Walking the length and breadth of it

As part of the prophetic visions given in Zechariah 1 is: [20] And the LORD shewed me four carpenters.

Jordan explains, “Israel is in captivity and trodden down under the foot of the Gentiles UNTIL those carpenters come in and destroy them and rebuild the nation.

“The one who destroys those Gentile powers, if you look at Daniel, is really the Messiah and that’s one of those passages that actually tells you the occupation the Messiah is going to carry on when He comes.

"It wasn’t a mistake that Mary married Joseph the Carpenter and that the Lord Jesus Christ is known as 'the carpenter' and 'the carpenter’s son,' and that that was His vocation for the first part of His life prior to turning 30.

“It was just as the prophets had told Israel: ‘You want to look for a carpenter.’ But then there’s a fourfold kind of picture the carpenter’s going to execute.

"In the Book of Zechariah you see that the carpenter is going to be a king, a servant of the Lord, the man whose name is the Branch and then Jehovah. Those four pictures of Him wind up being the fourfold presentation you find in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

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“As a Gentile, Luke looks at Israel’s Messiah from the perspective of a Gentile. He begins Luke 3 with, [1] Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene,
[2] Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.

“You see the stuff about these Gentile rulers? You don’t read that in the other three gospels. Who would be interested in all of that? The Jews are mad about it. They’re not interested in giving any of these people . . . They don’t even own these people as rulers.

"But Luke’s got a bigger perspective of everything that he does. He doesn’t get to the rulers in Israel until verse 2.

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“Luke is the only one who doesn’t record John saying, ‘Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Instead, he talks about ‘repenting for the remission of sins.’ It’s like Luke goes right over the issue of the political side of things and goes right to the heart of the human need they had.

Luke writes about ‘the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’ which is what Matthew records, but notice he doesn’t stop the quote there.

"He goes on, [5] Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth;
[6] And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.

“Luke is the only place where that quotation is extended, not just to include Israel, but to include all flesh. Luke does that constantly. It’s the special purview of Luke to say Israel’s Messiah is going to do not just the blessing for Israel, He’s going to bless the whole of the planet; all of humanity.

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“Luke 2:10 says, ‘And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.’ Notice it’s going to be for all people.

“Verse 28: [28] Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said,
[29] Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word:
[30] For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,
[31] Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;
[32] A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.

“Luke uses every opportunity to announce the fact that Gentiles were going to have a part in the kingdom God gave to Israel. If you compare that with Matthew 10, it says, [5] These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:
[6] But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
[7] And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.

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“Gentile salvation is not a mystery and never has been. What the mystery is is that God would save Gentiles apart from Israel. The whole purpose of the Abrahamic Covenant was that God was going to raise up a nation through whom He would bless all the other nations of the earth.

“God’s intention with man in Genesis 1: [1] In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
[2] And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

“He puts man on the earth. He sends man out to reclaim the earth; to go out and replenish the earth and subdue it and have dominion over it and to be God’s regent in the earth. Adam and Eve, in fact, were to be co-regents in the earth, both reigning equally over creation for God.

“Man had the crown to the kingdom and the government of the earth. Now, he took that crown and delivered it to Satan in Genesis 3 at the fall.

“Abraham was chosen as the channel through whom God was going to send blessing to all those nations out there that had turned their back on Him. Literally what He does with Abraham is He says, ‘Look, they don’t want me to be their God, so I’ll take you and make a nation of you and I’ll be your God and I will demonstrate to all the other nations of the earth what it is to be a nation that has me as their God and I’ll demonstrate to everyone else what my purpose is and I’ll accomplish it through you.’

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“Acts 7 says, [2] And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran,
[3] And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee.

“When Abraham was over there in Ur of the Chaldees, God appeared to him and said what’s in Genesis 12, and that’s why Genesis 12:1 is in past tense. Notice in Acts 7:2 who it was that appeared to him—‘The God of glory.’

“By the way, that’s the first time God’s appeared since Genesis 3 in Eden. That expression is a very special title used of Jehovah. That’s a messianic title used in the psalms to describe the Lord Jesus Christ as the king of glory.

“Matthew 25 says, [31] When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:

“Psalm 29 says He will be the king of glory and He is The God of glory. What Stephen is saying is the Messiah, the one who’s going to set up His kingdom, appeared to Abraham.

