And it shall come to pass
In the last days, under the Gospel dispensation: that ye shall divide it by lot for an inheritance unto you;
who were Israelites, both by natural descent, and by the Spirit and grace of God: the Gospel was first preached to Israel after the flesh, and made effectual to the conversion of many of them; and the first churches were made up of them, and they shared all the blessings and privileges thereof; as they also will in the latter day, when converted: and to the strangers that sojourn among them;
not such as were strangers to spiritual and divine things; for this would contradict the rule in ( Ezekiel 44:9 ) , but converted Gentiles, so called because of their natural descent and civil state, being, with respect to both, aliens from the commonwealth of Israel; yet were to be, as they have been, and will be, taken into the same Gospel church state with the believing Jews: which shall beget children among you;
not only in a natural, but in a spiritual sense; be the means of begetting many souls again to the lively hope of a glorious inheritance: and they shall be unto you as born in the country among the children of
Israel;
that is, the children begotten by the Gentiles shall be considered all one as those of the children of Israel, being born again of the same Spirit and grace; and so have an equal right to the same privileges, and to which they shall be admitted: they shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel;
this is a new thing, and what in a literal sense was never granted; for though in the times of Moses and onward, and by his direction from the Lord, such as have been called proselytes of the gate, and proselytes of righteousness, have been admitted to various privileges, by conforming to certain rules, rites, and ceremonies, yet never were allowed to have any inheritance in the land; and, after the captivity, Ezra and Nehemiah drove out the strangers, who by affinity with some had got among them: but this respects Gospel times, and the coalition of Jews and Gentiles in the same church state; where there is no difference, but Christ is all in all; where they are admitted to the same ordinances of baptism and the Lord's supper; partake of the same blessings of grace, and promises of the word, and have an equal right to the heavenly inheritance: ( Ephesians 3:6 ) , is the best commentary on this passage; which contains the same mystery the Apostle Paul was acquainted with, that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and
partakers of his promise in Christ by the Gospel;
(See Gill on Ephesians 3:6). See ( Ephesians 2:12-20 ) ( Colossians 3:11 ) ( 1 Corinthians 12:13 ) .