649 - Les Feldick Bible Study - Lesson 1 Part 1 Book 55 - The End of All Things is at Hand

https://lesfeldickbiblestudy.com Through the Bible with Les Feldick LESSON 1 * PART 1 * BOOK 55 The End of All Things is at Hand We want to constantly be reminded that these little epistles of James, Peter, John, Jude and on into Revelation were all part and parcel of the Old Testament prophetic program laid out for the Nation of Israel. All right, now in James verse 1 of chapter 1, it is so obvious who the first of these little Jewish epistles were written to. James 1:1 "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, (written) to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting." Well there are no Gentiles in the Twelve Tribes of Israel, so James is writing to the Jews. Well, that wouldn’t apply to Gentiles, they’re not scattered - but Jews were. There’s no Church language in James. There’s no Church language in Peter. All right, but now in I Peter chapter 4 (writing to these Jews probably up there in Western Turkey and Asia Minor in separate little Jewish congregations), they’re under intense pressure. The rest of the Jewish world has pretty much made life easy with the Romans - but these believers who are now living a life that is according to God’s program, are being persecuted. Killed them. No they’re not in the Tribulation, as Peter is writing this, but remember according to the Old Testament program (and by the time we get into these little Jewish epistles), they feel like the Tribulation is right out in front of them. The only thing that is different, is God has now given the Gentile world through the Apostle Paul’s teaching of Grace nearly 2,000 years to complete the Body of Christ. Isn’t it amazing that God did not let Rome destroy the Temple and Jerusalem, and scatter the Nation of Israel, until Paul had finished his epistles? So Israel and the Roman Empire went down into the dustbin of history together. Then for the longest time they just called themselves The Ten. Just watch Western Europe because, as Israel comes more to the fore, right beside it comes the Roman Empire - because they will be operating in unison again by the time the Tribulation starts. I Peter 4:1a Philippians 2:5-8 So Peter is aware of the death and the burial and the resurrection, but he never proclaimed it as the Gospel of Salvation, as Paul does. I Peter 4:2 "That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God." Now what’s Peter saying here? Now verse 3. I Peter 4:3a Gentiles,…" Now do you see how obvious this is that Peter is talking to Jews? As he writes to Jews he makes reference to those Gentile persecutors. I Peter 4:3b "…when we walked in (now this was the moral state of the Gentile world in which the Nation of Israel had to move and breath and live. Come all the way back to Acts chapter 15 - after they’ve had that counsel at Jerusalem - and when James, Peter and John finally agree that Paul can go out to the Gentiles, and that they (the Twelve) would stay amongst the Nation of Israel, the Jews. If you understand the wicked lifestyle, the rotten social structure of the Roman Empire (Gentiles), then you can understand why these Jewish believers like the Twelve were concerned as to how Paul would handle these Gentile converts. Now I’m going to stop a minute in Galatians on our way back to I Peter - where Paul gives us the same kind of a verbal picture of the lifestyle of the Gentile world at that time. Galatians 5:19-20 All right finish the verse, Galatians 5:21 I Peter 4:3a "For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles,…" In other words, to live like the Gentiles. Do you realize that from day one, from the time that Moses brought Israel out of Egypt, what was the one thing that God had to constantly warn Israel to beware of? "Don’t be like the Gentiles." God had to tell them over and over, "Don’t be like the Gentiles." "We want a king like the Gentiles have. All right, and so now back to I Peter again - now this is what Peter is alluding to. Have you ever stopped to realize why the Nation of Israel hasn’t disappeared? I read the other day in the Jerusalem Post that 52% of Jewish young people are marrying Gentiles. Now verse 4. I Peter 3:4a "Wherein they (the Gentiles) think it strange…’ I Peter 3:4b I Peter 1:5 Here we have Peter all of a sudden admonishing these Jewish believers not to even want to be like those Gentiles, but why? Now verse 6. I Peter 1:6a The Gospel of the Kingdom was preached to them, they died as believers. I Peter 1:6b The Apostle of the Gentiles - but we’re dealing with the same God; we’re dealing with the same ungodly world. Romans 8:18 Almost the same thing that Peter said, Paul says, "Okay, so you’ve come under intense persecution because of your faith. #LesFeldick #BibleStudy #Bible