Posted on 04/12/2010 10:53:10 PM PDT by TaraP
In addition to the comments I've received concerning my answer to the question about Reformed Theology, I've also been asked to interpret Rev. 3:9.
I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars—I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you.
Who are those who claim to be Jews but are not? Since Revelation 2-3 applies to the entire Church age, the Lord may have been referring to more than one group. Here are several candidates.
The Jews In Romans 2:28-29 Paul wrote, "A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man's praise is not from men, but from God."
In Paul's day there were many who had been born into the Jewish race and circumcised as a sign of the covenant, but according to him were not really Jews because there was no inner substance to complement their outer form. It was this kind of Jew the Lord had earlier condemned saying, "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men." (Isaiah 29:13) People like this were among the first to persecute the early Church. They called the believers apostates, drove them out of Jerusalem, and tried valiantly to prevent the growth of the Church. It's easy to see how they could be called the synagogue of Satan, but are there others?
Replacement Theology Among Christians, there is a school of thought called Replacement Theology, sometimes known as Supersessionism. This view holds that when the Jews crucified the Messiah all the promises God had made to Israel were transferred to the Church. They claim the New Covenant has superseded the Old, hence the term supersessionism. The Jews are neither God’s chosen people any longer, nor does He have any specific future plans for the nation of Israel.
The Bible's prophecies concerning the future blessing and restoration of Israel to the Promised Land have been allegorized into promises of blessing for the Church.
Elements of replacement theology can be found in Church writings as early as the 2nd Century, but it was the 16th Century emergence of a system of thought called Reformed Theology that's most responsible for it becoming a mainstream Protestant belief. This, in spite of the fact that many of the early Reformers - including John Calvin (but not Martin Luther) - wrote about the nation of Israel one day being restored by the grace of God and experiencing a national regeneration. Today Calvin's position is clearly in the minority among Reformed Theologians.
For this reason some believe that Jesus may have been including advocates of Reformed Theology among those who say they are Jews but are not because they've claimed the promises God made to Israel for themselves.
By the way, the term "Synagogue of Satan" doesn't mean the groups I'm describing are necessarily Satan worshipers. But we must understand that there are only two sides to the issue of Israel's destiny. One is God's and the other is Satan's. Those who don't consciously support God's plan for His people are supporting Satan's by default and are therefore of the synagogue of Satan.
The Sword Of Islam Among Moslems there's a view that since Ishmael was Abraham's first-born son, he's the rightful beneficiary of God's covenant with Abraham. Therefore the Promised Land belongs to his descendants, not Isaac's. Others say that even if the inheritance does pass through Isaac, the current residents of Israel are the descendants of European converts to Judaism. They're the sons of Gentiles, not Isaac, and have no claim to the Land. Whether they adhere to one view or the other, Moslems agree that at the End of the Age Jesus will come back with Mohammed and help him rid the land of any remaining Jews. They say even the rocks and the trees will get involved saying, "O Moslem, there is a Jew hiding behind me. Come and kill him." This would certainly qualify them for membership in the synagogue of Satan.
The Blood Of Ephraim Then there's the Mormon Church, with its members claiming to be descendants of the tribe of Ephraim (some include Manasseh as well) who escaped from the Babylonian destruction by sailing boats to the Americas. Theirs is the Temple of God, they say, and on land they've purchased in Kirtland, Missouri the New Jerusalem will stand. Every practicing Mormon receives a patriarchal blessing that reveals his or her lineage in the House of Israel.
Historically Mormons have referred to themselves as Israel, and we who are not members are called Gentiles. When I lived in Salt Lake City (called Zion by Mormons) and brought Jewish men like Gershon Solomon of the Temple Mount Faithful, and Rabbi Chaim Richman of the Temple Institute to our ministry to teach us about the coming Temple, I took delight in shocking them by saying they had come to the only place in the world where a Jew is considered to be a Gentile. Officially, Mormons claim to be Jews but are not.
By the way, according to Mormon eschatology, a Mormon leader will appear on a white horse at a time when the US constitution hangs by a thread, to save America and restore peace to the world.
So here are several groups who claim to be Jews but are not. What does God have to say about this?
The Word Of God It seems like just about everyone is claiming the inheritance promised to Israel. But what does God say? Has Israel been rejected because of her disloyalty, to be replaced by the Church or some other group?
This is what the LORD says: "Only if the heavens above can be measured and the foundations of the earth below be searched out will I reject all the descendants of Israel because of all they have done," declares the LORD. (Jeremiah 31:37)
Why does Israel serve a future purpose in God's plan, after what she's done in the past?
"Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone. I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Sovereign LORD, when I show myself holy through you before their eyes. (Ezekiel 36:22-23)
Will the Lord bring His people back to the land He promised them?
