Spiritual Jews

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Note that Jesus had specifically instructed his disciples not to go and preach to the gentiles or to the Samaritans that lived roundabout in their country. The reason for this was so as to allow ‘the Sons of the Kingdom’ (the Jews) first choice to be rulers (kings) in God’s Kingdom. However, about three-and-a-half years after they rejected and murdered His Son, God started selecting candidates from among ‘people of the nations’ or, ‘the gentiles’ (gr. te ethne).

Of course, it was hard for Jesus’ Jewish disciples to understand why there would be a need for a change in the ethnic backgrounds of the Kingdom heirs. So, despite repeated clues (such as what Jesus said at Acts 1:8 about their preaching ‘to the ends of the earth’); It came as a shock to them when the first ‘gentiles’ were converted and received God’s Holy Breath, which indicated His adoption of them as ‘spiritual sons.’
And because they didn’t fully grasp the reasons behind this change, Paul had to repeatedly warn against the teachings of Jewish ‘Christians’ that were trying to force gentile Christians to adhere to the Old Law and to circumcision.

You can see that it was difficult back then for these Jews to understand that God’s promises were no longer centered on the nation of IsraEl and on earthly JeruSalem in particular as the center of that rulership. And it’s not surprising that this is still misunderstood by many Christians today who are teaching that the Jews are ‘God’s Chosen People,’ and that the Bible’s prophecies center around what is happening and will happen around earthly JeruSalem…
They don’t grasp the full import of Jesus’ words at Luke 13:35, where he said:

‘Look! Your house has been taken from you!’

For more information, see the commentary, Jerusalem and the Israel of God.