Pastor David B. Curtis
Pastor David B. Curtis
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Good morning, Bereans. We're going to be talking today about our amazing spiritual privilege. We must understand that all this privilege starts in verse 4 with the phrase, "And coming to Him." It is in coming to Christ that all spiritual privilege becomes ours, that we are blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies.
Keep in mind that Peter is writing to scattered believers that are experiencing persecution for their faith. They are counting the cost and paying the price to live out their Christian experience in a hostile world. In this situation the next two verses would no doubt be a great encouragement.
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 1 Peter 2:9-10 ESV
All the figures of the church that Peter uses here ("chosen people," "royal priesthood," "holy nation," "people for God's own possession") originally referred to ethnic Israel. However, Peter has just taught that the Jews have rejected Yeshua the Messianic Stone:
So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone," and "A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense." They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. 1 Peter 2:7-8 ESV
The Jews stumbled they disobeyed the word, and they were judged and destroyed. With Israel's rejection of Yeshua, God created a new body of people through whom He now seeks to accomplish the same purposes that He formerly sought to achieve through Israel.
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 1 Peter 2:9 ESV
Peter has just taught that the Jews have rejected Yeshua the Corner Stone and he writes the following to the believing remnant, "But you" Peter turns from the unbelief in the previous verses to the believer's new position.
"Are a chosen race"—this same descriptive title is used of Israel in:
"For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. Deuteronomy 7:6 ESV
Israel is said to be chosen by Yahweh. After rejecting all the nations at Bable God chose Israel to be his people. And it is that text, no doubt, that is in the mind of Peter as he pens these verses. Isaiah also says this,
The wild beasts will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches, for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise. Isaiah 43:20-21 ESV
Yahweh chose Israel "that they might declare his praise." But it is these very people that verse 8 speaks of:
and "A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense." They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. 1 Peter 2:8 ESV
Yahweh's chosen people Israel disobeyed his word and lost their status as His people. This shouldn't surprise us Yeshua told his people that this would happen in the parable of the vineyard.
"Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country. When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.' But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, 'This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.' And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?" They said to him, "He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons." Yeshua said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures: "'The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes'? Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. Matthew 21:33-43 ESV
The "you" here is Israel. The chosen people Israel lost their status and came under judgment in AD 70. And now the church is his chosen race. Speaking to Jew and Gentile believers Peter tells them that they are now a "chosen race."
Notice that Yeshua doesn't say to the Jews that Yahweh is going to take a break from them in order to deal with the church, but he'll come back to them later. The kingdom of God was taken from them, forever. There are no more racial Jews, no more Jewish Temple ever, no more Jewish tribes, no more Jewish priests. The Old Covenant system is over forever. It was replaced by the chosen race of the Church of Yeshua the Christ.
"Chosen" is the Greek eklektos which is the same word as translated "elect" in 1:1 referring to those who have been chosen and set apart to be given a special place in God's kingdom.
Peter says they are a chosen genos, a chosen race. Thayer defines genos as; "offspring, family, stock, tribe, nation, nationality or descent from a particular people." Genos speaks of source. And so, it emphasizes the fact that believers are a race produced from a source, and that life source is the living Stone Yeshua. We are a chosen race, we are an elect race yet one that has nothing to with ethnicity, as faith alone is the entrance requirement. Every individual of every ethnicity who believes in Yeshua is included.
The KJV of our text is a bad translation.
But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: 1 Peter 2:9 KJV
The Greek here is genos which means: "race, kind, family, stock, breed." The Greek word translated as generation is genea, not genos. Genea means, "the sum total of those born at the same time, expanded to include all those living at a given time, contemporaries." [William F. Arndt and Wilber Gingrich (A Greek-English Lexicon of the NT and Other Early Christian Literature)]
The word genea is used in the Olivet discourse by Yeshua said,
Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Matthew 24:34 ESV
The word generation is from the Greek word genea, which means; "all those living at a given time, contemporaries." But C.I. Scofield, in his Bible's reference to Matthew 24:34, actually SWITCHED the definition of the word from that of genea to that of genos, an entirely different word!
