When this day of matchless grace shall close, with every member of the Body safely brought into living relation

with the exalted Head, then the thread of prophetic truth shall once more be taken up by God. Israel will look upon

Him Whom they pierced, the Day of the Lord will set in, the purpose of the kingdom, including that of Gentile

dominion, will finish its course, all Israel shall be saved, and the two aspects of the kingdom be realized, on the

earth, and in the heavenly city.

There are further items of truth in Acts 28 that must be dealt with before we have covered the ground of its

In the preceding section we spent the whole of our time examining the close correspondence that exists between

Matthew 13 and Acts 28, and established the fact that in both cases `mystery' follows `rejection', although in the

one the mystery was that of the kingdom, and in the other it was the mystery of the present dispensation.

We were, however, unable to consider the passage itself, quoted from Isaiah 6. Because of its importance, this

we must now do.

`And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word' (Acts 28:25).

This `one word' constituted Israel's solemn dismissal, for the word translated `they departed' is in the passive

and should be translated `They were dismissed'. Apoluo, which is the word used in the original, not only means `to

send away' in a general sense, but in a good sense, `to release', as in Hebrews 13:23, and, in a bad sense, `to

divorce' a wife, as in Matthew 1:19; 5:31,32 (twice), the first four occurrences of the verb. It is this figure that must

be kept in mind when considering Israel's rejection in Acts 28 for, throughout their history, Israel's relationship with

the Lord has been construed in terms of marriage.

`They agreed not'. - The word thus translated is asumphonos, which is derived from sumphoneo, the origin of

our `symphony'. It is used once in connection with the marriage relationship (1 Cor. 7:5) where husband and wife

`agree' to temporary separation for the Lord's sake. The separation of Israel from their Lord, however, was not by

consent, but because there was no `concord' that could make the relationship possible, although there will be when

the repentance of Israel is brought about by grace.

This `divorce' of Israel, which had cast its shadow even over the Gospels, and is anticipated in the first miracle

of Acts 13, is now pronounced, and the word used to seal the dreadful dismissal is that quoted from Isaiah 6.

The place that chapter 6 occupies in the prophecy of Isaiah, its structure and other important details, will be

found in The Berean Expositor Vol. 30, pp. 169-176; 195-200, in the series entitled Fundamentals of Dispensational

Truth. But we draw attention here to the testimony of the closing verses, viz., the answer to the cry of the prophet,

`Lord, how long?' which speaks of cities wasted and land forsaken, with but a remnant that shall return and which

shall constitute the holy seed. We cannot now stay to expound these verses, but must concentrate upon the passage

quoted. To the apostle, this prophecy was the word spoken by the Holy Ghost: `Well spake the Holy Ghost by

Isaiah the prophet unto your fathers' (Acts 28:25 R.V.).

An early testimony against Israel in the Acts accuses them of `resisting the Holy Ghost' even as their fathers did

(Acts 7:51). This resistance was accompanied by an uncircumcised condition of `heart and ears', and is linked with

the word spoken by angels, namely the giving of the law.

The reader will perceive that Stephen's initial testimony is brought to its full conclusion by the man who, in his

ignorance and misdirected zeal, was found `consenting unto his death'. In both passages the Holy Ghost is

associated with the Word of God. `Heart and ears' are involved, and just as Stephen says `your fathers' not `our

fathers' so the revised text (also L.T. Tr. A.) of Acts 28:25 reads `your' fathers. Here is a far-off echo of that

pronouncement, `Your house is left unto you desolate' (Matt. 23:38).