EZEKIEL
and YHWH’s
Judgment
for the
Good News
PEOPLE
VOLUME IV
The Great Commission
EZEKIEL and YHWH’s
Judgment for the
Good News People
Volume IV--The Great Commission
by
an unworthy servant
And you shall know the truth,
and the truth will make you free.
(John 8:32)
Common Law Copyright, 2003 & 2005 CE, an unworthy servant, Calder, Idaho. The author claims his Right of exclusive ownership and control of this publication, the fruit of his labor, as a matter of Intellectual Property protected by the Laws of YHWH and as guaranteed by the US Constitution for the United States. Permission is granted to quote provided appropriate credit is cited together with the Publisher’s web site name and postal mailing address––WWW.AgeEnd.Com PO Box 473, Calder, ID 83808, USA.
Contents
Volume IV--The Great Commission
CHAPTER PAGE
- Cover Page 1
- Title Page 2
- Contents 3
- Publisher’s Preface 5
Part M--The True Recipients of the Good News
46 The Real Commission 6
47 Yisrael in the Diaspora 13
48 The Publicized Great Commission 28
49 The New Testament Writers Wrote 43
50 Shaul In More Detail 57
51 The New Covenant 73
52 Still More on Shaul 85
53 More Relevant Scriptures 92
54 The Scriptures are for Yisrael 106
Part N--YHWH Chose Yisrael
55 A Particular People 122
56 YHWH Selects for His Kingdom 127
57 Numbering the Election 143
58 Qara-Hineni-Berit Hadashah-Hesed 156
SHEERIT YISRAEL
PO Box 473
Calder, Idaho 83808, USA
Publisher’s Preface
Greetings! The following presentation is volume four of a 36-volume production of some 6,000 pages on “Ezekiel and YHWH’s Judgment for the Good News People,” all of which is on the Internet at the www.AgeEnd.com web site.
This overall effort provides an interpretation of the Good News message in the New Testament, its linkage to the book of Ezekiel, and an application of both to the age-end prophecies relating to certain nations and peoples now out in the world. In order for this single volume to be understood and comprehended, it is imperative that the study be read from its beginning--from page one of volume one.
Anyone trying to read this volume or the study’s 6,000 pages at any mid-point will end up in a state of confusion without having read and digested the preceding material. It is crucially important that this work be read in sequence from its beginning--otherwise, the reader will almost certainly end up missing the essence of the message!
The effort was originally set on a Macintosh computer with Microsoft Word 6.0.1. It was set in Helvetica, 12-point type (18 pt on chapter headings); single line spacings; and margins: left 1.2”, right 0.8”, top 0.7”, bottom 0.8” and footer 0.6” (for page numbers).
For further information on obtaining this study in 18 computer floppy disks (IBM-formatted, high density, 2HD, 1.44 MB, 3 1/2 inches); in a single CD-Rom; or in hard copies (when the Internet or a compatible computer is not available); please write the publisher at the above address and send a stamped, self-addressed, long (legal-size), return envelope.
With a CD-Rom or computer floppy disks, the study is readable on Macintosh (systems 5.0 and later) or IBM/compatible (with Microsoft Word-Windows) personal computers. May The Great CREATOR and SOVEREIGN OF THE UNIVERSE bless you as you study His word to learn His will and to obey Him. Shalom (peace) to you and yours!
an unworthy servant, Sukkot 2005 CE
Chapter 46--The Real Commission
The Backdrop
Before even looking at the commission given YESHUA and the New Testament Apostolic Assembly, it is imperative to take a brief look at a few facts which are crucial to appreciate to ever begin to understand the so-called “Great Commission” that Christians preach and teach so much about.
In the historic past, in the land of Canaan, the nation of Yisrael became divided into two parts--the House of Yisrael and the House of Yehudah. They co-existed together for about 250 years in the form of the Scripturally discussed divided kingdom days in the books of I and II Kings. From the point of their separation, it is incorrect to try to mix these two peoples and nations. There were two of them and they were different.
Another very cogent fact from history is that they both were extremely rebellious and evil. The MOST HIGH became so angry over their wickedness that He took action to impose the national end of both kingdoms. In taking action against Yisrael, He actually went through the process of divorcing her since she was symbolically married to Him in the Old Testament covenant relationship. She became divorced and lost Yisrael.
With Yehudah, He also took action against her by imposing a captivity and servitude for seventy years in which Yehudah was expelled from Canaan land. But He never divorced Yehudah, per se. Thus, YHWH’s covenant with Yehudah continued to the first century CE.
But possibly, with the Jewish involvement in the death of YESHUA, it might be possible to conclude that their role constituted their abolishment of the then OT covenant.
As will be assessed in subsequent chapters, there are references to a coming new or renewed covenant with both the House of Yisrael and the House of Yehudah. This fact alone is sufficient to suggest that both houses lost their covenanted relationship with The ELOHIM by the fall of Jerusalem to the Romans in 70 CE.
The histories of both Yehudah and Yisrael and where their modern peoples can be found in the world today will be forthcoming in later chapters herein. There is no need to even begin to cover that theme now. Suffice to say, Yisrael became lost Yisrael or the lost tribes of Yisrael. That fact alone has enormous impact on the real commission granted to YESHUA and the Apostolic Assembly.
The Work of Yohanan
Turning now to the subject at hand, and it in terms of the New Testament focus, the first clue of a preaching commission surfaces at Elisheva's conception of Yohanan the Baptist. When the news of this child was broke to Zekharyah (the father), the messenger was careful to say that Yohanan's mission was to turn the "children of Yisrael" to The MOST HIGH (Lu 1:16).
Consequently, when Yohanan was born, his father declared that he was to give knowledge of salvation to "his people" (Yisrael--Lu 1: 77). Not long after this event, the world was faced with the real advent of salvation with the birth of The SON OF ADAM.
He was named YESHUA (His proper, given, Hebrew name which means "salvation"), as He was destined to save "His people Yisrael" from their sins (Matt 1: 21). He was The PROMISED DELIVERER of the seed of Avraham (Heb 2:16). From His birth, He also was to be The SHEPHERD, RULER and KING over the people (sheep) of Yisrael (Matt 2:6; 27:42; Mk 15:32; Lu 1:33; 54; John 1:49; 10:2, 11).
In time, This Same DELIVERER YESHUA came into contact with the messenger Yohanan (the Baptist), as Yohanan was baptizing near Bethany (Bethabara) at the Jordan River crossing. There, at this very early time, Yohanan recognized that YESHUA was to “be made manifest and be revealed to Yisrael” (Jo 1:31, per “The Amplified Bible”).
