GENTILES TO BE SAVED

Throughout the OT there are examples of Gentiles coming to God, and, there are a few passages that tell us that they will also come to the Lord in the kingdom period. Psalm 69 has several messianic verses, such as verses 9 and 35-36. Paul paraphrases verse 9 in Romans 15:3. The verse in the psalms reads: "The reproaches of those who reproach You (God the Father) have fallen on me (the Messiah)." As God the Father was looked down upon, and rejected so the Son would be. The Hebrew word for "reproach" is "ka'raph" and means "winter," or thus "to taunt," bring something heavy upon another person.    Verses 35-36 refer to the messianic kingdom. "For God will save Zion and build the cities of Judah, that they may dwell there and possess it. And the descendants of His servants will inherit it [that is, Zion], and those who love His name will dwell in it."    What in the world can the amill say about this passage? He has to make Zion the church, and "spiritualize" the cities of Judah. Those who love His name "will dwell in it," that is, they will dwell in Zion, not the church!    These promises will come to pass! God does not go back on His promises! "Those who love His name" seem to be separate from the Jewish descendants. Therefore, this could be a reference to pious and believing Gentiles.    How easy it is to study and interpret the Bible, if one does not run the words into the ground and distort the simple meaning of what God says. – Dr. Mal Couch (Feb., 10)