The article in its error misidentifies just who “Israel” is in God's sight. Hence the full import of the prophecies of Israel's restoration are misunderstood.
For example, both Jeremiah's and Ezekiel's prophecies of the restoration of Israel and Judah foretold what would take place after the Jews returned from Babylon. The land would be filled, the temple rebuilt, etc. and these things did, in fact, occur.
But the N.T. makes the point that there was a larger and even more significant fullfillment of these prophecies involving not an earthly kingdom but the heavenly one.
It was on heavenly thrones that the apostles and others chosen would rule and act as kings and priests over the whole earth, not a small portion in the Middle East.(Rev. 20:4-7)
Another example of the authors misunderstanding of the Scriptures is the statement:
“Believing Gentiles cannot be incorporated into Israel because Paul says they are now part of a new structurethe new man.”
But Paul says exactly the opposite! In Romans 11:17-24 Paul uses the olive tree as an illustration. He says the natural olive tree, Israel, had branches lopped off due to lack of faith and that the Romans though of wild stock had been grafted in to become part of that tree.
If God was willing to lop off the natural branches for their lack of faith how much more so the Romans for lack of faith.
And should those natural branches, Israelites, show faith they could be grafted back in again.
Jesus said the kingdom would be taken from the Jewish nation and given to a nation, spiritual Israel with its king/priests in heaven, producing its fruits.
The author of this article simply cannot bring forward a coherent understanding of whom God views as “Israel” or what His kingdom is.
The article in its error misidentifies just who Israel is in God's sight. Hence the full import of the prophecies of Israel's restoration are misunderstood.It does? Well, let's just take a look at who Israel is in God's sight.
- Israel is the wife of Jehovah (Isaiah 54) while the church is the bride of Christ (Eph 5:22-33)
- Israel gave birth to Christ (Rev 12:1-5) whereas Christ gave birth to the church (Matt 16:18)
- Christ will return to rescue Israel upon her national conversion at the end of the Tribulation period (Matt 23:37-39). Conversely, He will return to rescue the church at the rapture (John 14:1-3)
- King-subject imagery is used to depict God's relationship to Israel (Isa 33:22) while head and groom imagery is used to depict Christ's relationship with His church (Eph 5:22-33)
- God's program through Israel began in Genesis 12, and His program through the church began in Acts 2 (Matt 16:18; 1 Cor 12:13; Acts 1:5; 11:15-16)
- While four-fifths of the Bible pertains to Israel, only one-fifth of it deals with the church
- Although Israel was a direct party to the biblical covenants (Jer 31:31-32), the church was not a party to these covenants since the church was not yet in existence when these covenants were made. The church's relationship to these covenants can best be described as one of a third-party beneficiary rather than a direct party to them. Therefore, the church benefits from the covenants as opposed to being a direct party to them
- Israel is a nation (Ps 147:20). As such, she is always biblically portrayed as an independent nation with borders and a capital. Even today Israel is among the nations of the earth, just like Japan, Argentina, Canada, or any other country. By contrast, the church is not a nation (Rom 10:19) but rather is comprised of people from all nations (Gal 3:28; Eph 2:11-22; 3:6, 15). Rather than taking her seat among the nations of the earth, the church is a mere pilgrim in the world system (1 Pet 2:11)
- While Israel fought physical wars with various enemies such as the Philistines, the church is engaged in spiritual warfare with angelic enemies (Eph 6:10-20)
- The Scripture assigns numerous a quo and ad quem statements to Israel (Gen 15:13-16; Jer 25:11; 29:10; Ezek 4:5-7; Dan 9:24-27). These are timing statements with a specific beginning and ending point for each period. One searches the New Testament in vain to find comparable timing statements for the church
- Israel had a priesthood with all her priests coming from the tribe of Levi and the line of Aaron. By contrast, the church does not have a priesthood because it is a priesthood (Rev 1:6). The New Testament teaches the priesthood of all believers (1 Pet 2:5, 9). Every Church Age believer is a priest with direct access to God the Father through God the Son
