While I have read parts of this long topic, I am not sure if this 'change of Covenants' has been discussed, since the Old Covenant is no longer valid, as it says in Hebrews 8:
10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
13 In that He says, "A new covenant," He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
The First Evangelical Outreach:
One of the greatest stories seldom told is how the Lord evangelized the Jewish world within a month after the Day of Pentecost.
Two of the annual Jewish feasts in Jerusalem were the Passover, followed by The Feast of Unleavened bread, --- and Pentecost, to which every able bodied Jewish male was required to attend, if at all possible.
--- That would mean a great crowd at Jerusalem on these two occasions.
At the Passover that year, Jesus was crucified, and all who were there for the beginning would learn about it, and would be there till after the resurrection, because after the Day of Passover, the Feast of Unleaven Bread lasted another 7 days. --- When they went home they would tell all the events --- and for the Feast of Pentecost, 50 days later, many of those same ones would return along with others, --- as it says in Acts 2:
5 And there were dwelling (temporarily) in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven.
I guess that means from every place where the Jews had been scattered from Jerusalem in the various captivities, and other people fleeing for safety.
9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,
10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs.
--- It says the Jews were there "From every nation under heaven." --- that would mean there would be representatives of the 'Jewish world' from wherever they had gone. --- And it says they were 'devout men' or 'serious Jews.' --- And the Message of the Gospel was to be given "To the Jew first."
On the Day of Pentecost, They heard the Apostles speaking in the language in which they were born --- "We hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God."
The interesting thing about the Jews was that wherever they went, they maintained the Hebrew language, because of their ties to Jerusalem for these feasts, and their families, --- but they heard the Apostles glorifying God in the language in which they were born, so they couldn't deny that God was in their midst, and that it was the Holy Spirit that was speaking through them.
Then Peter preached the message of Salvation, and that day some 3000 were saved. Acts 2:41.
42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.
46 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart,
47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.
--- And a few days later,
4:4 However, many of those who heard the word believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.
--- Of these 3000 or 5000, those who were from outside of Jerusalem, would return to their own countries and their own homes within a week or two, and having the Message of the Gospel, and being filled with the Holy Spirit, they would evangelize their own community, and would revitalize, or start a local Church, 'the Lord working with them.' --- So, within two or three weeks, all the Jewish communities that were represented at Pentecost would hear the Gospel, and they would spread the Gospel from their groups, as they were growing into established Churches.
--- Later, when the Apostles went to visit these Churches, they would be welcomed by the group, and since the Apostles might only know Hebrew, they could relate to the Jews who knew Hebrew, and those Jews in turn, could translate to the local people, in the local language or dialect --- so there was no 'need of language study,' to be a Missionary among the Jews.
--- Also Matthew had written a first 'Gospel of Matthew in Aramaic,' a dialect of Hebrew, sometimes called 'Matthew's Gospel in Hebrew,' and the Apostles would no doubt each have had a copy when they went out from Jerusalem.
Peter and his wife traveled to some of the areas, and years later Peter wrote his first letter to people located in the northern part of Asia Minor and around the Black Sea, which were named in Acts 2. --- 1 Peter 1:
1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
So the Jews were evangelized, and they would still keep their ties to Jerusalem and the Temple, --- until in 70 AD when the Romans destroyed the Temple and cripled Judaism. --- Then the 'local Churches' might well have become the 'worship centers' in each community, town or city. --- These Churches would be spread out as they are today, and no doubt had 'associations' and worked together with other Churches, but they were rather independant, relying on the Lord and being guided by the Holy Spirit.
--- God reached the Jews wherever they were and brought the 'remnant' back to Himself.'
There was continuity in the Churches as they first had, the 'Gospel of Matthew' in Aramaic (Hebrew), then the first Greek writings, the letters of Paul, --- the four Gospels, and Acts, --- The Apostles were followed by the Church Fathers, then men like Polycarp, who knew the Apostle John in his youth, and Papias in the early second century, and later in that century, Irenaeus, who knew Polycarp in his youth.
The Christians continued to evangelize through the local Churches, so as predicted, the Gospel was given to the Jews first, and the Jews evangelized their own communities through their Christian Churches in the midst of the Gentile countries. --- So the Jews preached the Gospel to the Gentiles where they lived and in the various languages that were represented on the Day of Pentecost at Jerusalem.
--- Each year these same Jews and/or others would go back to Jerusalem for these same feasts, so they kept a good relationship with the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem and Judea, as well as reaching out in their own communities.
Since the Jews evangelized the Gentiles in the various language groups, and Paul, the Jew, evangelized Asia Minor, --- Thus the Jewish world became New Testament believers, so,
I don't see any "Replacement Theology" from Jews to Gentiles, or from Judaism to the Church, because all of the preaching and teaching of the Gospel to the Gentiles came first through the Jews, --- did it not?
Happy New year to all.
ne of two ways