I will bring back my exiled people Israel; they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit. I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land I have given them," says the LORD your God. (Amos 9:14-15)
This regathering began 62 years ago. One day soon the Lord will reveal Himself to Israel by destroying a huge Moslem force arrayed against them. Then He'll complete the regathering, not leaving any behind (Ezekiel 39:22). He'll protect those who are His through the End Times judgments (Jere. 30:11) and open their eyes to finally recognize that Jesus is their Messiah (Zechariah 12:10) before the 2nd Coming.
Will Israel once again be the pre-imminent nation on Earth?
This is what the Sovereign LORD says: "See, I will beckon to the Gentiles, I will lift up my banner to the peoples; they will bring your sons in their arms and carry your daughters on their shoulders. Kings will be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. They will bow down before you with their faces to the ground; they will lick the dust at your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD; those who hope in me will not be disappointed." (Isaiah 49:22-23)
What role will the rocks and the trees really play in this? Speaking to Israel God said,
You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. (Isaiah 55:12)
So once again we see the contrast between man's view and God's view.
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)
Think about it. How can we believe that God will keep all His promises to us, while at the same time believing that he broke all His promises to Israel? Sure, they don't deserve His loyalty, but then again, what makes us think that we do?
God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? (Numbers 23:19)
The answer is obviously no, and that's a good thing, because we're betting our eternal destiny on His trustworthiness. Watching Him perform on His promises to Israel gives us great comfort, because by the time we know for sure that He's going to perform on His promises to us, it'll be too late for us to do anything about it. But He will do all that He has promised, and that includes having those who didn't take Him at His word where Israel is concerned come and fall at our feet and acknowledge that He has loved us. Selah 04-10-10
Thought you might like to read this article...
So we come to a close with the question: Why did Paul mention this priority of the Jews in Romans 1:16? "The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation, to the Jew first and also to the Greek"? What effect should it have?
Being influenced by Romans 11:17-32, I think the answer is that Paul wants to humble both Jew and Greek and make them deeply aware that they depend entirely on mercy, not on themselves or their tradition or ethnic connections. To the Gentiles he says, in essence, salvation is of the Jews. You are not being saved by your Greek culture - or any other culture. You are being saved by a salvation that comes through the despised Semitic people called the Jews. "You do not support the root [of the Abrahamic covenant], the root supports you." So do not boast over the branches (Romans 11:18). We Gentiles are saved by becoming, as it were, spiritual Jews (Romans 2:28-29). This should humble us and strip us of any arrogance and boasting in any presumed ethnic superiority. It also should vanquish anti-Semitism and fill us with zeal for evangelism to Jews.
Similarly, Paul says to the Jews, your salvation is not your own. It is God's and he gives it to whom he pleases. He can raise up from stones - even Gentile stones! - children to Abraham (Matthew 3:9). The words "also to the Greek" in Romans 1:16 would have been as offensive to the Jews as the words "to the Jew first" were to the Gentiles. What they thought were Jewish prerogatives are, in fact, shared by the lowliest Gentiles who believe. Both of us are being humbled. We Gentiles must humble ourselves to be saved through a Jewish Messiah and a Jewish covenant. Jews must humble themselves to receive unclean Gentiles into full covenant membership and share all the blessings of the promise of Abraham.
The whole point is that God is the One who has mercy. Ethnicity is not decisive here. There is no merit with him. We are all sinners. So the real emphasis falls back on that wonderful word "everyone" that we started with: "The Gospel is the power of God to everyone who believes." So, whether Jew or Gentile, believe! And receive the power of God to save you from your sins and guilt and death and judgment and hell, and bring you home to ever-increasing joy in his presence forever and ever.
~ John Piper
This guy does not have a clue. How many Jesus does he think there is?
What I got from this article is that GOD did not foresake Israel because of thier dis-obedience. If he did what would that mean for the rest of the world?
Israel is the pivotol point not only for the Jews but for the gentiles that were grafted in....
"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
~ John 15:1-5
I disagree with this. I know of no reformed theologian who subscribes to replacement theory (it doesn't mean they don't exist, but I'm questioning the "minority" statement).
It's popular in evangelicalism among those who think the time of the Jewish people has past, but reformed theologians see no good hermeneutical reason to see Israel in the New Testament as anything other than actual Israel.
I also think the answer is pretty simple to the question “Who are those who claim to be Jews but are not?” According to Revelation 2:8-11, it is the Jewish person who was slandering and afflicting those who belonged to Christ. The devil put some of the people of Smyrna in prison, and they were persecuted for 10 days. Some lost their lives.
According to Revelation 2:12-13, Pergamum was Satan’s throne. The Christians did not renounce their faith in Jesus, even though there was calamity in the time of Antipas, who was put to death.
The “liars” in Revelation 3:9 describes the slander against the Christians, which in turn renders them liars when they claim to be Jews. Someone following after God would not slander a fellow human being.
The theme of overcoming this hostility is prevalent in the messages to the seven churches.
THANKS.
May not get to it until I’m up for good or even this evening.
Definitely so... and just a quick scan of it... I can see that’s the case... for sure... thanks...