- While Israel will be resurrected at the beginning of the millennial kingdom (Dan 12:2; John 11:23-24; Rev 20:4-5), Church-Age believers receive their resurrected bodies at the point of the rapture (1 Thess 4:13-18; 1 Cor 15:50-58)
- Israel's judgment will take place on earth, at the end of the Tribulation period, in the wilderness (Ezek 20:33-44). By contrast, the only judgment the New Testament reveals for the church is the Bema Seat judgment of rewards in heaven following the rapture (Rom 14:10; 1 Cor 3:10-15; 2 Cor 5:10)
- Although the gates of the New Jerusalem are named after the twelve tribes (Rev 21:12), who were the foundations of Israel, the foundations of the eternal city are named after the twelve apostles (Rev 21:14) who are the foundations of the church (Eph 2:20)
- People become members of the commonwealth of Israel through physical birth. By contrast, membership in the church is only attained by spiritual birth (John 3:1-9; Titus 3:5)
- Israel was directly governed by the Mosaic Law (Ps 147:19-20). By contrast, the controlling authority for the church is New Testament revelation. While all Scripture is for the church (2 Tim 3:16; Rom 15:4), only the New Testament's epistolary literature is directly about the church
- The Holy Spirit indwelt and filled Old Testament Jews selectively (Joel 2:28), temporarily (1 Sam 16:14; Ps 51:11), and subsequent to salvation to enable for a special purpose (Exod 31:3). By contrast, the Holy Spirit indwells all Church-Age believers (1 Cor 12:13) permanently (John 14:16) and at the point of salvation (Rom 8:9). Thus, the Spirit's work in and through Israel cannot be used as a pattern to depict the believer's normative experience with the Holy Spirit in the present age (John 7:37-39; 14:16-17; Acts 1:5)
- While Christ's farewell address to Israel (Matt 24:15; 20) is recorded in the Olivet Discourse (Matt 24‒25), His farewell address to the church (John 16:12-13) is found in the Upper Room Discourse (John 13‒17)
- Although Israel is referred to as God's first-born son (Exod 4:22), the church is never given this same designation or title
- While Israel's program is revealed in the Old Testament, the church's program was unknown in Old Testament times. Because the church is a New Testament mystery (Eph 3:3-6), or something previously hidden and now unveiled (Rom 16:25-26), Church Age doctrine comes exclusively from the New Testament (Matt 16:18; John 13‒17) rather than the Old Testament.
These facts about how God defines Israel tells us without a doubt that the Church has not replaced Israel. In addition, we have these Scriptures that tell us that the New Covenant was made with Israel, and the Church was added in by nothing but the mercy of God:
- Moreover the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your [a]descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live. (Deut 30:6)
- A Redeemer will come to Zion, and to those who turn from transgression in Jacob, declares the LORD. 21 As for Me, this is My covenant with them, says the LORD: My Spirit which is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your [a]offspring, nor from the mouth of your [b]offsprings offspring, says the LORD, from now and forever. (Isaiah 59:20-21)
- "For I, the LORD, love justice, I hate robbery in the burnt offering; And I will faithfully give them their recompense And make an everlasting covenant with them. 9 Then their offspring will be known among the nations, And their descendants in the midst of the peoples. All who see them will recognize them Because they are the offspring whom the LORD has blessed." (Isaiah 61:8-9)
- "Behold, days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them, declares the LORD. 33 But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD, I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, Know the LORD, for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, declares the LORD, for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.
"Thus says the LORD Who gives the sun for light by day And the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar; The LORD of hosts is His name: 36 If this fixed order departs From before Me, declares the LORD, Then the offspring of Israel also will cease From being a nation before Me forever.
Thus says the LORD, If the heavens above can be measured And the foundations of the earth searched out below, Then I will also cast off all the offspring of Israel For all that they have done, declares the LORD.
