Some years ago, while with another ministry, I presented a sermon entitled "There is neither "Jew nor Greek." That particular study was well received and since then I have expanded the material and have put it into a book, which is also now available.

It is my hope that this study will again be well received, and that the books on the subject will be purchased and used as a tool to reach our fellow Israelite brethren who are unaware of their identity.

I addressed this subject because of a letter I received asking the following question:

"Please, will you explain Galatians 3:28 and especially 29..."

"There is neither Jew nor Greek,... ye are all one in Christ Jesus. "And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, heirs according to the promise." Galatians 3:28-29

One of the biggest problems in understanding Scripture is in just understanding the meaning of the words being used and knowing to whom the Scriptures are addressed. Once that is known, then Scripture becomes easier to understand.

Unfortunately Galatians 3:28 and 29 have been used probably more than any other verses in Scripture in an attempt to destroy the continuity of the Old Testament with the New Testament. That is, to destroy the truth that the New Testament is still addressed to Israel as is the Old Testament.

From my perspective, it is impossible to read the Old Testament and come to any other conclusion than, other than the first 11 chapters of Genesis, it was written about and to the literal descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and any attempt to plug the modern-day church into the Old Testament is an exercise in futility. If there was a church in the wilderness or anywhere in the Old Testament, it was the congregation of the children of Israel.

I should not pass up the opportunity to point out that the terms "Old Testament" and "New Testament" are misnomers. The word should be "Covenant," and if a distinction is to be made, they should be referred to as the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. Jeremiah 31 and Hebrews 8 talk about an old and new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah -- not testaments. God deals in covenants -- not testaments.

In addition, these covenants were made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and their literal descendants, who became the nation of Israel. The covenants were not made with any church nor do we find a covenant being made with any church in the New Testament (covenant).

So the purpose of this study will be to demonstrate that the phrase "neither Jew nor Greek" is a phrase applied to Jews or Judah, and that the Greeks are really dispersed Israel, and that the death and resurrection of Christ provided for their coming together again as a nation, united in the blood of Christ as was foretold in the parable of the two sticks (Ezekiel 37).

In making such a statement I do not want to overlook the proselyte who may speak Greek, the Chinese, the Japanese or the Aborigines in Australia. I think that it is without question that all nations and peoples will eventually come to the saving grace of our Lord and Saviour Christ Jesus.

For example, we know from the parable of nations in Matthew 25 that all nations (other than Israel) will be judged based upon how they treated Israel.

We also know that God chose Israel for a mission and that mission has not yet been fulfilled. Therefore Israel must accomplish that which God has ordained for them to do. We read of Israel's mission in Deuteronomy:

"Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the LORD my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it.
"Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.
"For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for?
"And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?" Deuteronomy 4:5-8

The mission of Israel was to obey the laws of the Lord, and in so doing be a light or an example unto the world, and once again this mission has never been fulfilled and so it must come to pass. Therefore we must look to time for the answer.

Since Israel fell away from the law, they were divorced and scattered among the desolate heritages. There they were to await the coming of the Saviour. Their Saviour and Redeemer came that they might be "brought back" into covenantal relationship with God and each other.

So the first thing that must happen is that Israel must repent from her sins, unite together again as the commonwealth of Israel, and thus regain her identity. Once the commonwealth is restored, then Israel will once again be in a position to be an example unto the world.

In the Old Testament the order of things was Israel first and then the other nations, and that order has not been abolished. When I say "order" I am referring to time -- Israel first, other nations second. Or put another way, Israel to lead the way, other nations to follow. If you do not understand God's plan for the ages, you need to send for that tape on the subject for I will not repeat it here.

And when we get to the New Testament that order does not change, but it has been expanded, and the harvest is expressed as fruit: Christ the first fruit, the church the second fruit, Israel the third fruit, and all other nations the fourth fruit. I have also made a tape on this subject entitled "The Four Fruits of the Harvest."

God could have done all this without reference to a time table, but He did not. God could just as well have said everyone will be firstfruits, but He did not. Scripture tells us that Christ was the "first fruit" and the harvest of the "firstfruit" has come to pass. The next gathering will be the church, which will be Christ's battle staff. Then Christ, with his battle staff, will gather all Israel and as Romans 11:26 tells us, "... so all Israel shall be saved:... "

Once all Israel has been saved, then Christ, the church, and Israel will turn their attention to the other nations and they, too, will be brought into the commonwealth of Israel. But all of this takes time, much time, and I do not have the space to elaborate on this further.

While this plan is moving on to fruition, there have always been provisions for individuals to come into the commonwealth of Israel before their entire nation, and these converts were called proselytes. But proselytes have always been in the minority.

For example, there are approximately 5 billion people in the entire world and of that 5 billion people the Anglo-Saxon peoples of the world number approximately 500 million. That is only 10% of the world population. And yet the Anglo-Saxon peoples account for over 90% of Christianity in the world. These statistics alone should lead to the conclusion that the promises given to Abraham have to be fulfilled in the Anglo-Saxon peoples.

Think of the above numbers as God's plan marches on, and remember: Christ was the first fruit, the church will be the second fruit, Israel the third fruit, and then the nations of the world. But within that plan there is room for the proselyte.

Before we can ever understand Galatians 3:28-29, we need to understand Paul's mission.

Paul was born in Tarsus in the region of Cilicia, which was north of the Isle of Cyprus and south of Cappadocia which, of course, is still in Asia Minor. If you do not know where this is located look at the maps in the back of your Bible. Since Paul was an Israelite and born in Cilicia, we can conclude that Israelites had migrated to and occupied this province in Asia Minor.

Now it is common knowledge that Paul's ministry was to the Gentiles and we find the mission given to him by Christ in Acts 22:21 as follows:

"... I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles." Acts 22:21

And in Acts 26:17 we read:

"Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee," Acts 26:17

Both verses indicate that the only mission given to Paul was to go to the Gentiles, but we are not told who and where the Gentiles are. In addition, this was only part of Paul's mission.

Let us go back to Acts, chapter 9:15, when the Lord appeared unto Annias in a vision, and told Annias that:

"... [Paul] is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:" Acts 9:15

So Paul is not to minister just to the Gentiles but to three specific groups of people: 1) to the Gentiles, 2) to kings, and 3) to the children of Israel. Therefore, when Scripture tells us that Paul's mission was to the Gentiles, we need to keep in mind that the word "Gentiles" included not only Gentiles, but kings, and the children of Israel.

ou know, it is unfortunate that when most people hear the word "Gentile" they think of somebody who is not a Jew, and that may well be true, but it is also true that without defining the words "Jew" and "Gentile" we are unable to properly identify either a Jew or a Gentile.

In any event, we find the word "Gentiles" in all three of the above verses, and actually the word "Gentiles," as used in these verses, should have been translated as NATIONS -- not Gentiles. Then Paul's mission in Acts 9:15 would be to the Nations, and kings of those nations, and the children of Israel located in those nations.

In fact, the word "Gentiles" was translated from the Greek word "ethnos" and was translated as Gentiles 93 times, as nations 64 times, as heathen 5 times, and as people 2 times. Perhaps, to show the absurdity of translating the word "ethnos" as Gentiles, we should look at a few examples.

In the Gospel of John, the high priest Caiaphas stated:

"If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation (1484).
"Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation (1484) perish not." John 11:48, 50

Remember, Strong's #1484 is translated as Gentiles the majority of the time, but if we use the word "Gentile" in these verses, then we have the Romans taking away our place and "Gentile," and Christ dying that the whole "Gentile" perish not.

And if we are supposed to believe that a Gentile is a non-Jew, then we have Caiaphas, a Jew, referring to Judaea and Jerusalem as a Gentile, which of course makes absolutely no sense.

We readily accept the fact that in Genesis 17:5-6 God told Abraham that he would be a "father of many nations," and God further said, "I will make nations of thee." What I want you to understand here is that in the Old Testament the word "nations" is used. Now if we turn to Romans 4:17 we find:

"As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations (# 1484) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were." Romans 4:17

The word "nations" is still the Greek word "ethnos," which was translated the majority of times as Gentile. Now, erroneous as it is, most Christians would tell you that Abraham was a Jew and that Gentiles are non-Jews, and if we make that assumption, and use the word "Gentile" in Romans 4:17, then Abraham (a Jew) is to be the father of Gentiles (non-Jews), which makes absolutely no sense.

Again, 64 times the Greek word "Ethnos" was translated as "nation," and if you substitute the word "Gentile," the majority of those verses make little or no sense. Conversely, if you substitute the word "nations" for every use of the word "Gentiles," most verses will still make sense.

