all who are afar off
Acts 2:39 “For the promise
is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the
Lord our God will call.”
Those who are far off are the circumcision believers, the sheep of
the dispersion. Peter, James, and John wrote to them.
Jam 1:1 James, a bondservant
of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered
abroad: Greetings.
1 Pet 1:1 Peter, an apostle
of Jesus Christ, To the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia,
Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
Rev 1:9 I, John, both your
brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus
Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the
testimony of Jesus Christ.
They are also referred to as the “other sheep.” This is
established from Old Testament material. In Jeremiah 50:4-7,17-19, it says, “In
those days and in that time, says the LORD, the children of Israel shall come,
they and the children of Judah together; with continual weeping they shall come
and seek the LORD their God. 5 They shall ask the way to Zion, with their faces
toward it, saying, Come and let us join ourselves to the LORD In a perpetual
covenant that will not be forgotten. 6 My people have been lost sheep. Their
shepherds have led them astray; they have turned them away on the mountains.
They have gone from mountain to hill; They have forgotten their resting place.
7 All who found them have devoured them; and their adversaries said, We have
not offended, because they have sinned against the LORD, the habitation of
justice, The LORD, the hope of their fathers. 17 Israel is like scattered
sheep. The lions have driven him away. First the king of Assyria devoured him;
Now at last this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has broken his bones. 18
Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will punish
the king of Babylon and his land as I have punished the king of Assyria. 19 But
I will bring back Israel to his home. And he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan;
His soul shall be satisfied on Mount Ephraim and Gilead.”
Deu 30:1-5 says, “Now it
shall come to pass, when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the
curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the
nations where the LORD your God drives you, 2 and you return to the LORD your
God and obey His voice, according to all that I command you today, you and your
children, with all your heart and with all your soul, 3 that the LORD your God
will bring you back from captivity, and have compassion on you, and gather you
again from all the nations where the LORD your God has scattered you. 4 If any
of you are driven out to the farthest parts under heaven, from there the LORD
your God will gather you, and from there He will bring you. 5 Then the LORD
your God will bring you to the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall
possess it. He will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers.”
Isa 66:19,20 says, I will
set a sign among them; and those among them who escape I will send to the
nations: to Tarshish and Pul and Lud, who draw the bow, and Tubal and Javan, to
the coastlands afar off who have not heard My fame nor seen My glory. And they
shall declare My glory among the Gentiles. 20 “Then they shall bring all your
brethren for an offering to the Lord out of all nations, on horses and in
chariots and in litters, on mules and on camels, to My holy mountain
Jerusalem,” says the Lord, “as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean
vessel into the house of the Lord.
Psa 4:11 says, “You have
given us up like sheep intended for food and have scattered us among the
nations.”
Jer 31:7-12 says, “Sing with
gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations; Proclaim, give
praise, and say, ‘O LORD, save Your people, the remnant of Israel!’ 8 Behold, I
will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the ends of the
earth, among them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and the one who
labors with child, together; a great throng shall return there. 9 They shall
come with weeping, and with supplications I will lead them. I will cause them
to walk by the rivers of waters, in a straight way in which they shall not
stumble; For I am a Father to Israel, and Ephraim is My firstborn. 10 “Hear the
word of the LORD, O nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, ‘He
who scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him as a shepherd does his
flock.’ 11 For the LORD has redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of
one stronger than he. 12 Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of
Zion, streaming to the goodness of the LORD; For wheat and new wine and oil,
for the young of the flock and the herd; Their souls shall be like a
well-watered garden, and they shall sorrow no more at all.”
Even that wicked high priest, Caiaphas was moved into the
picture by God when he said in John 11:51-52, “You know nothing at all, 50 nor
do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the
people Israel, and not that the whole nation Israel should perish. 51 Now this
he did not say on his own authority; but being high priest that year he
prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, 52 and not for that the nation
only, but also that He would gather together in into one the children of God
Israel who were scattered abroad.”