What I got from this article is that GOD did not foresake Israel because of thier dis-obedience. If he did what would that mean for the rest of the world?
Israel is the pivotol point not only for the Jews but for the gentiles that were grafted in....
Absolutely so.... thanks for pointing that out very clearly...
Threescore and ten years for Israel is 2018. We are given three score and ten years.
shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach
Along with titles like Pontifex Maximus. The chief bridge builder from this world to Satan's world. The Throne of Satan moved to Pergamum for Babylon,
shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach
So are you saying the 7 yr tribulation will start in year 2012? and 2015 is the last 3 yrs of the outlined in the Book of Daniel?
This is what I am hearing lately.
Beginning of sorrows for the *Last Generation* 2008
2015 return of Christ based on the *eclipses*
Making 2008 the 7 yr Tribulation....
If the 7 yr tribulation started in 2012 then I assume 2018 would be the return of Christ based on 7 years....
I know many faithful Christians that are not trying to date set Christ’s return, as no one knows the day and time, it is a way I believe how much more time we have to endure (The Spirit of the Antichrist) in this perilous chaotic world....
If what Blitz states is true, then how significant is the dates...
2015
2018?
Biltz explains. “So then I looked at last century, and, believe it or not, the last time that four blood red moons occurred together was in 1967 and 1968 tied to Jerusalem recaptured by Israel.”
He then started to notice a pattern of the tetrads.
“What’s significant to me is that even before 1967, the next time that you had four blood red moons again was right after Israel became a nation in ‘48, it happened again in 1949 and 1950 ... on Passover and Succoth. You didn’t have any astronomical tetrads in the 1800s, the 1700s, the 1600s. In the 1500s, there were six, but none of those fell on Passover and Succoth.”
When checking the schedule for solar eclipses, Biltz found two – one on the first day of the Hebrew year and the next on the high holy day of Rosh Hashanah, the first day of the seventh Hebrew month. Both of these take place in the 2014-2015 year.
Biltz says, “You have the religious year beginning with the total solar eclipse, two weeks later a total lunar eclipse on Passover, and then the civil year beginning with the solar eclipse followed two weeks later by another total blood red moon on the Feast of Succoth all in 2015.”
“If you think that this is a coincidence, I want you to know that it’s time!” exclaimed Prophecy in the News host J.R. Church. “There are no more of these for the rest of the century.”
shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach
J.R. Church just noted on his daily webcast :
Psalm 111 begins with Hallelu'yah
Psalm 112 begins with Hallelu'yah
Psalm 113 begins with Hallelu'yahPsalm 114 does not have Hallelu'yah
Psalm 115 ends with Hallelu'yah
Psalm 116 ends with Hallelu'yah,
Psalm 117 ends with Hallelu'yahIt appears to be a menorah without a servant lamp !
A seven year period without YHvH at the center ( anti-christ ? )
Psalm 118 is Messianic
I still think that’s an incredibly profound Biblical fact . . . mysterious . . . but somehow profound in ways that will prove so ultimately.
Thx.
THX THX.
That's like saying all those godless, Jesus-hating, Democrats that make up organizations like AIPAC and who "support" political Israel are automatically on GOD'S side and worthy of "blessing", while Reformed theologians with differing interpretations of eschatology yet who indiscriminately love and seek the conversion of both Jews and Gentiles are of the Devil.
The article's writer makes it sound as if Reformed theologians funnel money to HAMAS or something.
The only people who are doing Satan's bidding are the ones who do not seek for the Jews to repent or long to see them come to the true faith.
Not only that, there are people think that by initiating war in the Middle East, they can help "speed up" the End Times process and "help" bring about GOD'S plan, rather than in trusting GOD's Sovereignty and His own ability to carry out His plans and promises.
Then there are those people who think that merely by politically supporting Israel, GOD will bless our nation even while we spit in His face in every way imaginable with our lifestyles! How can GOD bless a nation that aborts thousands of children a day, where more than half of all marriages end in divorce, that drinks the sin glorified on our TV sets like water? Did GOD ever say "well I'll disregard all that and bless you so long as you vote for Joe Lieberman?"
NO.
There are only two types of people in the world: those who know Jesus Christ, and those who do not. There is only one agenda that belongs to the Christian and that is the spreading of the Gospel and to bring people every corner of the world into worship of the One True King.
Romans 11 assures us that a notable remnant of Jews will be saved after the full number of Gentiles are grafted in. Until someone can point to me where Paul says "so therefore don't bother evangelizing," I will assume our Lord still calls for us to carry out the Great Commission without exception.
Whether Jew or Gentile, if one have not accepted Jesus Christ, they remain an enemy of GOD, under His wrath and judgment, blocked from all his blessings, and death will is knocking at their door, and nobody will have their ethnicity to boast of. Nobody can stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ and say "but it's not my fault I died before the tribulation."
I never looked at it that way. Thanks!
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