“And after he had EXPLAINED [exēgeomai] everything to them, he sent them to Joppa” (Acts 10:8).
Because of a thousand plus years of replacement theology it typically takes a considerable amount of time and patience trying to explain to theologians Israel’s place in the plan of God. Ironically, the verb “to explain” is found only six times in the New Testament, four times in the book of Acts. Every single time this verb appears in Acts, it refers to someone trying to explain to others how the Gentiles as Gentiles have been altogether unexpectedly included in the church (Acts 10:8; 15:12, 14; 21:19). Although we live in exciting days when more and more Jewish people are believing in Jesus, let us never forget that the greatest miracle in the church is not the presence of Jews, but the presence of Gentiles, who, like the Jews, have been brought near through the power of the gospel!
“Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called ‘Uncircumcision’ by the so-called ‘Circumcision,’ which is performed in the flesh by human hands — remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ” (Eph 2:11-13).