Paul's mission was also recorded for us in chapter 1 of his epistle to the Romans, and this time the translators made the correct translation:

"By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations (1484), for his name:" Romans 1:5

The translators could have just as easily translated "ethnos" as "Gentiles" in this verse, but they did not, and in this case, NATIONS is the correct translation. So, Romans 1:5 supports Acts 9:15, which states Paul is to minister to "NATIONS, and kings [of those nations], and the children of Israel" in those nations.

By now it should be obvious that Paul was to minister to the children of God who were scattered abroad -- the dispersed children of Israel. But before we get to Paul's missionary journeys we first need to briefly study Peter's epistle to the dispersion of Israel.

Peter, in his epistle to the twelve tribes, addressed them as follows, and I am reading from the English Revised Version:

"Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the elect who are sojourners of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia." 1 Peter 1:1

I have quoted the King James English Revised Version because it is more consistent with the literal translation found in the Textus Receptus.

If we look at James' epistle to Israel, we find that he addressed it "to the twelve tribes which are of the dispersion." James does not tell us specifically where the dispersion is, but Peter addressed his epistle to a more specific group of Israelites, those residing in what we today refer to as Asia Minor, and specifically those in "Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia." Again I would encourage you to look at the map of this area in the back of your Bibles.

Asia Minor is that part of Asia which extends to the west as a peninsula and a bridge between Europe and Asia, bordering Europe on its Northeast. It is bordered by the Black Sea to the North and the Mediterranean Sea on the South. To its west lies the Aegean Sea and west of the Aegean sea is the country of Greece. In modern usage it would be that portion of Turkey which lies in Asia.

The province of Pontus was a large region of northern Asia Minor bordering the Black Sea. Bithynia was to its west; to its south were the provinces of Galatia and Cappadocia.

Galatia was a nation consisting of four provinces: 1) Galatia, 2) Pamphylia, 3) Pisidia, and 4) Lycaonia. Galatia is difficult to geographically describe, but it was south of Bithynia and Pontus, west of Cappadocia and east of Asia and Phrygia. On its southern borders were Lydia and Cilicia.

Cappadocia was a province in southeastern Asia Minor with Pontus on its north, Galatia on its west, and Cilicia on its south.

Asia was another nation state consisting of four provinces: 1) Asia, 2) Caria, 3) Lydia, 4) Mysia. It occupied almost one-third of the west and southwest end of Asia Minor. It included such towns as Pergamum, Thyatira, Smyrna, Sardis, Ephesus, Philidelphia, Miletus, and Laodicea.

The province of Bithynia lay in northwest Asia Minor, bound by the Black Sea to its north, and bordered by Asia and Galatia to its south. I again encourage you to look at a map of this are as it is most important as we study Paul's missionary journeys.

It is interesting to note that although Peter received a calling to teach others than Jews, Scripture does not record for us that Peter made missionary journeys such as Paul did. We do find in Galatians 2, that Peter and Paul were together in Anticoh for a little awhile. And thus it is also interesting that we find Peter addressing his epistle to people in nations who occupied Asia Minor.

The text of Peter's epistles are full of examples which tell us this is an epistle to the Israelites of the dispersion. For example in 1 Peter 2:9-10, we read:

9 "But ye are a chosen [elect] 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;
10 "Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy." 1 Peter 2:9-10

Verse 9 references the Old Testament where Israel was addressed by the titles of "a chosen [elect] generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, and a peculiar people." Verse 10 comes to us from Hosea, chapter 1:6,9, where God, in speaking about Israel, states:

"... And God said unto him, Call her name Lo-ruhamah: for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel; but I will utterly take them away.
"Then said God, Call his name Lo-ammi: for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God."

The name Lo-ruhamah means to "no more have mercy" and Lo-am-i means "not my people." So Israel, with their divorce and dispersion, became NOT His people and God would NOT have mercy upon them. However, we know for a fact that Israel will eventually be redeemed and this redemption is expressed in Chapter 2:1, as follows:

"Say ye unto your brethren, Am-i; and to your sisters, Ruhamah [Roo-hay-muh]." Hosea 2:1

This time we see that the words A-mi and Ruhamah do not have the prefix of "lo" which removes the NOT from the meaning of the word. Therefore Israel will again be "my people" and God will once again "have mercy" upon the house of Israel.

So Peter simply uses the words from Hosea to tell his Israelite brethren in verses 9 and 10 that "ye" (Israel) were a chosen people, etc., "which in time past" (that is pre-Christ) were "NOT my people" but once again Israel has become "my people." A people who in time past (that is pre-Christ) had NOT obtained mercy, "but now have obtained mercy."

