Problem 17 - That the Nation Israel rejected the Kingdom in Mt. Chapter 11

PROBLEM NO. 17 --THAT THE NATION OF ISRAEL REJECTED THE OFFER OF THE KINGDOM IN MATTHEW, CHAPTER 11

This means that Matthew 11 is the boundary line in the -understanding of our Lord's earthly ministry; that in the chapters before Matthew 11 He offered the Kingdom to Israel, and then changed His preaching in the chapters after Matthew 11 in order to accomodate their unbelief.

This is the teaching in the Scofield Bible (1917 Edition) in its notes on page 1011, and by the new Scofield Bible in the New King James Version, on pages 1141-1142 (1989 Edition). Both Bibles state that the Kingdom of heaven was morally rejected by Israel. The note goes on to say that the official rejection was later (Matt. 27:21-25).

J. Sidlow Baxter, in his The Strategic Grasp of the Bible, says on page 246 that Matt. 11:20 is the key verse in that chapter.

THE TRUTH

Matthew, chapter 11, is an artificial boundary line created by Acts 2 brethren in order to accomodate their teaching. Jesus is supposed to have changed His message in Matt. 11:28 when He said, "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." This is supposed to be a more personal message, and He did not offer the Kingdom any longer.

This boundary line is tied in with Matthew, chapter 13, the mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven which they teach is to be fulfilled during this Age of grace. Their whole understanding of our Lord's earthly ministry is faulty because Acts 2 brethren also teach that the mention of the 'church' in Matt. 16:18 is a prophecy of the Body of Christ that Paul later developed in his epistles.

What was really rejected by the Nation of Israel was their KING, the Lord Jesus Christ. They nailed HIM to the cross, hoping to get rid of Him once and for all.

Actually, there was no offer of the Millennial Kingdom of heaven during our Lord's earthly ministry. The Kingdom could not have been offered until the prophecies of Christ's death were fulfilled (Understanding the Book of Acts by Charles F. Baker, page 30; Grace Bible College Publ.; 1981). Our Lord had said in Luke 17:25, "But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation." What was rejected? The Person of Christ the Messiah and not the Kingdom. We also read in Luke 24:26, "Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?" Peter repeats this very same truth in his first letter, 1 Peter 1:11, referring to the Old Testament prophets testifying through the Spirit of the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.

The Kingdom was only 'at hand' (Matt. 3:2), not offered as such. In other words, the people of Israel were told that the Kingdom was near and they were to get ready for it through repentance and baptism. That was the only way they could see the Kingdom of God and enter into this Kingdom promised in the Old Testament (John 3:3,5).

The one and only offer of the Kingdom was the subject of Peter's second sermon on the Day of Pentecost. This is stated in Acts 3:19-21, "Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord [20] and that He may send Jesus Christ who was preached to you before, [211 whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began."

The Kingdom is seen in the phrases 'times of refreshing' and 'restoration of, all things.' This is not to be spiritualized into something else but to be taken in a literal sense just as the Old Testament prophets understood it (Isa. 2:1-4; 11:6-9; Micah 4:1-3). If Israel had repented, then the Lord Jesus Christ would have come back at the proper time.

By Robert C. Brock