The Commission
The next statement on mission came when The MESSIAH called His twelve disciples together for their formal commission and grant of authority (Matt 10:1-42; Mk 3:14-19; 6:7-11; Lu 9:1-6). The ANOINTED ONE was careful to point out that they were not to go to the collective nations; but rather, only to the "lost sheep of the house of Yisrael" (Matt 10: 5-6).
First, this discussion with the twelve took place in Canaan among at least religious Jews (perhaps mainly from the tribes of Binyamin, Levi and Yehudah, which then lived in the land as the remnant of the former House of Yehudah).
The Lost Sheep of Yisrael
Next, the reader at once must be struck with the familiarity of the wording of this charge, in comparison with Yechezkel's writings of some 600 years earlier where he wrote at length about the then divorced House of Yisrael. Yechezkel spoke of them in the context of being "lost sheep," who will be sought out and gathered by The ELOHIM in a future time period. And then, they will become YAH’s people (Ezek 34:2-16, 30).
Yeshayahu the prophet likewise had some perceptive comments on the reality of “lost” Yisrael. He correctly observed that in a future day of YHWH, lost Yisrael would be gathered from the land of Assyria (Isa 27:12-13--here, the KJV incorrectly translates the Hebrew “ahvad,” meaning lost, to perish). In another instance, Yeshayahu followed up with a similar message (Isa 49:5, 20-22).
The prophet Yirmeyahu also perceived Israelites as “lost sheep” gone astray because of false shepherds (Christian preachers?) who had deceived and misled them (Jer 50:6). In this context, Yirmeyahu additionally saw an eventual future reunification of the children of the Houses of Yehudah and Yisrael (Jer 50:4).
Furthermore, the fact that The MESSIAH singled out the "lost" sheep of the House of Yisrael also may be significant beyond the remarks of the Old Testament prophets because His purpose was specifically to save the "lost" (Matt 18:11). While one often tends to think of the lost in terms of all of so-called humanity, the wording of this commission makes it clear that the issue was the "lost" House of Yisrael.
To the Poor
There are also a couple of references to the effect that YESHUA was anointed "to preach the gospel to the poor" (Lu 4:18, 7:22). Allegorically, the Jews in Jerusalem were rich since they possessed the Temple, the priesthood, the ritual and the center of worship. In allegory, it was the other tribes who were the poor since they did not have the riches of the Jews.
Go To Yisrael!
The SON OF ADAM followed up His commission and charge to the twelve by directing them to go to the cities of Yisrael (Matt 10:23)--obviously, the cities that contained the lost sheep of the House of Yisrael. That the disciples were to go to the tribes of Yisrael (in their cities) is relevant since it was to be their destiny to rule over and judge the twelve tribes of Yisrael.
Please note, too, that in going to Israelite cities, the disciples incidentally and unavoidably would come into some contact on occasion with "ger" aliens residing there, who automatically by law (Ex 12:48-49, to be discussed later) could become full fledged members of the Congregation of Yisrael upon conversion.
Following His appointment of the twelve, The ANOINTED ONE next addressed 70 others whom He commanded to go forth and preach (Lu 10: 1-20). However, this dialogue, as recorded by Luke, does not seem to specify exactly who the 70 were to preach to geographically.
The fact that the parties were in the Middle East and that the 70 did go out and return soon with a report on what they had done in that immediate geographical area (of Galilee and Judaea) would suggest that the 70 probably went to Israelite persons in the Palestine area at that time.
Eric V. Snow, Revisited
The previously quoted Eric V. Snow assessed this great commission question and concluded that “it’s patently absurd to read Jesus’ statement Matt. 10:5 as anything more than a one-time temporary command” and “how absurd it is to assume the disciples’ mission described in Matt. 10 involved permanently binding commands” (“Is Christianity a Fraud? Round Two,” p. 38).
Any person wanting to believe and accept this Snow nonsense probably should not waste any time in Scriptural study. All they would need to do is to be good dumb sheep and go and listen to their Christian pastor teach them some lies and rebellion.
Nevertheless, Snow’s remark is presented herein for consideration. In later presentations, his conclusions will be shown to be utterly inconsistent and in conflict with an abundance of material from throughout the New Testament which conclusively proves that Matthew 10:5 was not a one time aberration. It was a permanent command of profound importance!
Did He Change?
Despite The MESSIAH's goal in presenting the Good News of His coming kingdom to Yisrael only, it is worth noting that the Scriptures describe a couple of events that surfaced which would have given Him some latitude to expand His mission to all kinds of non-Israelite peoples, if that was His purpose and objective.
In the first instance, He met the previously described Samaritan woman at Yakov's well (John 4:7-28).
And while one might not be absolutely certain of the racial makeup of all of the Samaritans in the first century (whether nokri/nekar or ger strangers eligible for conversion to Yisrael, as will be later discussed), one can be sure that they were not all or generally not Israelites (according to the Scriptures, as established in commentary elsewhere herein).
In YESHUA's conversation with the woman, mention was made of the water that gives life (salvation--verse 14). She then proceeded to ask Him for this water of salvation (verse 15). Yet, there is nothing in the dialogue to suggest that He offered salvation to her or that she would ever receive it.
The Syro-Phoenician Woman
The second situation arose when The MESSIAH encountered the Syro-Phoenician woman whose young daughter had a bad spirit (Matt 15:22-28; Mk 7:25-30). She besought Him to come and cast the demon out.
Thereupon, He clearly referred to her as a “dog” and told her that He had been sent only to "the lost sheep of the house of Yisrael" (Matt 15:24). She pleaded that even the dogs (she correctly noted that her status was as a dog, as Arthur Briggs of Naples, ID once pointed out to me) could eat of the crumbs from the master's table (Matt 15:27).
With no change or deviation whatsoever in His mission and purpose, He appreciated her faith and made an exception by granting her request (Matt 15:28). Incidentally, on this key reference in Matthew 15:24, Richard Francis Weymouth, in his "The New Testament in Modern Speech," translates this verse with YESHUA as saying "I have no commission except to the lost sheep of the house of Yisrael."
Of course, this message gets right to the point and leaves little room for doubt or speculation about "why" The MESSIAH came as He did.
