We have studied both Rahab the harlot and Ruth, both from Moab and in the lineage of David and Jesus Christ. So King David had Moabite blood in him when he became King of Israel. How can we see if ethnicity is the sole identifier of what is become known as an Isrealite? Let us go to the New or Second Testament to continue. We will start with John the Baptist.
Matthew 3:1 Now in those days John the Baptist *came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying,
3:2 "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
3:3 For this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet when he said, "THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, 'MAKE READY THE WAY OF THE LORD, MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT!'"
John was born to introduce the Messiah to the nation of Israel. Even though the nation now only included Judah and Benjamin. Technically, it was only the nation of Judah, hence the origin of the name as Jew which only refers to those of Judah.
3:4 Now John himself had a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.
3:5 Then Jerusalem was going out to him, and all Judea and all the district around the Jordan;
3:6 and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.
John was reminding all that they all had to repent. They were all sinful as are all today. Bearing fruit that glorifies Jehovah is still one of the evidences of true repentance and salvation.
3:7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
3:8 "Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance;
3:9 and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham for our father'; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.
What is he saying? They may have been related to Abraham in a physical way, but how could stones be children of Abraham?
3:10 "The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
3:11 "As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
3:12 "His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."
Clearly, distant blood relatives of Abraham were not true sons if they were not repentant and totally submissive to Jesus. So eternal children of Abraham must be saved to truly be within Abraham’s family.
But, being in Abraham’s family is not the end goal. Becoming a child of Jehovah is the only family that truly has any eternal value. The Jews had too long believed that a family connection to Abraham was all that they needed. What did Jesus say?
John 8:39 They (the Jews) answered and said to Him, "Abraham is our father." Jesus *said to them, "If you are Abraham's children, do the deeds of Abraham.
8:40 "But as it is, you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God; this Abraham did not do.
Jesus immediately questions their reliance on being Abraham’s children. He told them they were not children of Abraham because they don’t act in a manner consistent with Abraham.
8:41 "You are doing the deeds of your father." They said to Him, "We were not born of fornication; we have one Father: God."
They now claim they are also children of the Father. They slander Jesus by implying that His birth was illegitimate.
8:42 Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me.
Jesus once again tells them God is not their Father either. Ethnicity has no bearing on being a child of God. It is not your physical family, no matter how godly, that matters in your quest for eternal life.
8:43 "Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word.
8:44 "You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
Now Jesus tells them that they are in a very serious situation. Their father is not Abraham (blood ethnicity) or God (religious traditions), but their father was Satan, the devil. God’s family of His chosen people is not limited nor restricted by any physical means.
How this is further amplified will be discussed next Saturday.