Since Peter's epistle is addressed to his Israelite brethren of the dispersion, it is only appropriate that Peter would choose to address them as the "elect" or as God's "chosen" people, as the words "chosen" and "elect" were commonly applied to the people of Israel and we will just look at one example of each. Deuteronomy 14:2 tells us:

"For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee [Israel] to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth." Deuteronomy 14:2

And in Isaiah 45:4 we find:

"For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me." Isaiah 45:4

The meaning of "brethren" in Hosea 2:1, as well as in 1 Peter, identifies a specific group of people, a people chosen or selected by God to be His people, and Peter fully understood to whom he was writing his epistle -- it was to dispersed Israel, otherwise known as the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Not lost physically mind you, but lost from the covenant with God.

Next Peter calls them "sojourners of the dispersion." The epistle to the Hebrews, by its title, is obviously an epistle written to the Israelites, and in Hebrews 11:13 we find the same Greek word translated as "sojourners," being translated as "pilgrims" in Peter's epistle and used to describe everyone from Abel to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob -- all of the same family.

Peter also uses the same word in chapter 2, verse 11, where it is also translated as "pilgrims." And so, Peter uses this word to denote his own countrymen, his fellow Israelite brethren who were dwelling in distant lands, scattered from the land of their fathers.

By the way, the word "dispersion" comes from the Greek word "diaspora" which literally means "dispersion." It is used three times in Scripture and in each usage it always refers to Israel.

But it was no mystery to Peter where some of the dispersed Israelites were located because he not only addressed his epistle to them, he also gave us some of their geographical locations, which cover at least 90% of Asia Minor, omitting only Lycia and Cilicia, the latter being Paul's home country, and we know from Romans 11:1 that he was an Israelite of the tribe of Benjamin. Again, I recommend studying the maps in you Bibles to insure that the location of these nations is clear in your minds before we proceed.

Paul was as well informed as Peter, and it was certainly no mystery to Paul where the Israelites were located, as we shall see when we study his missionary journeys.

Paul was converted in approximately 37 A.D., imprisoned for the last time in 67 A.D., and completed his writings in 68 A.D. So Paul's ministry took place from 37 to 68 A.D. -- a period of 31 years. However his three missionary journeys covered a period of 11 years from 47 to 58 A.D.

So now, let us begin our study and start at the beginning of Paul's ministry, because in tracing Paul's missionary journeys we will be able to determine precisely to whom he ministered.

At the end of Acts 12, an account of Paul's ministry begins in 47 A.D., which would be some 10 years after his conversion. Paul and Barnabas had returned to Antioch from Jerusalem and the Holy Spirit directed that they be released from the assembly to do as Acts 13:2 tells us: "the work whereunto I have called them."

The assembly at Antioch prayed, fasted and sent them on their journey. The route of Paul's first missionary journey can be found in most map sections at the back of your Bibles.

Paul and Barnabas traveled from Antioch to Seleucia, which was a port city on the coast of Syria. From there they sailed to the island of Cyprus, and in Acts 13:5, we find Paul teaching the Jews:

"And when they were at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews:..." Acts 13:5

Please notice that this portion of the journey is recorded in Acts 13:4-12, and while on the island of Cyprus we find no record of Paul teaching in the synagogues of the Gentiles. Synagogues of the Jews, yes. Gentiles, No! Apparently, they travelled the whole island, ending up in the port city of Paphos.

Before continuing, let's take a brief look at Barnabas. Barnabas was a Levite and was apparently born on the isle of Cyprus. We know this from Acts 4:36 which states:

"And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas (which is, being interpreted, The son of consolation), a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus,.." Acts 4:36

Obviously, Israel had also migrated to and settled the isle of Cyprus because here we have Barnabas being an Israelite from the tribe of Levi from the island nation of Cyprus.

From Paphos Paul and Barnabas sailed to Perga in the province or nation of Pamphylia. John Mark, Barnabas' cousin (which would make him an Israelite also), began this journey with them, but at this time he returned to Jerusalem while Paul and Barnabas then travelled North to the city of Antioch. And that will have to suffice until next time.

What you have read is only the first message of 6 messages on this subject. The entire study on “Neither Greek Nor Jew” is only available on audio tapes. It consists of six 45 minute messages recorded on three 90-minute audio tapes and is packaged in a convenient and attractive cassette album.

To obtain the series “Neither Greek Nor Jew”,” enter Tape Album A003 on the order form.

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