Before leaving this mention of certain humanoids (this word will be defined and described in a later chapter herein) being called “dogs” in the Scriptures, it would be well to look at still some more texts on this theme. In Revelation 22:15, the writer Yohanan puts dogs into named classes of sinners--along with liars, murderers, idolaters, etc.
Unquestionably, the dogs and sinners cited here have to be humans/humanoids. There is just no other way! The point in this reference is that these dogs and sinners will not have access to the tree of life or to the gates of New Jerusalem (Rev 22:14-15), at least in the dispensation then underway. Will they ever have or be eligible for salvation in a future age? The reader can draw his/her own conclusion on this matter.
The NT’s Syro-Phoenician woman was linked to the Greek kunarion (a small, house dog) in contrast to the kuon (wild street dogs), used elsewhere in the NT (“Jewish New Testament Commentary,” p. 53).
The distinction may be unimportant beyond showing the woman’s humility and disciplined nature versus other racial dogs. Both types are dogs. But one is house tamed and trained, while the other one runs wild in the streets.
In the Hebrew Tanakh, the word “keleb” (translated as dog into English) was often used allegorically for specific humans/humanoids. Certainly, David placed certain non-Israelite humanoids in the category of bad or evil dogs (I Sam 25:22; Ps 22:16, 20; 59:6). The prophet Yeshayahu also placed particular peoples into the category of being dumb and greedy dogs (Isa 56:10-11). These texts will be addressed in later chapters.
An Israelite Woman?
This initial rebuff and refusal by The ANOINTED ONE to even address the needs of the just discussed Syro-Phoenician woman is perhaps relevant also to consider because the Scriptures bring out another situation where a woman, likewise in need, came into contact with Him in a way which was to alter her future forever.
It happened one Sabbath when YESHUA was teaching in a synagogue and she was present, crippled for 18 years by an evil spirit. He saw her in her pitiful, pathetic and hurting condition (Lu 13:10-12). With obvious mercy and compassion, He elected to immediately set her free of the infirmity (Lu 13:12-13).
This act, by The SON OF ADAM on the Sabbath day, met with some strong dissatisfaction and hard feelings from some of the people present. Thereupon, His response noted that she was a "daughter of Avraham," and should be freed even on the Sabbath (Lu 13:16).
YESHUA Obeyed the Law
Many Christians know so little about this event in the Scriptures that they erroneously presume that The MESSIAH purposely violated YHWH's mitzwot regarding the Sabbath, as stated in the Hebrew Tanakh. Of course, if He did, He would have immediately become a sinner (I Jo 3:4), and could never have later qualified as a "spotless" sacrifice for the sins of others.
If He would have violated even one mitzwah from YHWH's Word, and regardless of how little and of no importance heathen Christians may suppose it to be, He, Himself, would need a savior along with all of the other people living throughout history. We can be absolutely assured that He never violated any of YHWH's mitzwot on any subject, to include the Sabbath. He obeyed them all!
But in this context, He did disobey some of the traditions of the elders as He did on other occasions (Matt 15:2-6; Mk 7:5-13). In His day, these works of men were transmitted orally from generation to generation; and were, hence, called the "Oral Law."
In later times, these so-called oral laws were codified and reduced to writings in the forms of the Jerusalem Talmud and the Babylonian Talmud (as will be described and elaborated upon in more detail in subsequent chapters).
She Must Have Been An Israelite
Vividly, this on-going Sabbath meeting was at a synagogue of the Jews. And since the crippled woman was worshipping in this synagogue on the Sabbath day, and since YESHUA addressed her needs, one can be fairly confident that, in addition to being a descendant of Avraham, she surely was an Israelite racially.
When a modern observer looks at this healing of a daughter of Avraham and (evidently) Yakov, a question can surface over why The SON OF ADAM would willingly display care, concern and mercy over her plight--all the time that in a seemingly similar situation, involving the Syro-Phoenician woman, He initially said "no."
Certainly, by Christendom's (wrong) standards and concepts of truth, justice and righteousness, one would conclude that SALVATION was practicing "gross racial discrimination" toward the foreigner--who He, Himself, even called a "dog," as noted above (Matt 15:26).
YHWH Makes His Own Choices
Paradoxically, and contrary to Churchianity's false ideas of humanism, the truth is quite poignant and cannot be dismissed. His commission was to the House of Yisrael and not to every and all kinds and classes of humans/humanoids and regardless of how one may wish to feel about this event or to judge Him and His work.
Now, if Christians don’t like this assertion, then they should read Moshe's words about YHWH specifically choosing the people He wants to show loyalty and loving kindness to (Ex 33:19). Shaul echoed this same classic statement (Rom 9:15) and went on further to reflect that The POTTER certainly has power and authority over the clay to do as He wishes whether any of us like it or not (Rom 9:21-23).
No Question Over Who!
Consequently, there can be doubt or grounds to argue over the issue of "who" is under discussion in the so-called Gospels.
Clearly, the recipients of the Good News were and are to be the lost sheep of the House of Yisrael (which really consisted of most of all of the thirteen tribes, including some from Yehudah, as will be discussed at length later in this paper) who had long since been removed from the Palestine area when YESHUA spoke.
By then, the lost tribes of Yisrael were seemingly to the North in Asia, Asia Minor and/or Europe (evidently to even include Rome--per Rom 4:1; 9:3-6). And surely, we must allow that The SON OF ADAM knew what he was talking about.
The MESSIAH was not stupid, but certainly knew the differences between the Houses of Yehudah and Yisrael--after all, He was The AUTHOR of the Old Testament. He assuredly knew which one was "lost" (publicly unrecognized and unknown as to identity).
Chapter 47--Yisrael in the Diaspora
To The Greeks?
Just like modern peoples today ponder about YESHUA's real mission, the Jews in His day likewise had questions when they wondered if "He would go unto the dispersed among the Greeks, to teach the Greeks" (John 7:35--the “King James Version” incorrectly translates the object to Gentiles, rather than to Greeks).
Some readers of this text by the beloved Yohanan may wish to believe that the concern here was over preaching to racial or ethnic Greeks. But this reasoning may not be the truth at all. In fact, and on this, the key word in the text is "dispersed" which is from the Greek "diaspora."
The "New Jewish Encyclopedia," edited by David Bridger, notes that the word Diaspora is a "Greek term meaning ‘scattering,' generally referring to the dispersion of the Israelite peoples outside Yisrael." In the Hebrew, the word is “galut” and it does technically refer to Israelites in the generic sense and not just singularly to some portion of them (like the Jews).
