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Revelation 2: 8-9
Posted : 12 Jun, 2012 12:44 PM
Revelation 2: 8-9 says "And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna
write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and
is alive;
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."
Then in Revelation 3: 7-8 there is again a reference to those who say
they are Jews but are not. "And to the angel of the church in
Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is
true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man
shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth;
8. I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and
no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my
word, and hast not denied my name.
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."
Those who say they are Jews but are not real Jews is not explained by
the Khazar theory. The Khazar theory says that Jews today, or just
Ashkenazi Jews, are not racially Jews, but are descendants from the
Turkic tribe of Khazars, whose ruling class and some others converted
to Judaism in the 8th or early 9th century. The Thirteenth Tribe
(1976), by Arthur Koestler, helped to spread the Khazar theory."
To say that in the Book of Revelation that those who say they are Jews
but are not refers to the physical race of Jews, that is, literal
physical descent from Abraham, is returning to the Old Covenant. This
explanation denies what Paul teaches in Romans 4: 13-14 and Galatians
3: 16-29. I could use the online Unbound Bible site to copy and paste
these texts in quickly, but most readers on Christian forums don't
like long quotations of scripture.
The scripture which I will quote is Romans 2: 28-29. "For he is not a
Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is
outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and
circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the
letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God."
In Revelation 2: 9 and 3: 9, according to Romans 2; 28-29, those who
say they are Jews but are not real Jews are outward Jews, but not Jews
inwardly. From other New Testament texts it can be said that those who
say they are Jews but are not are the physical descendants of Abraham
who have rejected Jesus Christ, are not born again in him (John 3:
1-6) and are not saved.
In Romans 9: 8 Jews who say they are Jews but are not are the
children of the flesh, and not the children of God. In Galatians 4:
25 they are part of the Jerusalem which now is and is in bondage with
her children, not part of the Jerusalem which is above, is free and is
the mother of us all of verse 26.
Going back to Romans 2, there is a statement which is relevant to
Revelation 2: 9 which says those who say they are Jews but are not
real Jews blaspheme. Romans 2: 23-25 says "Thou that makest thy boast
of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God?
24.For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you,
as it is written.
25. For circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the law: but if
thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made
uncircumcision."
By circumcision here Paul means Jewish identity. Circumcision in the
males was a mark of being a descendant of Abraham (Genesis 17: 7-11)
The identity of the Jew under the Old Covenant was done away with in
the New Covenant. In the New Covenant one's identity in that Israel
which became a spiritual house (I Peter 2: 5-9) is in Christ and in
being born again in him. The moral law was retained in the New
Covenant to show us our sin. Paul is saying the Jews make their
boast, their identity, in the law, both the moral and ceremonial laws,
but in not being able to keep the law they blasphemed, having
rejected Christ who could enable them to fulfill the moral law. The
ceremonial law as a shadow of the substance which is Christ was done
away with. Those Jews in Revelation 2: 9 who say they are Jews but are
not blaspheme because they have rejected Christ.
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