Scofield said (p. 1034, old edition, Scofield Reference Bible): "Gr. genea, the primary definition of which is, 'race, kind, family, stock, breed' (So all lexicons). That the word is used in this sense here is sure, because none of 'these things,' the world-wide preaching of the kingdom, the Great Tibulation, the return of the Lord in visible glory, and the regathering of the elect, occurred at the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, A.D. 70. The promise is, therefore, that the generation—nation, or family of Israel—will be preserved unto 'these things'; a promise wonderfully fulfilled to this day."
Scofield tried to twist the etymology of the word "generation" to make it mean "race," and try to make Yeshua say that all these things would happen before the "Jewish race" had passed away. The word for race is genos. The word in the text is genea. There is no biblical or linguistic justification for such a position. Generation does NOT mean race! He switched definitions because of his view of the nature of the Second Coming. Since he felt that these things hadn't happened yet, he had to change the meaning of the word.
"A royal priesthood"—what is unusual about this designation? In the "royal priesthood" the tribes of Judah and Levi are combined. In the Old Covenant the two offices were separated.
In the Old Covenant, the monarchy and the priesthood were strictly separated. Priest came from the lineage of Aaron from the tribe of Levi. Only they could approach God at the temple; only they could offer the sacrifices. The rest of the Jews could not.
In addition, the king was special in Israel because he was anointed with oil by the priest. This means he was equipped and empowered by God to do the task of ruling Israel and fighting the battles of the Lord. The offices of royalty and priesthood were jealously separated in Israel.
We see the strict separation of these two roles in two kings that were judged by God for trying to combine the priesthood and the kingship. King Saul was anxious to go to battle, and instead of waiting for the priest Samuel to come and offer a sacrifice to the Lord, he decided to do it himself.
He waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattering from him. So Saul said, "Bring the burnt offering here to me, and the peace offerings." And he offered the burnt offering. As soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came. And Saul went out to meet him and greet him. Samuel said, "What have you done?" And Saul said, "When I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines had mustered at Michmash, I said, 'Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the favor of the LORD.' So I forced myself, and offered the burnt offering." And Samuel said to Saul, "You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the LORD your God, with which he commanded you. For then the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought out a man after his own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you." 1 Samuel 13:8-14 ESV
Saul was judged for trying to merge the priesthood and the kingship.
We also see this with a king named Uzziah.
But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to the LORD his God and entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense. 2 Chronicles 26:16 ESV
Uzziah became very successful, and therefore, prideful. He felt that because he was so great he could burn incense in the temple—again a work specifically for the priest to do. The priests gathered together to confront him.
and they withstood King Uzziah and said to him, "It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the LORD, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Go out of the sanctuary, for you have done wrong, and it will bring you no honor from the LORD God." 2 Chronicles 26:18 ESV
King Uzziah became angry at this and reached out to burn the incense,
Then Uzziah was angry. Now he had a censer in his hand to burn incense, and when he became angry with the priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead in the presence of the priests in the house of the LORD, by the altar of incense. 2 Chronicles 26:19 ESV
God judged him.
And King Uzziah was a leper to the day of his death, and being a leper lived in a separate house, for he was excluded from the house of the LORD. And Jotham his son was over the king's household, governing the people of the land. 2 Chronicles 26:21 ESV
Therefore, the idea of being a royal priesthood would have stood out to Peter's original audience.
Where do we see the role of priest and king merged in Scripture?
And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) Genesis 14:18 ESV
Who is the next person who merged priest and king?
For it is witnessed of him, "You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek." Hebrews 7:17 ESV
Christ is both king and priest. This was something prophesied about the coming Messiah in.
The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind, "You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek." Psalms 110:4 ESV
He would be a priest according to the order of Melchizedek, He is a royal priest, He is a priestly king. And because we are one with Christ, because we have entered into union with Him by faith we inherit the nature of His priesthood.
"A royal priesthood"—Israel had been called to be "a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." They were to stand between God and the rest of the world as priests.
Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel." Exodus 19:5-6 ESV
I think that this verse may show God's initial plan for Israel—for them to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. The plan was disrupted when Israel worshiped the golden calf at Mt. Sinai (Exodus 32:1–6)!