As a matter of information, this word “Diaspora” has been a common word of description by the Jews to describe their plight of exile from Palestine for the last 2,000 years. In fact, even today, Jews in the state of Israel speak of Jews outside Palestine by use of that same precise definition. Thus, there are Jews in the state of Israel, and Jews outside Palestine today in the Diaspora.
At Least Three Major Scatterings
Actually, from the land of Canaan, Yisrael by the first century CE had faced at least three “major” scatterings or dispersions, as amply described and discussed in the Scriptures and in history (Ezek 11:17; 34:5-6, 11-13; Jo 11:52).
These scatterings or dispersals from Canaan land will be addressed and described in some detail in later chapters herein. Suffice to say, there were huge numbers of Israelites away from and outside the land of Palestine in the first century CE. Actually, it has been possible to say this same thing for long centuries, both before and after the first century CE.
Around 700 BCE, the House of Yisrael and even part of the House of Yehudah were scattered first to Asia and later to Europe and were "lost" in terms of their identity as Israelites, as will be hereafter described (Isa 28:11; 42:16-19; 62:2; 65:15; Jer 3:8; Rom 11:25).
Subsequently, by 554 BCE or so, the remaining Jews in the House of Yehudah were scattered abroad. Finally, in 70 CE, the surviving Jews in Palestine also were deported and scattered by the Romans, following the Roman conquest of Jerusalem.
Other Dispersions As Well
Aside from these three highly visible and significant scatterings from Canaan land, there are some allusions, evidence and clouded references which might likewise lead a student of the Book to believe that there were several other dispersions of Israelites into foreign countries over the years.
This likely condition of several scatterings is plainly suggested when one looks at the situation in Canaan land, as the different armies came against it in stages over many, many years--which allowed numerous Israelites to escape abroad before they were killed or captured by the invading armies.
Beyond these obvious scatterings of Israelites from Canaan land, because of the intelligence and mental capabilities of different individuals to perceive the danger and threat of an invading army, there seems to be a number of other Scriptural references which would allow that various Israelites just up and left the land and/or the collective nation(s) on their own for any number of different reasons.
Some students of the Word have even been suspicious that some Israelites may have broken off from their national congregation, starting as early as the Exodus and the wilderness wanderings. Similar beliefs have surfaced in connection with the time of the later Judges.
Scholarly arguments have been advanced that some part of the Southern portion of the tribe of Dan (where Samson lived in the area adjacent to the Philistines) packed up and left Yisrael at a very early time.
There is also even more evidence that part of Dan in the North left Canaan very early (to be described at some length in a later chapter) and on and on in terms of Israelite removals from the land.
The May-Jun 1998 “America’s Promise Newsletter” quoted the “Dictionary of Christ & The Gospel” (v. 1, p. 692) as saying that “Large numbers of Israelites had been carried away captive by the Assyrians and Babylonians... But a much larger dispersion was due to voluntary emigration.” This assessment is assuredly the truth.
Possibly Significant Numbers Involved
The prophetic future of Yisrael was always couched in the context that the people of Yisrael would become, over time, a vast host of personnel that are essentially innumerable to count in the practical sense. One sees this reality from the very beginnings of the promises to Avraham when The ELOHIM told him of the many nations and peoples which would come from his body.
In particular, YHWH told him that his descendants would be as the stars in the heavens which are quite profound and extensive (Gen 15:5; 22:17). In another statement of the promise, the seedline of Avraham, Yitzhak and Yakov Yisrael was alluded to as being like or comparable to the sand of the seashore (Gen 22:17; Jer 33:22; Hos 1:10; Rom 9:27).
The importance of this promise surfaces in at least three profound aspects. First, this promise was unconditional in terms of the descendants of Avraham. It was given to Avraham (later given to Yitzhak and Yakov--per Gen 26:4; Ex 32:13) on the basis of his obedience of The MOST HIGH’s laws. Nothing further had to be done by any of Avraham’s descendants for this promise to become fulfilled.
Secondly, the issue was always of the physical seedline of Avraham with no possible reference or implication of “spiritual” children. Manifestly, the promise was about the physical descendants of Avraham. A future chapter in this production will discuss this condition in some detail.
Not only was the scattering of Yisrael substantial in the Diaspora, but even the scattering of just the Jews was enormous in its own right.
Using various historical records, the previously cited Emil Schurer said that there were numerous Jews in the Diaspora in the first century CE (“A History of the Jewish People in the Time of Jesus Christ,” v. ii, division 2, p. 220-229). He put over one million in Egypt alone.
Not Fulfilled in Canaan!
Finally, the Israelite descendants of Avraham never reached the fantastic vastness and sheer numbers encompassed in this Avrahamic promise in the land of Canaan, nor have the Jews ever began to fulfill that promise. Actually, the Jews have never numbered more than several million in their entire recorded history.
So the ultimate fulfillment of this wonderful and unconditional promise to Avraham must be sought for in the subsequent history of the House of Yisrael, after she left Canaan for the Diaspora. In other words, that promise has to have a fulfillment and the Scriptural and historical records reflect that it must have that fulfillment in the context of the lost House of Yisrael.
While Yisrael never really began to reach those numbers demanded in the Avrahamic promise in Canaan land, they were extremely fruitful, as is very clear from the various census and numbering efforts outlined in YHWH’s Word.
Specific Census Records
The first year of the Exodus, the fighting men of Yisrael (age 20 and over) were numbered at 603,550 (Num 1:46). This growth alone is quite significant in view of the fact that just 70 Israelite males went initially to Egypt less than 300 years earlier in the days of Yosef and Yakov Yisrael (Gen 46:26). This number is quite relevant for a lot of reasons which will be analyzed in a later chapter.
In the plains of Moab, some forty years following the Exodus (and just before Yisrael was to enter the land under Yehoshua), another census was taken which put the number of men age 20 and over at 601,730 (Num 26:51). So there was not much of a change in the population in the wilderness wanderings.
Of course, in a normal forty years span of time, it would seem highly likely that a given population would have increased appreciably (which apparently did not happen with Yisrael in the wilderness). Perhaps the rigors of nomadic, wilderness living may have accounted for the slight decline.
Furthermore, there were some catastrophic losses of people--like during Korah’s rebellion (totaling 14,700--Num 16:49) and over the fornication with the Moabite women (totaling 24,000--Num 25:9).
And as just noted above in this section, it might be possible that some few Israelite clans and groups did leave the congregation of Yisrael during her sojourn in the wilderness and migrate to other lands. Thus, all types of explanations exist to explain why Yisrael did not increase in the wilderness wanderings.
