Alrighty, without any further ado…
Let’s jump right into the meat of our discussion today.
Recall we were talking about the embedded prophecy contained in the story of King David, the crippled Mephibosheth, and his gentile caretaker Tziva.
At the closing of the post, this is what I established:
FIRST, David represents Messiah Yeshua.
SECOND, Mephibosheth represents the exiled Israelites (or the Jews living in the diaspora today).
THIRD, Tziva represents the Gentile Christian Church.
FOURTH, Mephibosheth returning from hiding in the Trans-Jordan to Jerusalem is equivalent to the Jews returning home to their Promised Land after being scattered and living under Gentile rule.
So let’s break down and analyze 2nd Samuel Chapter 9 from this perspective.
So Israel’s King (Messiah) calls up the gentile Church (the temporary caretaker of the Hebrew estate) and asks…
“Hey, are there any native-born Hebrews left who claim allegiance to Israel’s God?”
Why?
Because if there are, the Messiah is ready to bring them back home…
Restore their rightful land inheritance…
And put them in charge again.
The gentile caretaker (the Church) was put in charge of Israel’s land.
But over time, it became full of itself.
Heck, the church started acting like it had REPLACED the Israelites.
So when the Messiah (the King) shows up and asks…
“Are there any rightful heirs left?”…
The Church (Tziva) replies…
“Yeah, but… they’re weak, broken, and totally unfit to take over.”
The gentile Church accuses the Jews of being too spiritually crippled to handle what used to be theirs.
And to add insult to injury…
The church says it is the spiritual blindness of the Jews that caused their authority to be taken away in the first place and handed over to them.
But now, after years of running the show, the Church is shocked when the Messiah suddenly challenges its position.
The King makes it clear:
The Church was just a caretaker…
It was NEVER the new owner.
The land still belongs to its rightful heirs, the Jews…
No matter how much the Church loved to indulge itself in wishful fantasies that it had replaced Israel as God’s chosen people…
BOOM!
Out of nowhere, the Messiah (the King) turns the tables on them.
The King takes the once-oppressed, beaten-down, but rightful Hebrew owners and puts them back in charge.
The gentile caretaker, who had run things for years, will now have to answer to them.
The Hebrews—the King’s own people—are brought back from every corner of the earth to their land…
Just as God promised Abraham.
But simply residing anywhere in the Promised Land isn’t enough.
The King wants them close.
They must live in Jerusalem, near Him.
There, the Messiah (the King) will protect them, provide for them, and welcome them to His table.
Now for those of you who think this is a bunch of hermeneutical hogwash…
Boy, have I got a surprise for you homies.
What I just described isn’t fantasy.
It’s history.
It has already happened per God’s prophetic decree.
As you probably know…
Following on the heels of the holocaust…
Modern Israel was resurrected back from the dead in 1948…
This was the equivalent of Mephibosheth being taken from hiding and returned to the Promised Land.
And then in 1967, the Israelites reclaimed Jerusalem.
This was the equivalent of David establishing a home for Mephiboshesh near him in the holy city (Jerusalem).
God always meant for them to have both.
That’s right.
Just as Mephibosheth got back his family estate and the privilege of living near the King in Jerusalem…
Israel was meant to have their land and their capital city.
We’ll stop here for now.
But guess what?
Mephibosheth’s story isn’t over.
He’s going to make another appearance in Scripture.
It’s what happens AFTER Mephibosheth is restored when the prophetic implications get really interesting.
We’ll get into that the next time we meet.
Stay tuned!
I find your speech and attitude contemptible; instead of bringing unity of the Spirit in the bond of “Peace,” YOU yourself are driving division among Christians, Jews, and Gentiles. Remember, it was the Jews that rejected Christ, their own Messiah. It was God who turned to the Gentiles of His own free will. The Gentiles didn’t seek God. It was God who invited the Gentile into the commonwealth of Israel. Gentiles were grafted into the roots, Abraham. Gentiles are not grafted into Israel. Abrham, the Root is also our father through “Faith,” not the Law. By the way, we are citzen of New Jerusalem.
I also notice that you haven’t responded to my previous comments. Are you afraid of something?
Alright homie, let’s examine your statement: “Remember, it was the Jews that rejected Christ, their own Messiah.”
Take a look at the names of these 12 Apostles:
Peter
James (son of Zebedee)
John (brother of James)
Andrew (Peter’s brother)
Philip
Bartholomew (also called Nathanael)
Matthew (the tax collector)
Thomas
James (son of Alphaeus)
Thaddaeus (also called Judas, son of James)
Simon the Zealot
Matthew
So I gotta question for you.
What ethnicity were they?
ALL JEWISH!
Your salvation as a gentile is based ONLY on the eternal and unbreakable covenant God has made with Israel.
You are grafted into the commonwealth of Israel, not the other way around.
Now go get a mocha Frappuccino or something, and chill out.
Your comment that we Gentiles were grafted into the commonwealth of Israel is not in scripture. We are grafted into the “Root,” which is Christ” and His Promise. Jesus is the Vine, and Jews, Israel, and Gentiles are all Branches.
Isa 11:1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:
The Spirit of division is decerned in your messages!
“The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah.-Jeremiah 31:31
Note the new covenant is only made with Israel.
God has never made a covenant with the gentiles, and He never will.
