第貳章、還原福音的猶太本質
第五節、神會對猶太人民滿足他的應許
在好消息中一個主要的群體元素是擔保，神會作為一個人民對猶太人民滿足他的應許。這些應許一遍又一遍地出現在塔納赫；其中最重要的兩個是，猶太人民會從流離歸回擁有並繼承 Eretz-Yisrael 【以色列地】，而且王國會被王位上的大衛之子所重建。
A major corporate element in the Good News is the guarantee that God will fulfill his promises to the Jewish people as a people. These promises appear in the Tanakh over and over; two of the most important of them are that the Jewish people will return from Exile to possess and inhabit Eretz-Yisrael [the Land of Israel], and that the Kingdom will be re-established with the Son of David on the throne.
1. 新約證明
1. The New Testament Proves It
許多基督徒未察覺，新約申明未來滿足神對以色列國的應許。我們將會以示範的方式查驗兩段文句。
Many Christians are unaware that the New Testament affirms the future fulfillment of God's promises to national Israel. We shall examine two texts by way of demonstration.
第一段是馬太福音二十三章三十七到三十九節。在痛批某一群硬心反對屬靈真理的妥拉教師【文士】與法利賽派之後，耶書亞喊道，「耶路撒冷！耶路撒冷！妳殺害眾先知！妳用石頭砸向那些被差往妳的！多少次我想要聚集妳的孩子，就像母雞聚集她的小雞在她的翅膀之下，但你們拒絕了！看啊！『神正因你們放棄你們的家，任由它荒涼。』【耶利米書二十二章五節】」為此我告訴你們，從現在起，你們不會再見到我，直到你們說，以主 (Adonai) 之名而來的他應當被頌讚 (Blessed is he who comes in the name of Adonai)。【詩篇一百一十八章二十六節】
The first is Matthew 23:37-39. After excoriating a particular group of Torah-teachers [scribes] and Pharisees whose hardened hearts had turned against spiritual truth, Yeshua exclaimed, "Jerusalem! Jerusalem! You kill the prophets! You stone those who are sent to you! How often I wanted to gather your children, just as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, but you refused! Look! 'God is abandoning your house to you, leaving it desolate.' [Jeremiah 22:5] For I tell you, from now on, you will not see me again until you say, Blessed is he who comes in the name of Adonai:n [Psalm 118:26]
不論彌賽亞呼叫「耶路撒冷！耶路撒冷！」是否指向所有猶太人民或是只有聖城中央的猶太機關，明顯他不僅僅是對個人，而是對作為整體的民族演說著，應許著民族的拯救會臨到以色列，當她說，「以主之名而來的他應當被頌讚。」
Regardless of whether the Messiah calling "Jerusalem! Jerusalem!" is addressing all Jewish people or only the Jewish establishment centered in the Holy City, it is obvious that he is speaking not just to individuals but to the nation as a whole, promising that national salvation will come to Israel when she says, as a nation, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord."
另一個關鍵段落是在羅馬書九到十一章，申明神會對以色列民族滿足他的應許。羅馬書中的此節段落並非一些極端時代論者主張，是無關保羅前後所寫的「題外話」。更確切地說，這回答了第八章最後的經文，保羅應許在耶書亞裡的信徒所引起的關鍵疑問；被選定的，會成為榮耀（三十節），沒有甚麼可以阻止它的（三十一到三十九節）。一世紀讀者對此擔保的自然回應是，神會對任何有信的人維持他的應許，「以色列又怎樣？我沒見到神對他們維持他的應許。彌賽亞來了又走了，猶太人民不跟隨他。以色列又怎樣？」羅馬書九章到十一章的回答是，神確實會對以色列維持他的應許 ㄧ 以他自己的方式、以他自己的時間 ㄧ 為了讓最終，「所有以色列」，即，以色列作為一個民族實體，「會被拯救」。
Another key passage affirming that God will fulfill his promises to national Israel is Romans 9-11. This section of the Book of Romans is not, as some extreme Dispensationalists claim, a "parenthesis" unrelated to what Paul writes before and after. Rather, it answers a key question raised by the last verses of Chapter 8, where Paul promises that believers in Yeshua; having been chosen, will be glorified (v. 30), and that nothing can prevent it (vv. 31-39). The natural response of the first-century reader to this assurance that God will keep his promises to anyone who has faith must have been, "What about Israel? I don't see God keeping his promises to them. The Messiah came and went, and the Jewish people are not following him. What about Israel?" The answer of Romans 9-11 is that God will indeed keep his promises to Israel ㄧ in his own way and in his own time ㄧ so that in the end, "all Israel," that is, Israel as a national entity, "will be saved."
因此我們見到以色列民族的未來確實是在新約中被提及；此外，這兩個段落決不是唯一的地方。
Thus we see that the future of national Israel is indeed mentioned in the New Testament; moreover, these two passages are by no means the only places.
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