then Moses those really were Family
Affairs those were entered primarily through birth ones ancestral line and
yeah there were some exceptions we could squabble over but that's the point I
think many overlook they say Cain was not an atom or at
least he stopped being an atom and same with Esau and I disagree sure
Cain was not faithful he was of the wicked one I think it says but he was
still covenant Allah connected by birth to an in Adam same goes for ISA follow
that family tree all the way up to Adam you know Esau may not have had faith but
he was still in that line of Jacob was he not his you know his father and by
virtue of that he was in Adam again taking this one specific covenant line
of Seth and in ascribing faith to the entire line insane only those in this
one little line were in covenant or in Adam again that's ignoring how Covenant
themselves operated okay moving on so Cain killed Abel and Cain was driven out
okay he was cut off from the land Genesis chapter 4 so the Covenant
line or the Covenant blessings I guess they kind of continued on through Seth
okay well that's mine so Cain experienced the curse of the Covenant
Seth remained and he kind of experienced more the Covenant blessings he got the
curse of the Covenant you got the blessings of the Covenant so Seth really
carry that covenant forward Cain was kind of on the outside looking in but
you know what he was still an atom and this my friends and this is this is
important this is exactly what we see later on you know in the to the Northern
Kingdom Israel right the the house of Israel and her sister Judah it's like
you got two brothers they're almost we're two sisters whatever so later on
when the Mosaic law was added members Galatians three they were warned in
Deuteronomy 28 through 32 you know you either obey and you experience blessings
under the the Covenant life in the land and so on and so forth or you disobey
and you experience the curses death being cut off from the lost land well
you know what the house of Israel was disobedient and they experienced the
curse and like Cain they were cut off from the land driven out from the
Covenant blessings in fact according to Jeremiah 8 God gave them a certificate
of divorce he said look I'm done with you
so who carried on the Covenant from that point going forward well Judah the house
of Judah now do you see the similarities there I mean to me it's just glaring us
in the face and by the way if being in Adam means
only being part of one special faithful covenant line then by this definition
the unfaithful Northern Kingdom well the dispersed disrupt the Israelites they
would have ceased to be in Adam when they were judged and that doesn't really
make sense to me so but that's what I think some try to do with guys like Cain
and Esau who were originally in that one special line
if you will come in at line they have to say that they went from in Adam to not
in Adam right and I just don't think so they were all under the Adamic umbrella
and in Adam and I think these stories of like the older brothers being driven out
I think they're typological sub-stories I guess of the larger picture so that
when we see Israel later you know being cut off we've seen this picture before
right in this familiar with us and we know what's going on so much later on
near the end of the story in the last days when we see these cut off
descendants of Israel the elect of faith being gathered back to God and we see a
lot of that in the New Testament well I believe it's consistent to say that the
same opportunity was available to those of faith from the cut off descendants of
all who are in Adam Cain ham Japheth the other lines of Seth Esau who ever know
why well because they too like Israel were in a demand attached to the
original covenant in Adam and that's my point
all nations out of Adam were connected to the original covenant but they were
cut off in the same way that Israel who was really just one nation out of many
were cut off and connected to the original covenant of Adam so this is
consistent in my not so humble opinion it always goes back to Adam always
Romans 5 verse 12 just as through one man that's Adam sin entered the world
and death through sin and thus death spread to all men why because all sinned
the world that sin entered was Adams world Adam's covenant world being a
mortal sinner that he was he naturally brought sin
with him into that world well you know what give him some law in BAM
you've got transgression sin imputed and from that point you know many nations
came into that covenant world it all sinned against that covenant so you know
some have used Galatians chapter 4 verses four and five to demonstrate that
Redemption was only and I mean only for those under the Mosaic law meaning
Israel specifically and only the 12 tribes of Jacob well what does it say it
says Galatians 4 4 and 5 but when the fullness of time had come God sent forth
his son born of a woman born under the law to redeem those who were under the
law that we might receive the adoption as sons you can untrue and there
Galatians 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse
for us okay so what do we have here you've got curse you've got law you've
got Redemption you've got the adoption okay now
obviously Jews were they were under the Mosaic law there's no disputing that
okay but let's be consistent with this was Adam under law and did he experience
the curse of the law mm-hmm did Adam experience the promise death
through law mmm-hmm did he lose his status as a son of God
which he was according to Luke chapter 3 and did he need the adoption to redeemed
as a son of God again mm-hmm so if the answer is yes you know
what Galatians chapter 4 goes all the way back to Genesis and it applies to
Adam and to all in Adam all faithful descendants of Adam so in my opinion my
not so humble opinion if the adoption the glory the covenants the giving of
the law the service and the promises pertain to Israel and that's real
chapter nine if they were trained to Israel one line out of minion Adam then
they also belong to all lines in Adam since that's where the entrance of law
the covenants and the promises began in the garden in Genesis not just beginning
with Israel only not just beginning with Abraham only beginning with Adam
that's where law and knowledge of sin and transgression and imputation of sins
and death entered in and that's where the promise to remove the curse of the
law began genesis 3:15 the curse the death it's spread to all men under and
in Adam but you see that's exactly where we see the promise in the hope for
immortality in life in God's kingdom so the remedy to humanity's condition I
think is played out through Adam's covenant through his covenant world so
that you and I can see it so we can read this and we can learn how all those
nations in Adam and under that covenant umbrella in Adam could become sons of
God could become his people again and could
ascend into his heavenly kingdom and I think that's the story of the Bible that
is the story of God's people and the nations and application for you and me
today you might ask well yeah I think there's there's plenty of application
but that's kind of for another time I'm just trying to prove a point here about
the nation so you know what I have got so much more to say but man I got to
stop I just rambled on and on and on so believe it or not we're actually talking
about Zechariah here man I go on so many little rabbit trails we're actually
talking about Zechariah and the nations but you know sometimes I feel like I
kind of have to go on these little what feels like a rabbit trail so be I can
lay the foundation for what I really want to to show you in Zechariah so man
at this rate we'll we'll get to the New Testament
here in about two years ah sorry about that anyway that's it for
now we're gonna have to talk more about Zechariah in the nation's next round so
thanks for sticking with me on this if you did this is best that's a lot to
absorb so we will see you next round Take care and adios
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