THE APOSTLE OF THE RECONCILIATION 47

`Reconcile (the) both' (Eph. 2:16).

`Reconcile all things' (Col. 1:20).

`You ... hath He reconciled' (Col. 1:21).

If the reader will now cast his eyes over the references given, he will find that words katallasso, katallage and

apokatallasso are used exclusively by Paul. The ministry given to Peter, James, and John prevented them from

using such words. Although their ministry and commission excluded the very idea, yet one may say, Did not Peter's

hearers, when they repented and believed, become reconciled to God? If we use the words widely in the sense as

indicating the change brought about by redeeming grace (Rom. 5) - Yes; but if we are using it in the strictly

Scriptural dispensational sense - No; for in that sense the people of Israel never needed the reconciliation, while at

the same time they did need salvation as much as the darkest heathen.

It becomes necessary, therefore, to pursue the subject further, and notice how the `reconciliation' is used. Let us

turn to 2 Corinthians 5:19, `The reconciliation of the world' is prefaced by the words of the apostle:

`Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet

now henceforth know we Him no more' (2 Cor. 5:16).

Here it will be seen how emphatically the flesh is repudiated in this connection. Verse 19 tells us that `God was

in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself', and that the apostle Paul and his associates received the ministry of

the reconciliation. The phrase, `reconciling the world', is used by Paul himself in the epistle to the Romans, and as it

is explained there, it will be wise to turn to that epistle. After the introduction of the theme `justification by faith' is

given in Romans 1:16,17, the apostle turns aside to consider the condition of the Gentile nations. If we grasp this,

and the reason of it, we grasp the meaning of the ministry of reconciliation, and what had happened to make the

vision at Joppa possible. Reconciliation changes the position of the Gentiles in which they were found as connected

with two events of the past: (1) Adam's fall; (2) The rebellion of Babel. It is the latter that comes with new force in

The estrangement of the nations.- There were no Gentiles until there were Jews, just as there could be no

uncircumcision until there was circumcision. Gentiles, or nations, are not mentioned in Scripture until Genesis 10.

There we read of the division of the earth, and the bounds of the nations are indicated:

`These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations, in their nations: and by these were the nations

divided in the earth after the flood' (Gen. 10:32).

`When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when He separated the sons of Adam, He set the

bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel' (Deut. 32:8).

As

of

so

of the nations took shape: and conversely, when the reconciling of the nations drew near, the peculiar distinctions of

Israel passed away. There is the central thought in Peter's vision of the sheet. God was now announcing that for the

Jew to call another common or unclean was undispensational. Genesis 10 records the division of the earth and the

nations, Genesis 11 the confusion of tongues at Babel, and Genesis 12 the call of Abraham and the inception of the

one nation. So long as that one nation, Israel, remained in its peculiar position, so long must the remaining nations

be kept at a distance: not until Christ had come could anything else be done. Again and again the Scriptures

emphasize the peculiar privilege of being `the circumcision', e.g. :

`You only have I known of all the families of the earth' (Amos 3:2).

`... the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto Himself, above all people that are upon the

face of the earth' (Deut. 7:6).

`He sheweth His word unto Jacob, His statutes and His judgments unto Israel. He hath not dealt so with any

nation' (Psa. 147:19,20).

What the nations did, and how they were treated by God, the apostle Paul tells us:

`God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that He is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in

temples made with hands ... hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth,