"Time Past" is marked by the basic characteristic of the separation between circumcision and uncircumcision.  We know where circumcision came from.  It began with Abraham as a sign of the covenant God made with him and his seed after him.

In Genesis 17 the Lord confirmed His covenant with Abram changed his name to Abraham and instated the sign of the Abrahamic Covenant – circumcision:

     'And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations.

     "This is my covenant, which we shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; EVERY MAN CHILD AMONG YOU SHALL BE CIRCUMCISED.

     "And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin: and IT SHALL BE A TOKEN OF THE COVENANT BETWIXT ME AND YOU.

     "And he said that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed.

     "He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, MUST NEEDS BE CIRCUMCISED; AND MY COVENANT SHALL BE IN YOUR FLESH FOR AN EVERLASTING COVENANT.

     "AND THE UNCIRCUMCISED MAN CHILD WHOSE FLESH OF HIS FORESKING IS NOT CIRCUMCISED, THAT SOUL SHALL BE CUT OFF FROM HIS PEOPLE; HE HATH BROKEN MY COVENANT" (Gen.17:9-14).

Thus "circumcision in the flesh made by hands" was a sign of the special status given to the seed of Abraham by God.  It was an outward sign of the spiritual privilege God had given to them and was a required mark of their identity and covenant privileges.

So the division between the circumcision and the uncircumcision began in the book of Genesis.  It was there, with Abraham, that God began to erect "the middle wall of partition" between Jew and Gentile by giving to Abraham and his seed circumcision s "the sign of the covenant."

In Genesis 22:17,18, God states His purpose in that covenant and in thus separating the nation Israel from all other nations of the earth:

     "That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea chore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;

     "And IN THY SEED SHALL ALL THE NATIONS OF THE EARTH BE BLESSED: because thou has obeyed my voice."

Numbers 23:9 declares concerning Israel's special status:

     "…LO, THE PEOPLE SHALL DWELL ALONE, AND SHALL NOT BE RECKONED AMONG THE NATIONS."

God not only erected this "middle wall," He also reinforced it by the giving of the law through Moses:

     "Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the lord my god commanded me, that we should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it.

     "Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and you understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.

     "FOR WHAT NATIONS IS THERE SO GREAT, WHO HATH GOD SO NIGH UNTO THEM, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for?

     "And WHAT NATION IS THERE SO GREAT, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?" (Deut. 4:5-8).

We see from this that what is generally referred to as the "Old Testament" is in fact part of Time Past.  But when does the change occur?  When do we move into the But Now status? And what about the earthly ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ?

Paul sheds real light on this latter question when he writes:

     "Now I say that JESUS CHRIST WAS A MINISTER OF THE CIRCUMCICION for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers"  (Rom. 15:8).

Note well that the character of our Lord's earthly ministry is defined as His being "as minister of the circumcision." Thus we learn that the period covered by the books of Matthew, Mark, Like and John is in fact part of Time Past.  The distinction between the circumcision and the uncircumcision still formed the basis of God's dealings with men at that time.

There is no way one can read the records of our Lord's earthly ministry and fail to see this basic fact.  For example, in His first great commission to His Apostles, He declares;

     "These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded the, saying, GOT NOT INTO THE WAY OF THE GNETILES, AND INTO ANY CITY OF THE SAMARITANS ENTER YE NOT;

     "BUT GO RATHER TO THE LOST SHEEP OF THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL" (Matt. 10:5,6)

Later when they besought Him to work a miracle for a Gentile woman, He pointedly told the;

     'I AM NOT SENT BUT UNTO THE LOST SHEEP OF THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL" (Matt. 15:24).

Further, John 4:22 records His words to the woman at the well in Samaria;

     "Ye worship ye know not what: we know that we worship: FOR SALVATION IS OF THE JEWS."

Too often such passages are simply ignored-no doubt because they are not properly understood.  Such plain words, however, cannot be gainsaid or mistaken.  They mean what they say and their implication is clear; the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ demonstrated itself to be a part of Time Past.  Thus the books of Matthew,  Mark, Luke and John are properly places the time Past division when we "rightly divide the word of truth."

The same is true of the early Acts period.  In His port-resurrection commission our Lord clearly maintained the advantaged status of the circumcision:

     "And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, BAGINNING AT JERUSALEM" (Luke 24:47).

After some 40 days of personal instruction from their resurrected Lord in things "pertaining to the kingdom of God," the apostles understood that the program of God still focused on Israel and her coming kingdom:

     "When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, LORD, WILT THOU AT THIS TIME RESTORE AGAIN THE KINGDOM TO ISRAEL?" (Acts 1:6).

That this understanding was in no way a mistake of human frailty is borne out by the fact that on the day of Pentecost, Peter, speaking "as the Spirit gave {him} utterance," three times specifically limits his message to the nation Israel:

     "But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto the, YE MEN OF JUDAEA, AND ALL YE THAT DWELL AT JERUSALEM BE THIS KNOWN UTO YOU, AND HEARKEN TO MY WORDS;

"YE MEN OF ISRAEL, HEAR THESE WORDS…"

"THEREFORE LET ALL THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL KNOW ASSUREDLY..." (Acts 2:14,22,36).

Thus the understanding of Peter and the eleven as to just where they stood in the program of God gives clear evidence that they still functioned in the Time Past division, then Israel was still in the place of honor and advantage.

Peter is identified in Galatians 2:8, as the apostle of the circumcision and as such preached" the gospel of the circumcision" (Gal. 2:7).  It is in this capacity and with this message that he declared to his nation:

     "YE ARE THE CHILDREN OF THE PROPHETS, AND OF THE COVNENAT WHICH GOD MADE WITH OUR FATHERS, SAYING UNTO ABRAHAM, AND IN THEY SEED SHALL ALL THE KINDREDS OF THE EARTH BE BLESSED.

     "UNTO YOU FIRST GOD, HAVING RAISED UP HIS SON JUSES, SENT HIM TO BLESS YOU, IN TURNING AWAY EVERYONE OF YOU FROM HIS INIQUITIES" (Acts 3:25,26).

Throughout their ministry as recorded in Acts the Pentecostal believers declared their testimony that

     "The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.

     "Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Savior, FOR TO GIVE REPENTANCE TO ISRAEL and forgiveness of sins" (Acts 5:30-32).

In fact, Israel's special privileged position extended even after they were scattered from Jerusalem by persecution, for Acts 11:19 tells us:

     "Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen traveled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, PREACHING THE WORD TO NONE BUT UNTO THE JEWS ONLY."

The record is clear: The books of Matthew, Mar, Like, John and the early part of the book of Acts properly belong in Time Past.