"Elder, some say about the Old Testament that 'we should not meditate on the history of the Jews'."
It is not a history of the Jews. It is the history of our Lord Jesus Christ. They must understand this. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob may have been ancestors of the Israelites according to the flesh, but according to the spirit they are ours. Saint Paul says this (Gal. 3:7-9). And the Lord said to the Jews: "And think not to say within yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father': for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham" (Matt. 3:9).
The Christian people are Israel according to the spirit. Whichever Christian imitates the faith of Abraham, such is a child of Abraham. Not the Jews, who put the Messiah on trial, whom Abraham believed in and expected. All the righteous of the Old Testament expected the Messiah, including Jacob and all the Patriarchs. As well as the God-seeing Moses, who said: "A prophet from among your brethren...the Lord your God will raise you" (Deut. 13:15).
The saints of the Old Testament are, therefore, our ancestors according to the spirit. The notion that the Old Testament is a history of the Hebrew people is distorted. The truth is that it is a history of Christianity. It is the history of our Lord Himself.
The Jews have now become against Christ. They are not a chosen people. They fell. Do we not sing on Pentecost: "The Jews...suffering from disbelief, fell from divine grace."
Translated by John Sanidopoulos
It is not a history of the Jews. It is the history of our Lord Jesus Christ. They must understand this. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob may have been ancestors of the Israelites according to the flesh, but according to the spirit they are ours. Saint Paul says this (Gal. 3:7-9). And the Lord said to the Jews: "And think not to say within yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father': for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham" (Matt. 3:9).
The Christian people are Israel according to the spirit. Whichever Christian imitates the faith of Abraham, such is a child of Abraham. Not the Jews, who put the Messiah on trial, whom Abraham believed in and expected. All the righteous of the Old Testament expected the Messiah, including Jacob and all the Patriarchs. As well as the God-seeing Moses, who said: "A prophet from among your brethren...the Lord your God will raise you" (Deut. 13:15).
The saints of the Old Testament are, therefore, our ancestors according to the spirit. The notion that the Old Testament is a history of the Hebrew people is distorted. The truth is that it is a history of Christianity. It is the history of our Lord Himself.
The Jews have now become against Christ. They are not a chosen people. They fell. Do we not sing on Pentecost: "The Jews...suffering from disbelief, fell from divine grace."
Translated by John Sanidopoulos