Behold, days are coming, declares the LORD, when the city will be rebuilt for the LORD from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. 39 The measuring line will go out farther straight ahead to the hill Gareb; then it will turn to Goah. 40 And the whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields as far as the brook Kidron, to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, shall be holy to the LORD; it will not be plucked up or overthrown anymore forever. (Jeremiah 31:31-40)
- "Behold, I will gather them out of all the lands to which I have driven them in My anger, in My wrath and in great indignation; and I will bring them back to this place and make them dwell in safety. 38 They shall be My people, and I will be their God; 39 and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me always, for their own good and for the good of their children after them. 40 I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; and I will put the fear of Me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from Me." (Jeremiah 32:37-40)
- "And I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within [a]them. And I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, 20 that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and do them. Then they will be My people, and I shall be their God." (Ezekiel 11:19-20)
- "Nevertheless, I will remember My covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you. 61 Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed when you receive your sisters, both your older and your younger; and I will give them to you as daughters, but not because of your covenant. 62 Thus I will establish My covenant with you, and you shall know that I am the LORD, 63 so that you may remember and be ashamed and never open your mouth anymore because of your humiliation, when I have forgiven you for all that you have done, the Lord GOD declares." (Ezekiel 16:60-63)
- I will make a covenant of peace with them and eliminate harmful beasts from the land so that they may live securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. 26 I will make them and the places around My hill a blessing. And I will cause showers to come down in their season; they will be showers of blessing." (Ezekiel 34:25-26)
- For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land. 25 Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. 26 Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. 28 You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God. 29 Moreover, I will save you from all your uncleanness; and I will call for the grain and multiply it, and I will not [a]bring a famine on you. 30 I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field, so that you will not receive again the disgrace of famine among the nations. 31 Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and your abominations. 32 I am not doing this for your sake, declares the Lord GOD, let it be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel! (Ezekiel 36:24-32)
- Say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD, Behold, I will take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; 22 and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king will be king for all of them; and they will no longer be two nations and no longer be divided into two kingdoms. 23 They will no longer defile themselves with their idols, or with their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions; but I will deliver them from all their [a]dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. And they will be My people, and I will be their God."
24 My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd; and they will walk in My ordinances and keep My statutes and observe them. 25 They will live on the land that I gave to Jacob My servant, in which your fathers lived; and they will live on it, they, and their sons and their sons sons, forever; and David My servant will be their prince forever. 26 I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will [b]place them and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in their midst forever. 27 My dwelling place also will be with them; and I will be their God, and they will be My people. 28 And the nations will know that I am the LORD who sanctifies Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forever. (Ezekiel 37:21-28)
- ""And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit[a] of grace and supplication. They will look on[b] me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son. 11 On that day the weeping in Jerusalem will be great, like the weeping of Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. 12 The land will mourn, each clan by itself, with their wives by themselves: the clan of the house of David and their wives, the clan of the house of Nathan and their wives, 13 the clan of the house of Levi and their wives, the clan of Shimei and their wives, 14 and all the rest of the clans and their wives." (Zechariah 10:12-14)
- "Now the main point in what has been said is this: we have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, 2 a minister in the sanctuary and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man. 3 For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices; so it is necessary that this high priest also have something to offer. 4 Now if He were on earth, He would not be a priest at all, since there are those who offer the gifts according to the Law; 5 who serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses was warned by God when he was about to erect the tabernacle; for, "SEE," He says, "THAT YOU MAKE all things ACCORDING TO THE PATTERN WHICH WAS SHOWN YOU ON THE MOUNTAIN."