Entering Canaan
Regardless, Yisrael entered the land with 601,730 fighting men. To get some perspective of the total population, these numbers would obviously have to be doubled to take in all of the males in the population (by adding in the infirm and male children under age 20). Another doubling would be required to account for the females.
Conservatively speaking, the number of fighting men over 20 is probably about 25% of the total population. Consequently, the total population would have been around 2.4 million on entering the land (and this would have been a conservative reckoning because some scholars have argued for even a higher figure).
The next important census was taken by David some 450 years later (made at the instigation of Satan). This one put the number of fighting men at 470,000 in Yehudah and 1.1 million in the Northern tribes--less Levi and Binyamin, who were not included (I Chron 21:5-6).
II Samuel 24:9 and 15 offer another count on this census as 800,000 in Yisrael and 500,000 in Yehudah with some 70,000 being slain a few days later. It is unclear how many of these slain came from Yehudah as opposed to Yisrael. But it is possible that 30,000 came from Yehudah which would leave the 470,000 as mentioned in I Chronicles.
In attempting to reconcile the difference, the “Soncino Books of the Bible” (Chronicles, p. 115) notes that the wording in the two texts is somewhat different. Possibly, the text in Chronicles is all inclusive with the qualification of those that drew the sword while Shmuel’s report is limited with the reference to valiant men.
Again, conservatively speaking, one could justify a belief that greater Yisrael probably numbered something over 6 million people (4.4 million in the North and less than 2 million in the South) at the time of this census (around 1000 BCE).
But even by this time, under David, there was a presence of reasons suggesting that already some Israelites may have migrated from the land, as noted above.
Numbering the Deportations
Actually, it appears virtually impossible to get some perspective on the numbers of House of Yisrael persons who died from the war, famine and other conditions which existed in the North during the decline and fall of that nation to the Assyrians in their four invasions. Assuredly, many did perish in those deprivations.
However, in regards to the Assyrian captivity, there was one record made in secular history by the Assyrians which put the number of captives at the fall of Samaria at 27,290 (per the Khorsabad annals, “Old Testament Times,” p. 230, by R. K. Harrison). But this 27,290 did not represent the totality of the conquest and enslavement by the Assyrians (against Samaria).
In “Lost Israelite Identity” (p. 18-19, 39), Yair Davidy explains this 27,290 remark by Sargon as being that the Assyrians took this number of Israelites for their own military purposes (either to serve as soldiers or field workers supporting the Assyrian army). As Sargon noted, the rest of the Israelite captives were settled in Assyria.
Certainly, the Assyrians took huge quantities of Israelites in their several invasions of Canaan. So it’s a little hard to be sure of what the total numbers were. In the Assyrian campaigns against Yehudah, Sennacherib claimed some 200,000 captives alone (“Lost Israelite Identity,” p. 19). Obviously, more captives came from the Northern kingdom.
By the first century CE, Jewish historian and priest Josephus asserted that by that time the far away House of Yisrael peoples were “an immense multitude and not to be estimated by numbers” (“Antiquities of the Jews,” book XI, chapter 5, verse 2).
In other words, Josephus was effectively saying that the House of Yisrael peoples had become quite large and virtually innumerable by his day. Regardless, the available evidence is such that will allow some significant Israelite removals from the land, besides the actual enslavements by the Assyrians.
Obviously, the House of Yisrael peoples have become numerous over time to comply with The ELOHIM’s promise to Avraham of his descendants being like the stars in heaven.
Jewish Removals
II Kings 24:14 gives the Babylonian captivity of Jerusalem as 10,000 men. Yet, Yirmeyahu gives the captivity from the House of Yehudah at 4,600 from the three deportations, which must be men only (Jer 52:30).
An article by Ernestine Young in the Apr 2002 “Kingdom Digest” (p. 47) adds these two figures together and arrives at a total of 14,600 men/males, which seems likely.
Also, it seems plausible that numbers of people voluntarily left Judea on their own during the several years that Yehudah was in conflict with the Babylonians. Many of these people probably also went to Babylon; or at least, to some place under Babylonian control (since Babylon effectively ruled the civilized world at that time).
In the 70 years or so of Jewish captivity, this 14,600, or however more that could have gone to Babylon, apparently grew to the 42,360 (evidently men)--as was outlined in the Jewish return from Babylon (discussed earlier) during the time of Ezra, Nechemyah and the others (Ezra 2:1, 64-65).
In 70-73 CE, at the fall of the Second Temple and Masada to the Romans, the Jewish population in Palestine had grown considerably because Josephus estimated that some 1.1 million Jews had died in the Roman wars--not counting the numbers which were enslaved (per an article on “The Real Diaspora,” by J. S. Brooks, in the Feb 1997 “New Beginnings,” p. 4).
The Jan-Mar 2002 “Petah Tikvah” (p. 4) had a quotation from an article on “population” in “Encyclopaedia Judaica” which reported upon a census conducted by the Roman Emperor Claudius in 48 CE. It found 6,944,000 Jews in the Roman Empire that year.
Some Tentative Conclusions
From this just outlined statistical data, some worthwhile conclusions can be inferred. First, the Israelites were typically quite proliferate, growing rapidly in population numbers and regardless of what their status might have been at a given point in time.
Secondly, the huge numbers of people in the land (certainly, at the time of David’s census) in comparison with the smaller quantities of people in the various exiles and enslavements by the Assyrians and the Babylonians would suggest that indeed vast numbers of Israelites did escape the pending invasions or otherwise left the land to go to other geographical areas.
Like prophecy says, Yisrael would expand in all directions (to be proven later herein).
Thirdly, it is quite manifest that “most” of the vast numbers of Israelite peoples (certainly, from the House of Yisrael generally and even from the House of Yehudah to some extent) never returned to Palestine in Second Temple days. That return of 42,360 persons (identified as being from the Babylonian captivity) was a very small part of the total number of Israelites out in the Diaspora.
Incidentally, on this question of the Israelite return from the scatterings, John McClintock and James Strong, in their “Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature” (v. II, p. 111), conclude essentially the same thing in saying that “The great mass of the Israelite race nevertheless remained in the lands to which they had been scattered.”
Dr Alfred M. Lilienthal, the Jewish scholar and author quoted earlier, concluded that “Twelve tribes started in Canaan about thirty-five centuries ago; and not only that ten of them disappeared--more than half of the members of the remaining two tribes never returned from their ‘exile’ in Babylon” (“What Price Israel,” p. 215-216).