Paul also spoke about this in the Book of Romans using his Olive Tree metaphor. The gentiles are likened to wild branches grafted into the Hebrew Olive tree.
I’ve said it before and I’ll repeat it.
Any salvation of the gentile happens because they are grafted into the covenants God HAS ONLY MADE WITH ISRAEL.
This is as foundational as it gets.
If you get your theology on the “Old” Testament wrong, your theology on the New Testament will be doubly wrong.
Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)— 12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
-Ephesians 2:11-22
My dear Brother in Christ, you should slow down and read the very scriptures you sighted from Eph.
The is neither Jew nor Greek/Gentile. But ONE NEW CREATURE!
Ga 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. Both must be Born from Above, Jew or Gentile. Therefore, there isn’t a difference between Jews and Gentiles.
Yes, the first converts were of Israel, But only remanent. There are no secondhand citizens in Heaven or in Christ Jesus.
You’re the kind of Jews-minded persons that the Apostle Paul addressed in the second and third chapters of Bk. of Romans. Be not high-mind!
Ro 9:6 ¶ Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:
A true Israel is one who has had their name/nature changed.
Re 2:9 I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews and are not but are the synagogue of Satan.
Re 3:9 Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.
It’s best to speak softly and with more gentleness than you have thus far. God resists the proud.
I appreciate your passion for Scripture. But I believe you’ve misunderstood my position.
Yes, in Christ, there is neither Jew nor Greek in terms of salvation—both must be born again. However, that doesn’t erase the historical and prophetic distinctions that God Himself established. Paul, whom you quoted, also recognized these distinctions:
Romans 3:1-2 – “What advantage then hath the Jew? … Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.”
Romans 11:1 – “Hath God cast away his people? God forbid.”
Paul never denied Israel’s unique role; he simply made it clear that salvation is through faith, not ethnicity. Being part of the “one new man” (Eph. 2:15) doesn’t mean Jews cease to be Jews or Gentiles cease to be Gentiles—it means both are equally reconciled to God through Christ.
As for Revelation 2:9 and 3:9, those passages refer to false Jews—people claiming an identity they don’t actually possess. That doesn’t negate the existence of true, believing Israelites.
I’ll leave it at this: Unity in Christ does not mean erasing God’s order. Paul wasn’t “Jew-minded,” and neither am I. I simply aim to take the whole counsel of God’s Word, not just selected verses. May He lead us both in truth.
Grace and peace.
I ALSO CONSIDER YOUR PASSION FOR YOUR FAITH ACCORDING TO YOUR UNDERSTANDING. JUST WOULD LIKE TO EXPAND OUR FELLOWSHIP BASED ON MUTUAL RESPECT FOR EACH OF OUR LOVE FOR THE LORD.
Can a Christian be a New Creature/New Man and still hold on to their former identity, such as Jew/Israelite and Gentile? Is Jesus still a Jew or is he crowned with a New Name such as Melchisedec?
Heb 7:1 ¶ For this Melchisedec, King of Salem, Priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him;
2 To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of Righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of Peace;
3 Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.
4 Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils.
5 And verily they that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham:
6 But he whose descent is not counted from them received tithes of Abraham and blessed him that had the promises.
Heb 7:3 Without FATHER AND MOTHER
WITHOUT DECENT,
having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a Priest continually.
Here in the word of God describes Jesus, who, after fulfilling “All Righteousness,” was given a Name far above every name, Jew or Gentile. He is the Firstfruits of every New Creature. A New Sinless Species.
Ga 6:15 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.
Col 3:10 And have put on the New Man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
11 Where there is NEITHER Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.
When we look at Apostle Paul’s wording and conscience, he too also sets aside his Jewish heritage for the sake of this New Name.
Php 3:4 ¶ Though I might also have confidence in the flesh (As an Israelite). If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more:
5 Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;
6 Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
9 ¶ And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
Being Born Again truly means I start all over being a totally New Creature Botn or Begotten of God. Our new genealogy is from our FATHER FROM ABOVE!
Jas 3:17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.
May the God of Peace give us this Wisdom.
Your Friend in Christ,
Hi Anthony,
It’s always good to dig deep into Scripture and wrestle with these critical questions.
I can see where you’re coming from with the idea of being a new creature in Christ and setting aside former identities. Paul certainly emphasized that our ultimate identity is in Christ rather than in earthly distinctions.
At the same time, I also see how the New Testament continues to recognize different backgrounds—even Paul still referred to himself as an Israelite at times (Romans 11:1).
And don’t forget the Olive tree metaphor.
Anyway, happy to agree to disagree on certain things.
Be blessed!
Amen. I would like to continue in fellowship with you in His word and the Spirit of unity and peace.
The metaphor question is based on the “Root” being first and the Branches secondary. The Root is the combined thought of Abraham and his Seed, Christ Jesus (By faith and the other through faith). The result of the Root is where the Gentiles are grafted into. The “Root” is not Israel, who are also Branches. Thus, by the Gentiles grafted into the Root, Gentiles have equal access to the Covenant first given to Israel. The middle wall has been taken down and now One New Man stands alone in Christ before the Father, thereby making “Peace!”
Bro. Tony Tudela
Okay brother, but please just remember, our salvation is based on the covenants that God has only made with Israel.
But I get your point.
Be blessed.
Amen