To punish this sin, Moses commanded those on the Lord's side to come to him, and the tribe of Levi responded. Then Moses told them to execute those who sinned,
Levi obeyed by striking down 3,000 idolaters. It was this act of abstaining from idolatry and obeying God to cleanse Israel of those who did that no doubt made the tribe of Levi God's choice to replace the firstborn sons as the nation's priests.
We don't hear anything more of the "kingdom of priests" idea in the Tanakh except in Isaiah 61:6.
but you shall be called the priests of the LORD; they shall speak of you as the ministers of our God; you shall eat the wealth of the nations, and in their glory you shall boast. Isaiah 61:6 ESV
"You shall be called the priests of Yahweh"—this looks forward to Christ's future kingdom when all earthly priests will be abolished and all believers will be called "a holy priesthood" and "a royal priesthood" 1 Peter 2:5, 9. The vision for the Messianic community is to be the conduit through whom God's instructions and blessings become known to the world. Israel was never a royal priesthood.
"A royal priesthood"—the emphasis here is on the royal. The priesthood has already been discussed in verse 5. The word "royal," as applied to us, suggests high birth. We received our royal blood through our unity with Yeshua the Christ. His life is in us.
The word "royal" is the word basileion. It generally has the sense of a royal palace, a royal residence. It can mean sovereignty. It can mean a crown. It can mean a monarchy. It can mean even a palace. But the whole idea here is just royalty in general.
We are a priesthood with dominion. We are a ruling priesthood. We are a royal house of priests, kings and priests.
and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth." Revelation 5:10 ESV
We are reigning priests. We are a royal priesthood because we are the priests of the King and we are a royal priesthood because we as priests rule with the King.
The Levitical priesthood has been abolished (Hebrews 7:11-18), As our High Priest, Yeshua offered the one sacrifice for sins under the New Covenant (Hebrews 9:11- 14,24-26; 2:17; 8:3; 10:9-18.
"A holy nation"—the word "nation" is ethnos, from which we get ethnic groups. It simply means a people. We are a holy people. What does "holy" mean? It means separated, separate, set apart. We are a holy people, set apart for Yahweh.
This particular designation of the people of God is also found in.
Behold, the LORD has proclaimed to the end of the earth: Say to the daughter of Zion, "Behold, your salvation comes; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him." And they shall be called The Holy People, The Redeemed of the LORD; and you shall be called Sought Out, A City Not Forsaken. Isaiah 62:11-12 ESV
This is a prophecy that Peter is saying is fulfilled in the New Covenant believers.
To say we are holy is to speak of our position. He has separated us unto Himself. Perhaps the word that theology has used most to describe this is "sanctification." We are a sanctified people. That's what holy nation means. We have been separated from what is unholy and we have been devoted to God.
So, sanctification is bound up in salvation. When you were saved you were set apart unto God. You became a holy nation by the initial work of salvation produced by the Holy Spirit in you. That's why Paul says,
And because of him you are in Christ Yeshua, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 1 Corinthians 1:30 ESV
We have been set apart for Yahweh.
We are "a people for God's own possession"—this same descriptive title is found in.
Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; Exodus 19:5 ESV
Israel didn't obey (1 Peter 2:8) and they lost their treasured status. We will never loose our treasured status because it's through Christ's obedience that we are accepted in the Beloved One.
The word "possession" is from the Greek word peripoiēsis which means: "possession, one's own property" to acquire, to purchase, to acquire for a price. We are God's own possession because He paid the price. What was the price?
Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. Acts 20:28 ESV
Paul puts it this way in 1 Corinthians.
for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. 1 Corinthians 6:20 ESV
God, by sovereign election, chose us and by the sacrifice of Christ paid the price to buy us back. And so we belong to Him.
He purchases us that we, "may proclaim the excellencies of Him"—the word "proclaim" is the Greek word exaggellō. Does that sound familiar to you? Probably not because it is only used here. It's a very unusual word. It appears nowhere else in the entire Bible. Thayer says it means; "to tell out or forth, to declare abroad, divulge, publish, to make known by praising or proclaiming, to celebrate to advertise." It means to publish. And it has the force of telling something otherwise unknown.