Many Israelites Did Not Return
Thus, while some of these Babylonian dispersed Jews (to include a few persons from the other tribes who had moved to the Jerusalem area in the 10th to the 8th centuries BCE, after the division of the kingdom) did return to Galilee and Judaea under Ezra and Nechemyah, as just noted, many did not. So, in the Diaspora, there were Israelite Jews who were recognized and known as Israelites and Jews.
But also, there were vast numbers of House of Yisrael Israelites, from most of the earlier deportations and removals, who were not known or even readily thought of as being of Yisrael. One should remember that on leaving Canaan land, Yisrael was to be called by a new name (Isa 62:2; 65:15; Hos 10:9). It is essentially these unrecognized Israelites who were truly the "lost" sheep of the House of Yisrael.
However, in both cases, the recognized and unrecognized Israelites were abroad in other lands--with other citizenships, residences, nationalities and often even other religions and languages (at least, in terms of the House of Yisrael). Students of truth may recall that the Apostle Shaul was both a Jew and a Roman (Acts 22:27).
Proof of This Distinction In Other Scriptures
Actually, this distinction between racial identifications and residency/nationality identifications was brought out substantially earlier in the Scriptures when the status of Moshe was revealed in the book of Exodus (when Moshe drew water from a well for the daughters of Reuel, a priest of Midian).
While Moshe could be correctly called an “Egyptian,” because of his former geographical residence and/or nationality (Ex 2:19), he also was very clearly an Israelite of the tribe of Levi from a racial or ethnic perspective (Ex 2:1-10).
The Scriptures (Ezra, Nehemiah, etc) imply and suggest certainly that numbers of racial and religious Jews had residences and sometimes citizenships in Babylonian and Medeo Persian lands from the exile and on forward. Thus, many were both Babylonians and Israelites/Jews and Persians and Israelites/Jews.
Of course, this double status continued from Alexander’s conquests of the East on to Roman times.
Therefore, this dual representation and identification surfaced in Acts early on in the initial baptism of The RUACH HA KODESH on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:5-10). Please note that these Jews and proselytes (which will be later assessed) mentioned were also Galileans, Parthians, Medes, Elamites and Romans as well.
The Language Distinctions
Beyond the nationality and citizenship identifications, one must not lose sight of the language factor. As is described elsewhere herein, the word “Semite” is to be properly associated with languages, like Hebrew, as spoken by numbers of peoples in the Middle East in OT days, while the word Shemite represents racial descendants of the man Shem.
Consequently, in the dispersion, much or all of the House of Yisrael peoples remained Shemites. But with the loss of the Hebrew language and/or any other Semitic languages, they could not properly be called Semites.
Israelites Known as Greeks in Other Lands
Surely, in the first century CE, many Israelites were in the Diaspora in Greek lands, living as Greek residents and nationals (the Dorian Greeks, which settled Southeast Greece in the 8th century BCE, were thought to be Israelites from the House of Yisrael, as will be discussed in later chapters. The same may be true with the settlers of ancient Troy in Northwest Asia Minor in the 14th-13th centuries BCE).
Evidently, in John 7:35, the Jews were wondering if YESHUA would go to these Israelites abroad (obviously, many of them were living as Greeks).
In John 11:52, a similar situation came up when the high priest referred to the gathering together of the children of The ELOHIM then in the Diaspora. This coming regathering of Yisrael (including both the House of Yehudah and the House of Yisrael) was thoroughly mentioned by the OT prophets (as will be covered in later chapters).
In addition to Greek citizenship, residency and/or nationality, it should be noted also that there was the Greek religion and its polytheistic gods. In terms of personal identification, Mark 7:26 notes that the racial Syro-Phoenician woman, previously discussed, was actually a Greek in religion. Clearly, many Israelites in the Diaspora were Greeks in religion.
Dr Cyrus Gordon
Perhaps here is the place where reference should be made to a statement this writer once heard on an audio tape by Dr Cyrus Gordon from the Fifth National Conference on the "Foundations of Our Faith," previously mentioned, held at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma on October 9-12, 1991.
The value of this statement probably gains considerable credence when one focuses in on the background of Dr Gordon. Cyrus Gordon was a Jew who was born in 1908 and spent portions of his long life in archeological work in the Middle East--at one time a contemporary and colleague of the imminent savants William F. Albright and Ken Darby.
In addition, Dr Gordon was a proficient scholar in Hebrew and certain other Semitic languages--which served him appropriately in his numerous writings (over 600 professional publications, including some 20 books) and his respected tenures as a professor of Hebrew and Assyriology at several recognized universities.
But more importantly, Dr Gordon was an early leader in directing attention to the need for Christians to have some perspective of the Hebrew language and the Jewish religion and culture--particularly, of Second Temple times.
Today, here in the early 21st century, many of the scholars and leaders active in this marvelous field of study (of the language, religion and culture of Second Temple Judaism) were once either students of Cyrus Gordon or were motivated directly by him and his work of over 60 years.
Certainly, the student of truth must realize and appreciate the fact that the existing social and religious culture and environment of YESHUA, all of the disciples, the Apostolic Assembly and the entire New Testament was Second Temple Judaism (which Gordon has advocated and taught over his productive life).
In this intriguing talk at ORU, by this extraordinary man, mention was made of the Jewish community in Alexandria, Egypt in the second century BCE and especially during the age of the translation of the Hebrew Old Testament to the Greek to produce the Septuagint (or at least, some part of it--ed). At one point in time, the professor made a remark which affords much light on the topic at hand.
Greek Jews!
On this, Gordon referred to the Jews of Alexandria as "Greeks" and spoke of them in that context in terms of their alleged need for the Septuagint (which was translated by Jewish and/or Christian scholars).
Subsequent to this fantastic statement, Cyrus Gordon went on to qualify his remarks slightly for his audience when he explained that those Jews in Egypt were correctly Greeks--culturally.
The essence of this report is that in a conversation with others, a Jewish savant (of some station and language authority) referred to other Jews as "Greeks" and never batted an eye or showed any hesitancy in his comments.
Obviously, the very thing Gordon had done is something which anyone could do, simply because the word involved can be used for a person for any good reason--such as philosophy, religion, culture, residency, citizenship and a lot of other things as well, besides just ethnic or racial considerations.
