(Greek) Oikoumene

Misunderstood Verses

Matthew 10:5 These twelve Yahshua sent out, commanding to them saying: “You should not depart into the way of the heathens [or nations], and you should not enter into a city of Samaritans. 6 But rather you must go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

This is one of the most misunderstood verses in Scripture, even among Christian Identity pastors. Many think that the command not to go unto the nations conflicts with the idea that the nations of the oikoumenê descended mostly from ancient Israel. But it does not. Firstly, Christ was not yet crucified, and therefore He was not yet reconciled to a “divorced” Israel, so the message of the Gospel was not yet prepared for them. This is the ministry of reconciliation which Paul describes in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and elsewhere.

Secondly, Yahshua is talking to the apostles on terms that they would understand, and at this time they understood “Israel” to include the circumcision only. The proof of that lies in Acts Chapter 10 and Peter's need for the vision which he later received from God. The apostles, being unlearned in literature, were not aware of the identity of the long-ago-dispersed Israelites, which was the entire reason for the later ministry of Paul of Tarsus.