What are we advertising? "The excellencies of Him"—this is the Greek aretē which means, "virtue, moral goodness, any particular moral excellence." The purpose for this exalted status that we have is so that we may declare and make known "the excellencies" of the God who delivered sinners from spiritual blindness into the light of understanding and delight in all that God is. The purpose of our salvation, therefore, is worship! God's majesty, beauty, and breathtaking attributes ("excellencies") are the focus of our adoration and devotion. It is our mission in this world to testify and demonstrate what God has done for us.
Were to proclaim the excellencies of Him "who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light" Darkness and light are biblical metaphors of sin, evil and death versus truth, healing, and life. Paul put it this way,
He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, Colossians 1:13 ESV
The words "delivered" and "transferred" relate to the themes of the Tanakh. "Delivered," is from the Greek word rhuomai. It is in the aorist tense and suggests an accomplished event. We were delivered at a point in the past—our conversion. This deliverance is absolutely finished. There is no progress in this rescue. It is an event. The Greek word carries the idea of rescue. This is a spiritual rescue which is the anti-type of the deliverance of Israel from Egypt.
Believers, we are in God's kingdom and will never loose that position. Unlike Israel of old we are eternally secure.
Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 1 Peter 2:10 ESV
Peter reaches back and captures that same text from Hosea which Paul uses in Romans 9. And in the case of Peter as in the case of Paul, it surely here refers to the church, who were once not a people but now are the people of God. And particularly the Gentiles were the "no people" who now are the people of God.
At God's command, Hosea married a woman named Gomer. She either was a harlot when Hosea married her or she became one shortly afterwards, for she conceived children out of whoredom.
The prophet Hosea had three children to whom he gave prophetic names, a boy named Jezreel, meaning "God makes fruitful." A girl named Lo-Ruhamah, meaning "no compassion." A boy named Lo-Ammi, meaning "not my people"
The first part of our verse uses the third child's name, the last part of the verse uses the second child's name.
God tells Hosea to perform a prophetic act in naming his newborn son Lo-ammi, a name meaning "not my people" to symbolize God turning away from of a sinful and unrepentant Israel. Then in Hosea 2:23,
and I will sow her for myself in the land. And I will have mercy on No Mercy, and I will say to Not My People, 'You are my people'; and he shall say, 'You are my God.'" Hosea 2:23 ESV
God promises to have pity on Israel who He will espouse again, forgiving Israel's collective sins and in love and mercy will say, "You are my people," accepting them back into His covenant. Christians (especially the Gentile Christians) have gone from being among those who were "no people" to being the "chosen people" who are the recipients of God's divine mercy.
Peter using these designations that referred to physical Israel for the church is not uncommon, the New Testament writers constantly used terms that were used of Israel in the Tanakh of all believers in the New Testament. Let's look at the following:
For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, 1 Corinthians 10:1 ESV
Now notice carefully what Paul says to these mostly Gentile Corinthians: "Our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea." In spite of the fact that most of the Corinthian Christians were Gentiles, Paul considers the Israelites as their fathers. "Our fathers"—is a clear reference to the Jewish people in the Old Covenant.
It should be eye opening that Paul could include Gentiles in this crucial identifying phrase, yet it is appropriate because they are the spiritual descendants of Israel. Thus, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are our fathers as Christians, though genetically we Gentiles share nothing in common with them.
Paul calls them "Brothers." Those who hold to the Israel Only doctrine (IO) would say that Paul is here referring only to Israelites. The are those who are brothers in the flesh. But this shows their biblical ignorance. When Paul uses the term "brothers," he is referring to all believers. The one time he uses "brothers" of his racial brothers, he qualifies it as in Romans 9.
For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. Romans 9:3 ESV
This is the only time Paul uses this term of the Jews. He generally uses it of Christians. He qualifies it for us by saying "my kinsmen according to the flesh" which in Greek is "suggenēs kata sarx." He is speaking of the physical descendants of Abraham.
Believers, we must understand that there are two Israels.
But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, Romans 9:6 ESV
Believers, please get this. There are two Israels! National Israel and True Israel.
"For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel." I can't emphasize how important this verse is. We must understand this. This verse is the key to understanding Israel and the promises of Yahweh.