Incidentally, Dr Emil Schurer, previously quoted, mentioned that in the Diaspora, a cultured Jew was not only a Jew, but a Greek as well in language, education and habits (“A History of the Jewish People in the Time of Jesus Christ,” v. ii, division 2, p. 281). It is reasonable that anyone could refer to one of these Jews as a Greek.
Acts 9:29
Actually, one can find the exact same situation in the Scriptures. For example, in Acts 9:29, Luke wrote about a dialogue with some “Grecians.” “The American Standard Version Translation” and others correctly render that word as “Grecian Jews” (per “The New Testament From 26 Translations”).
Undoubtedly, many of the people of the lost tribes of Yisrael were Greeks in religion in the first century--just as they still are today (since Christendom theologically is a Greek religion for all purposes). Consequently, a reference to a "Greek" could be to a Greek racially, ethnically, religiously, culturally, nationally or by citizenship.
Who Is A Jew?
The Apostle Shaul, mentioned above as a Jew and Roman, was more precisely an Israelite racially (Rom 11:1), a Jew religiously (Gal 2:15) and a Roman by citizenship (Acts 22:27). His status covered the gauntlet in definitions. The linkage of the word “Jew” to the Jewish religion is a most important feature of this present discussion.
Although the term “Jew” would theoretically be derived from racial factors (from Yehudah), it carried a largely national connotation in its earliest use. For example, the writer of II Kings used its plural form Yehudim (Jews) to describe the people of the House of Yehudah in their war with Syria (II Kg 16:6).
After the Babylonian exile, the Jewish religion developed and the former racial and/or nationalistic definitions became a single definition relating to this group of people in Palestine.
As will be shown in subsequent chapters, this Jewish religion was opened up to numbers of non-racial Jews who converted and became religious Jews. Hence, the word Jew largely lost any relevance in terms of race.
Also, in late Second Temple days, and particularly during the Roman rule, a governing geographical district was formed called Judea. Its people were correctly called Judeans (generally Jews in English translations). The result has been that confusion can arise whenever the term Jew comes up.
Essentially a Religious Definition
As will be later established, the term “Jew” was generally a religious definition in the first century CE. Even today, the religious definition holds prominence, although some people try to argue that it has racial overtures since a Jewish mother has Jewish children in contemporary Judaism.
But even here, it is quite manifest that the term really is one of religion. A Jewish mother may have children who are born as Jews. But if she abandons Judaism and converts to another religion, say Christianity, she is no longer a Jew. She is a Christian. Thereafter, her children are apparently born as Christians and not as Jews.
Like Jewish parents, who produce Jewish children, Christian parents produce Christian children in the generic sense. While several Christian Churches require a quick Christian christening or baptism ceremony for a new born infant, they are either born Christians (and particularly so when the parents raise them that way) or they quickly become Christians with the christening and/or baptism.
Ultimately, religion is the point of definition for even modern Jews. Any Jew who abandons Judaism to convert to any other faith (certainly the Christian and Muslim faiths) is no longer a Jew. He immediately becomes a Christian or whatever else in terms of the new faith. Consequently, religion becomes the factor of identification.
A former Jew, now a Christian, cannot immigrate to the Israeli state under its law of return open to all Jews. This issue was settled in a case that went before the Israeli Supreme Court which ruled that an apostate from Judaism (like to Christianity) was no longer a Jew eligible for Israeli citizenship under the law of return (“Oxford Companion to the Bible,” p. 366).
The reason is because the former Jew is no longer a Jew. Accordingly, this definition reality will be elaborated upon somewhat more extensively in later comments.
The Issue Here
The essence of the above presentation is one of the most important subjects to comprehend in order to ever begin to understand and grasp the subject of identity (which is covered in this publication).
Inevitably, the very mention of the word Jew or Greek makes most persons immediately think of race. And this is a very bad conclusion (though in the beginning there were racial overtures attached to each word).
In the table of nations, in Genesis 10, there was a descendant of Japheth (Yefet in the Hebrew) named Yavan in Hebrew (anglicized as Javan at Gen 10:2. 4). In the Tanakh, these people of Yavan are called bene Ha-Yavanim in Hebrew (Joel 3:6). These persons of Yavan eventually settled in Southeast Europe in a territory which today is called Greece and Macedonia.
In their own language (which surfaced presumably at the tower of Babel incident in Gen 11:1-9), they believed that they descended from a god called Hellen. Thus, they called their national homeland Hellas. In English, modern Americans call this land Greece.
In this land of Yavan, the people of Yavanim were known in their own language as Hellenes and Hellenists. In English, they are called Greeks or Grecians. Of course, the language of these persons from Babel on was certainly the Hellenes or Greek language.
At a very early time, in ancient Yavan, the people adopted polytheistic sun worship as their national religion. This Grecian sun worship became the basis of their culture and civilization--which was known as Hellenism.
Originally, these Hellenes were apparently a very homogenous people. From paintings, statutes, etc, it is quite manifest that they racially were a blond, blue-eyed, fair people (much as was true in Rome and even in Egypt). Today, modern people would probably classify all of these ancient nations as being Nordic (in essence, the same type of people as found in Scandinavia).
With the arrival of Alexander the Great, and his world conquest, the racial and genetic fiber of the Greek people began to change.
Like other world rulers, the Greeks brought in slaves from all over the world and eventually freed them. Thereupon, they began a process of integration, miscegenation and amalgamation. Over the centuries, the once Nordic Greeks turned into the modern, dark, swarthy Greeks.
Of course, with Alexander’s armies all over the civilized world, Greek people found themselves as residents in other far away lands--like Syria, Egypt and Palestine. For some time, these Greeks retained some semblance of racial and national identification with their homeland of Greece. But with the passing years, miscegenation, new generations, etc, this identifying link was lost.
The Greek Religion Survived
However, the situation with the Greek sun worship religion was far more successful than the racial aspects of the Greek nation. The polytheistic Greek religion spread from Greece and infected other peoples all around the world. Even by the time of the Roman Empire, much of the civilized world’s religion was Greek polytheism.
In the Scriptures, persons in Greece or outside of Greece, who were of this Greek sun worship religion, were also known as Hellenists or Greeks. As commented upon in previous remarks, the racial Syro-Phoenician woman was actually a Greek in religion (a Hellenis or female Greek, at Mark 7:26).
As noted above, and as will be discussed in later chapters herein, there is also a cultural aspect of identification. Usually, it is more closely associated with religion. But sometimes, it would be fair to describe it separately. Thus, there was the Greek culture (Hellenism) which many Jews and others adopted. By the way, the Greek culture still prevails in the Christian West, as will be illustrated in subsequent chapters.
