Plucking the Eagle's Wings

Israel's Kings and America's Presidents

"They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation." (Deuteronomy 32:21) Paul made reference to Deuteronomy 32:21 when he wrote to the Gentiles (in Romans 10:19) about the fulfillment of this prophecy. In Abraham's time, the Christian church was non-existent, and non-Jews were not part of the covenant. As Israel began turning away from God, the Lord began to speak through the Hebrew prophets about a new nation consisting of Gentiles who would be raised by the Lord. Isaiah wrote that Gentiles would seek after the root of Jesse (Isaiah 11:10). He continued, "I will ... keep thee and give thee a covenant of the people a light of the Gentiles" (Isaiah 42:6). God spoke through Isaiah by saying, "I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles..." (Isaiah 49:22), and "the Gentiles shall come to thy light..." (Isaiah 60:3). The covenant blessing came upon the Gentiles in Acts 10, when Peter preached to a group of Italians (Gentiles), and the Holy Spirit fell upon them (Acts 10:45). At that moment, the Gentiles were grafted into the covenant, where they have remained ever since. Peter later wrote about the church, "You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation..." (1 Peter 2:9). On the day of Pentecost, a group of Jews received the Holy Spirit. In Acts 10 a group of Gentiles received the Holy Spirit. Afterward, both Jew and Gentile believers formed the true church. A unique pattern is also connected to the redemption plan of God and the church. The Church is the 43 rd Generation The Scripture predicted, "A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation" (Psalms 22:30). Matthew indicated that Jesus was the 42 nd generation from Abraham. The Body of Christ, the church, is called a chosen generation (I Peter 2:9). How many generations have there been in the church from the time of Christ to the present? Jesus represented the first generation, then Peter and Paul, followed by Timothy. After Timothy, we could count Polycarp and others. The true answer indicates that the church is one continuous generation. In Paul's final letter to his spiritual son Timothy, Paul wrote, "I have finished my course" (Acts 20:24; 2 Timothy 4:7). The word

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