Eze 11:16 “Therefore say,
‘Thus says the Lord God: “Although I have cast them far off among the Gentiles,
and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet I shall be a little
sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone.’”
Eze 37:15-28 says, “Again
the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 16 as for you, son of man, take a
stick for yourself and write on it: For Judah Judah and Benjamin and for the
children of Israel, his companions. Then take another stick and write on it,
for Joseph, the stick of Ephraim The ten tribes, and for all the house of
Israel, his companions. 17 Then join them one to another for yourself into one
stick, and they will become one in your hand. 18 And when the children of your
people speak to you, saying, Will you not show us what you mean by these?; 19
say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Surely I will take the stick of Joseph,
which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions; and
I will join them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and
they will be one in My hand. 20 And the sticks on which you write will be in
your hand before their eyes. 21 Then say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Surely
I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, wherever they have
gone, and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land;
22 and I will make them one nation in the land Of course, these will only be
believers., on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them
all; they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into
two kingdoms again. 23 They shall not defile themselves anymore with their
idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions;
but I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have
sinned, and will cleanse them. Then they shall be My people, and I will be
their God. 24 David My servant shall be king over them, and they shall all have
one shepherd Jesus Christ; they shall also walk in My judgments and observe My
statutes, and do them. 25 Then they shall dwell in the land that I have given
to Jacob My servant, where your fathers dwelt; and they shall dwell there,
they, their children, and their children’s children, forever; and My servant
David shall be their prince forever. This is in connection with the promised
Davidic kingdom which was offered in Acts 3:19-26 Moreover I will make a
covenant of peace with them, and it shall be an everlasting covenant with them;
I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set My sanctuary in their
midst forevermore. 27 My tabernacle also shall be with them; indeed I will be
their God, and they shall be My people. 28 The nations also will know that I,
the LORD, sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary The New Jerusalem of Revelation 21
is in their midst forevermore.
Dan 9:7 “O Lord,
righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face, as it is this day—to the
men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those near and
those far off in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of
the unfaithfulness which they have committed against You.
Micah 2:12 says, “I will
surely assemble all of you, O Jacob, I will surely gather the remnant of
Israel; I will put them together like sheep of the fold, Like a flock in the
midst of their pasture; They shall make a loud noise because of so many
people.”
Zec 13:7-9 says, “Awake, O
sword, against My Shepherd, against the Man who is My Companion, says the LORD
of hosts. Strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; Then I will
turn My hand against the little ones. 8 And it shall come to pass in all the
land, says the LORD, that two-thirds in it shall be cut off and die, but one-third
shall be left in it: 9 I will bring the one-third through the fire, will refine
them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested. They will call on
My name, and I will answer them. I will say, This is My people; and each one
will say, The LORD is my God.”
Jer 23:1-8 is the most
comprehensive of them all. “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the
sheep of My pasture! says the LORD. 2 Therefore thus says the LORD God of
Israel against the shepherds who feed My people: You have scattered My flock,
driven them away, and not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for
the evil of your doings, says the LORD. 3 But I will gather the remnant of My
flock out of all countries where I have driven them, and bring them back to
their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. 4 I will set up shepherds
over them who will feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor
shall they be lacking, says the LORD. 5 Behold, the days are coming, says the
LORD, That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness According to the
promise of 2 Sam 7; a King shall reign and prosper, And execute judgment and
righteousness in the earth. 6 In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will
dwell safely; Now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR
RIGHTEOUSNESS. 7 Therefore, behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, that
they shall no longer say, As the LORD lives who brought up the children of
Israel from the land of Egypt, 8 but, As the LORD lives who brought up and led
the descendants of the house of Israel from the north country and from all the
countries where I had driven them. And they shall dwell in their own land.
Therefore, we must conclude that those afar off are those of the
dispersion who will believe. They are not Gentiles. Christ, the Great Shepherd,
will gather these other sheep from among the nations afar off and make His
sheep one flock in fulfillment of these prophecies. They will be joined with
the little flock. The one flock will be the true Israel of God. They will
inherit the kingdom promised to David. They will have one Shepherd.