The first question we must answer is, Who or what is Israel? What does the term "Israel" mean? Let's first look at the etymology. The term, Israel, is a compound of two words: sarah, meaning "fight," "struggle," or "rule"; and el, meaning "Mighty One, God." Some have taken the name Israel to mean: "He who struggles with God" or "He who rules with God." But in Hebrew names, sometimes God is not the object of the verb, but the subject. Daniel means "God judges" not "he judges God." So, Israel means "God rules" or "He who rules with God."
We know that one of these Israels is national physical Israel, Jacob's sons. There is no disagreement here. But who is the other Israel? This is where the disagreements start.
We have here physical Israel, those who descended from Jacob, and then we have true Israel. So, we have physical Israel and true Israel.
Paul is saying that Yahweh's promises haven't failed, because Yahweh never promised unconditionally covenant blessings to each offspring of Abraham. Yahweh never intended that all of the Nation Israel would be redeemed. Within National Israel is "True Israel" or "spiritual Israel." So, one could be an Israelite without truly being an Israelite. The promises were to "true Israel," not National Israel.
So, who is true Israel? Is it the Church? Yes! But what is the Church? It is the Body of Christ! And what I want us to understand is that Yeshua is the true Israel! It is in Him, and Him alone, that the promises of Yahweh are fulfilled. We could say, "They are not all 'in Christ' who are physical descendants of Jacob."
Paul makes it clear when he says "our fathers" that the Christians in Corinth belong to spiritual Israel. The Bible is clear that all believers are the spiritual descendants of Israel. Paul makes this really clear in his letter to the Galatians.
Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, "And to offsprings," referring to many, but referring to one, "And to your offspring," who is Christ. Galatians 3:16 ESV
Paul proclaims that "God specified in His will that the beneficiaries were to be Abraham and his offspring." Paul calls particular attention to the word "offspring" and, thereby, distinguishes from "offsprings." God has a singular offspring in Christ. This does not include all of the blood descendants of Abraham.
Let me first give you my interpretation of this verse and then I will try to explain why I hold it. Paul is saying that the primary recipients of the Abrahamic covenant were Abraham and Christ. This, of course, would include all who are in Christ (i.e., believers). This promise is not realized in the Jews who were merely the physical offspring of Abraham. It is only realized in Christians, the spiritual offspring of Abraham. Apart from Paul's divinely inspired commentary, how many of us would have understood that Abraham's offspring was Christ? Please listen: When the New Testament authors comment on a passage from the Tanakh, they do not give merely AN interpretation. They give THE interpretation. The New Testament interprets the Old. The Old Covenant was a veiled representation of the New Covenant.
It is in the New Testament that we learn that the material things of the Old Covenant were types and shadows of spiritual counterparts found in the New Covenant. We are to interpret the Tanakh through the lens of the New Testament. We must understand that the last 27 books are a divinely inspired commentary on the first 39 books.
When we see these terms that were used of national Israel used for the church it is because the church is the true Israel. National, ethnic Israel was a type. Understanding this is crucial. Dispensationalism misses this very important point and thus tries to keep separate the type and anti-type. The people of Israel themselves were a type. The nation itself, as God's special people, was typical of the true people of God. It was "physical Israel," but Paul describes Christian believers as "spiritual Israel." National Israel was divinely ordained to resemble spiritual Israel. The physical seed of Abraham typified the spiritual seed of Abraham. And as Paul teaches in Romans 4, some of the promises made to his seed were not fulfilled at all to his physical seed but only to his spiritual children. Physical Israel as a type of spiritual Israel is constantly set forth by Paul in the Roman and Galatian letters.
By understanding that the nation of Israel was a type, we won't be surprised to find that Israel's sacrifices, priesthood, temple, and land also had typical significance.
Dispensationalism puts great emphasis on a rebuilt temple and restored priesthood because it fails to see these as types. Physical Israel was a type and so was the tabernacle.
They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, "See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain." Hebrews 8:5 ESV
The tabernacle was a type. What is the anti-type? Yeshua is the anti-type:
Yeshua answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." John 2:19 ESV
Yeshua replaces the temple itself. Yeshua is the anti-type of the temple. The temple represented the presence of God among His children in the early days.
So, when Peter uses the designations that were used of Old Covenant Israel for the Church he is telling us that we are the Israel of God. We are true spiritual Israel and national ethnic Israel is no more. Yeshua's words have been fulfilled.
Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. Matthew 21:43 ESV
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