Hi Nancy,
In Ray's article 'Lazarus and the Rich Man' he puts a lot of effort to explain about the Jews.
I took a portion to show you, but the whole article would give a better understanding.
http://bible-truths.com/lazarus.html -------------------------------------------------
JEWS STILL REJECT JESUS
Judah did not obey God through most of their long history. The Jews as a nation did not repent at the preaching of John the Baptist. They killed their own Savior!
"Let all the house of Israel know certainly, then, that God Makes Him Lord as well as Christ--this Jesus Whom you [Jews] crucify!" (Acts 2:36).
But Christ forgave them before He even died:
"Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34).
He commissioned his apostles to herald the good news of His resurrection and the coming Kingdom of God to them again, but again, as a nation, the Jews rejected Him.
So now what? So then Christ calls Saul to be "Paul." And so Paul preaches and teaches in Jerusalem. And what kind of reception did Paul and his message receive?
"Now he [Paul] argued in the synagogue on every sabbath ... Paul was pressed in the word, certifying to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ. Now at their [the Jews] resisting and blaspheming, shaking out his garments, he said to them, ‘Your blood be on your head! Clear am I! From now on I SHALL GO TO THE NATIONS" (Acts 18:4-6).
Just as Christ prophesied
"...neither will they be persuaded if someone should be rising from among the dead."
The Scriptures do plainly state that the Jews shall yet find salvation through Christ’s Sacrifice, because it was God who blinded them in the first place so that they would not and could not understand and repent! Isaiah prophesied that they would not repent and so Christ did not heal them (Mat. 13:1915). "...us [Gentiles], whom He calls also, not only out of the Jews, but out of the nations also..." (Rom.. 9:24). And
"I shall be calling those who are not My people [poor and wretched people like Lazarus--Gentiles] ‘My people,’" (Rom. 9:25).
Yes ALL PEOPLE will be GOD’S PEOPLE!
If that thought doesn’t bring joy to our hearts, I don’t know what could. And
"I became disclosed to those [Gentiles] who are not inquiring for Me" (Rom. 10:20).
Since the time that Paul said "From now on I shall go to the nations," the Jews have, except for rare and individual cases, rejected Christ risen from the dead. But millions of poor rejected people like Lazarus have been brought into Abraham’s bosom, into a close and intimate relationship with God Himself.
Well, since it was "God" who blinded the Jews and caste them away, will He ever take them back and remove their blindness?
"For if their [the Jews] casting away is the conciliation of the world, what will the TAKING BACK be if not life from among the dead?" (Rom. 11:15).
"...that callousness [by God Ver. 8], in part, on Israel has come, until the complement of the nations may be entering. And thus ALL ISRAEL SHALL BE SAVED..." (Rom. 11:26)!!
Look at Ezekiel 37 beginning in verse 13
"And ye shall know that I am the Lord when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves." (Notice they come out of their graves, not out of hell).
Ver. 14, "And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live..." (Notice they shall "live." That means they were "dead," not alive in some hell).
Ver. 23, "Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, so shall they be my people, and I will be their God."
Ver. 25, "And David my servant shall be king over them..."
GOD IS OPERATING ALL
How could anyone possibly believe any one of these verses and yet believe that unbelieving Jews God will burn in Hell for all eternity. Let’s be Scripturally honest here:
God blinded Israel (ver. 08).
God used their offense to bring salvation to the nations (ver. 11).
God caste Israel away so that He could conciliate the whole world (ver 15).
God will take back these unbelieving and sinning Jews (ver 15)
God will give them life from among the dead (ver. 15).
God will save all Israel (ver. 26).
God will not burn them in hell for all eternity, because they will be sinless: "Whenever I should be eliminating their sins" (Ver. 27).
It is GOD Who is in control of the destiny of the human race, not MAN!
God has a plan that eventually brings all the Jews and all the Gentiles to salvation. The very heart of the Gospel is the salvation of the Jews and Gentiles, the salvation of the WHOLE WORLD!
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mercy, peace, and love
Kat