"When He appeared to Abraham, what He’s doing is He’s the one who is the rightful king of the earth and He says to Abe, ‘That throne, that crown that Adam lost, I’m going to give it to you and to the nation I’m going to make out of you.’

“Genesis 12:3 says, ‘And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.’ 

God said, ‘I’m going to bless you and then you’re going to take the blessing I give you and give it to other people and all those families in the earth are going to get my blessing; through you it will go to them.’

“By the way, when Christ says in Matt 25, ‘Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the kingdom,’ that is the Gentile nations inheriting the blessing of the Abrahamic Covenant. ‘I’ll bless them that bless you.’

“God made it real clear to Abraham that I’m giving YOU something and through YOU the blessing I give you is going to go to all the nations of the earth.

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“God says in Genesis 26:4, [4] And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.

"That blessing went to Isaac and it began to be passed down. It’s always consistently the same thing. God confirmed to Jacob the blessing.

"In Genesis 28, Jacob’s out at Bethel under the stars. Verses 13-14 say, [13] And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed;
[14] And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

“You go to Deuteronomy 1 and the Abrahamic Covenant is confirmed to Jacob’s 12 sons, the 12 tribes, and every time the covenant comes up, it isn’t just Israel, it’s, ‘YOU'RE going to be the channel of my blessings to the nations.’

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“Psalm 2 is a messianic psalm where you see the words and the mind and the heart of the Lord Jesus Christ. In this psalm you hear several people speak. First the nations of the earth speak. ‘Why do the heathen rage and the people Israel imagine this empty foolish idea? What is the idea?’

“The psalm reads, [2] The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying,
[3] Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.
[4] He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.
[5] Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.
[6] Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.

“If you go to Acts 4:27-30, you’ll see this passage quoted as a reference to Israel and the Gentiles joining hands together to crucify Christ. The nations and Israel have joined together to reject God the Father and God the Son. So God the Father responds to their rejection in verse 4.

“God the Father says, ‘You want to declare war on me? Tell you what I’ll do. I’ll declare war on you. I’ll speak to you in my wrath and vex you in my sore displeasure.’

“That’s the prophetic response from God the world is waiting for in the early Acts period! That’s why Peter quotes Psalm 110 in Acts 2 and says, ‘[34] For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand,
[35] Until I make thy foes thy footstool.
[36] Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.

“That’s why in Acts 7 when Stephen sees Christ standing, what’s He doing? He’s ready to come and speak in His wrath and vex them in His sore displeasure.

“Now, in Psalm 2:7, here’s the agreement God the Father and I had. [7] I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.
[8] Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.

“That’s quoted in Acts 13:33 by Paul as a reference to the resurrection of Jesus Christ: [33] God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.

“By the way, you see in Psalm 2 where it says, ‘the Lord hath said unto me,’ sometimes Jehovah in the Old Testament is God the Father. Sometime Jehovah is God the Son and sometime He’s God the Holy Spirit. They all share that name because they are all God.

“Psalm 2:8 says, [8] Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.

“God’s saying, ‘You ask of me and I’ll make you the king over the whole she-bang. Not just Israel, but over the uttermost parts of the earth.’ That’s why in Matthew 28, in the post-resurrection commission, Jesus Christ says to the apostles, to Israel, ‘Go ye therefore and teach all nations.’ Why? The Father said, ‘Ask of me and I’ll give you the heathen for an inheritance.’

"That’s why He says in Mark 16, ‘Go into all the world and preach.’ That’s why in Acts 1:8 He says, ‘[8] But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

“There He’s quoting Psalm 2:8. Acts 1:8 is a direct reference back to it. When is that going to take place? Verse 6 says, ‘When the king is set upon his holy hill of Zion.’

“He comes in His earthly ministry to call Israel, to get the believing remnant of Israel ready so that after His resurrection, He’ll have the vehicle in hand to go out and take the message to the nations, to the whole world.

“That’s the reason it’s not until after His resurrection that that Great Commission is expanded from being exclusively to Israel to include the rest who are going to receive the blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant.

“First He had to bless Israel. First Israel had to be filled. First the children must be filled, He told the Syrophenician woman, and then the crumbs would fall from their table for the nations.”