The point here is that there once was an original Greek race or racial group of people who spoke the Greek language, practiced the Greek culture, worshipped the Greek, polytheistic gods and lived in a land territory called Greece.
But these people and their culture and religion were spread abroad to other peoples in other lands. In terms of their own land, they allowed in many diverse racial and ethnic groups which they proceeded to miscegenate and amalgamate with.
For purposes of identification, all of these persons in Greece were called and could be called Greeks in the context of their language, religion, culture, nationality (citizenship) or homeland residence. The primary definition (which once existed, but was lost over the years) was the racial definition of a pure Greek. Were there any racial Greeks in existence 2,000 years ago? Possibly, they were all gone--just as is true today.
Incidentally, the Greek religion was the most salient of all factors that once identified the ancient Greeks. The Greek religion spread throughout the Roman Empire and has persisted into modern times, as will be addressed in subsequent chapters.
The Jewish Situation
This background on the Greeks explains what happened with the Jews. There were some original people who descended from Yehudah. They were known in Hebrew as Yehudim (Yehudi in the singular). They occupied a territory in Southern Palestine which was called Yehudah. With the division of Yisrael (upon the death of Shlomo), the resulting nation was known in Hebrew as Beit (House) Yehudah.
In English, translators have anglicized Yehudah as Judah and the word Jew was attached to a Yehudi (Jews for the plural of Yehudim). Though there once were some racial people called Yehudim, that definition came to refer to not only them, but their national government (Beit Yehudah, which included some people of Levi and Binyamin) and their geographic homeland (in Southern Palestine).
With the Jewish exile to Babylon, things were to change. True, there was a remnant of these people who came back to Southern Palestine (around Jerusalem) and established a land territory called Judea. But over the years, people of other nationalities and races settled in this same territory (like the Amalekites, to be later addressed). They, too, came to be called Yehudim (Jews in English).
There was, of course, the historic language of the Jews (which was known as Hebrew) and which continued. And there were also the historic Hebrew religion and culture. In NT days, people who followed this religion and/or culture were known as Yehudim or Jews. In time, this religion of the Jews became known as Judaism and the culture became identified as the Jewish culture.
In the Greek language, these Yehudim were known as Ioudaios. This was a term which could be used for any of the people in the Judean territorial province (which could be ascertained usually from the context of the NT reference and especially so in the book of John, discussed elsewhere herein) or it could refer to the religion or culture of the people outside of Judea.
Thus, the people of Galilee were Galileans geographically. But they could be of the Yehudi or Greek religions or cultures (as just shown). Presumably, even some Samaritans might have lived in Galilee with their own religion and culture. Out in the Diaspora, there were people of the Yehudi religion and culture, who had Greek citizenship or lived in Greek lands (like Shaul the apostle).
Just as Jews could convert and change to other religions, the same reality applies to people of other religions. People of any worldly faith can and do periodically change their religious identifications to other religions. It happens all of the time.
The Bottom Line
The point here is that the words Greek or Jew (or even Roman, Egyptian, American and so forth) have lost all semblance of relevance as far as racial definitions. All of these societies once had a people who were generally racially homogeneous. But over the years, all of them (including the US) allowed in huge numbers of other racial peoples and proceeded to integrate, mix, miscegenate and amalgamate with them.
Despite the loss of any relevance of these identifying terms for race, the words still have pertinence for other definitions--certainly geographical land areas (like Greece and Judea of 2,000 years ago), language and by all means, religion and culture. In fact, today, the Greek and Jewish religions both still survive (although there is another identifying word for the Greek religion, to be covered in a later chapter).
In the main, in New Testament days, the words Yehudi/Yehudim (Jew or Jews) meant either people living in the geographical area of Judea (which was determinable by the context of its use) or the persons of the Jewish religion or culture, wherever they lived. Just as is true today, there was some effort to hold onto the Jewish identification reference, even if a racial or ethnic Jew abandoned Judaism.
People like the Roosevelts, Karl Marx and the recent Secretary of Defense, William Cohen, demonstrate this reality. The Roosevelts were once Jews, but left Judaism for Christianity. The same is true with William Cohen. He once was a Jew. But now, he is a Christian.
Karl Marx was supposedly born a Jew, but was converted to Christianity as a small child by his father. On reaching adulthood, he became a professed atheist. Not only was Karl Marx a supposed atheist, but he passionately hated Judaism above all else. Presumably, he did not hate the Jewish people with equal passion.
Technically, it would be incorrect to call any of these persons “Jews,” although there is the obvious linkage of the presence of some DNA and genes which tie some modern peoples back to certain earlier ancestor lines (which may or may not have called themselves Yehudim/Jews). This condition will be discussed in subsequent chapters herein which focus upon the Jews in some detail.
Chapter 48--The Publicized Great Commission
Is This A Change?
The so-called "great commission of taking the Gospel to all nations" (in the KJV at Matt 28:19; Mk 13:10; Lu 24:47) was a part of The MESSIAH's final instructions to the disciples.
Of course, it has been principally these Scriptural references which Christians regularly seize upon to justify their worldwide evangelistic campaigns supposedly to convert all of the heathen in the world.
First, there is some question about whether this reference is even in the book of at least Matthew (and perhaps the other books as well). The previously quoted Hebrew text of Matthew from Shem Tob ben Isaac ben Shaprut does not contain the words “people of all the nations (“Jehovah’s Witnesses Defended,” p. 42).
Reportedly, the early Ebionites (to be defined in a later chapter), who may have used an early Hebrew text of Matthew, rejected a belief in the conversion of “people of all the nations” (ibid, p. 42).
If the words in question were not in the early Hebrew edition of Matthew, there is some possibility that they were not present elsewhere in the NT. Maybe, they are a product of the editing done by Marcion or some other early Christian editor (as described previously herein).
An Analysis
In these texts, in the so-called Gospels, assuming that they are valid and represent truth and not the work of Marcion or some other early Christian editor, the word "nations" is from the Greek "ethne" which links to the Greek "ethnos," singular and neuter case, (ethne--nominative and accusative plural, ethnesi--dative plural, and ethnon--genitive plural, per “The Analytical Greek Lexicon”).
At this juncture, some so-called Christian "experts" will jump up and down in ecstasy and enthusiastically declare that The MESSIAH has changed the definition of "who" it was to receive the Good News.