6 But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises. 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second. 8 For finding fault with them, He says, "BEHOLD, DAYS ARE COMING, SAYS THE LORD, WHEN I WILL EFFECT A NEW COVENANT WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AND WITH THE HOUSE OF JUDAH; 9 NOT LIKE THE COVENANT WHICH I MADE WITH THEIR FATHERS ON THE DAY WHEN I TOOK THEM BY THE HAND TO LEAD THEM OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT; FOR THEY DID NOT CONTINUE IN MY COVENANT, AND I DID NOT CARE FOR THEM, SAYS THE LORD. 10 "FOR THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD: I WILL PUT MY LAWS INTO THEIR MINDS, AND I WILL WRITE THEM ON THEIR HEARTS. AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE. 11 "AND THEY SHALL NOT TEACH EVERYONE HIS FELLOW CITIZEN, AND EVERYONE HIS BROTHER, SAYING, `KNOW THE LORD,' FOR ALL WILL KNOW ME, FROM THE LEAST TO THE GREATEST OF THEM. 12 "FOR I WILL BE MERCIFUL TO THEIR INIQUITIES, AND I WILL REMEMBER THEIR SINS NO MORE." 13 When He said, "A new covenant," He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear." (Hebrews 8:1-13)
- "And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying, 16 "THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THEM AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD: I WILL PUT MY LAWS UPON THEIR HEART, AND ON THEIR MIND I WILL WRITE THEM," He then says, 17 "AND THEIR SINS AND THEIR LAWLESS DEEDS I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE." 18 Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin." (Hebrews 10:15-18)
So we know, straight from the lips of God and without any doubt whatsoever, that Israel is a different entity than the Church, that God has different purposes for Israel, that He indeed does have future plans for Israel, that the New Covenant was intended for Israel first, and that God will absolutely redeem His people and they will come to Him for salvation.
Now we know who Israel is in God's sight. He has told us who Israel is in His sight with no room for misunderstanding and no room for deliberately lying about who Israel is in His sight.
For example, both Jeremiah's and Ezekiel's prophecies of the restoration of Israel and Judah foretold what would take place after the Jews returned from Babylon. The land would be filled, the temple rebuilt, etc. and these things did, in fact, occur.
God give Ezekiel an illustration of the future using two sticks. Ezekiel took two sticks, one representing Judah, and one representing the northern kingdom of Israel. God tells Ezekiel, join the sticks together in his hand; these sticks represent the future union of the divided tribes under the name Israel. There will no longer two tribes but one nation, called Israel. The Israelites were taken captive by Assyria in 722 B.C., while Judah was taken captive in 605, 597 and 586 B.C. by Babylon. Now both tribes were in the same land, since Babylon defeated Assyria. In the future, the nation would be known as Israel. And, in 70AD, the Jews began the diaspora, in fulfillment of prophecy, for over 2000 years, and in the late 19th century, God began to bring His people back to the land He gave them, just as He said He was going to.
When they resettle the land of Israel, they would resettle it as one people. Only twice since the Babylonian captivity, did a Jewish nation exist, once during the Maccabean period (164-63 B.C.) and once in our day (1948- Current). Only in our day, did the Jewish kingdom have the name Israel, thus beginning to fulfill the words of Ezekiel written 2600-years ago.
It wasn't until 1948 that the prophecy of Ezekiel was fulfilled. The nation of Israel was reestablished, it was named Israel, and God continues to bring His people back from among the nations to the land that He gave them, and He continues to keep His promises that He made to them.
Since the second temple, built after the Babylonian captivity, was destroyed by the Romans, and God tells us that there will be a temple in place during the Tribulation in which the Antichrist will stand and declare Himself to be God, and there is not currently a temple in Israel, then we know that that prophecy has not been fulfilled but will be sometime in the future.
But the N.T. makes the point that there was a larger and even more significant fullfillment of these prophecies involving not an earthly kingdom but the heavenly one.
It was on heavenly thrones that the apostles and others chosen would rule and act as kings and priests over the whole earth, not a small portion in the Middle East.(Rev. 20:4-7)
This is a description of what John was shown in Heaven which will be in existence during the Tribulation. The verse then goes on to say that the Church will serve with Christ during his Millennial Kingdom on earth. We also know from Luke 1:32-33 that His 1000 year kingdom will be a literal, earthly kingdom, where Christ's throne will be in Jerusalem, and we know from Matthew 19:28 that the twelve Jewish apostles will rule the twelve tribes of Israel during the Millennial Kingdom.
All of this will take place in Jerusalem, which is in the Middle East.
Jesus said the kingdom would be taken from the Jewish nation and given to a nation, spiritual Israel with its king/priests in heaven, producing its fruits.
The fact that the kingdom was taken away from the Jews and given to another nation, aka the Church, is a temporary condition, as the Church age will end at the Rapture. As we know from the Scriptures listed above, Israel will be purified and redeemed and saved and will go back to being what God originally intended them to be. He will write His law on their hearts, they will not have to be taught His law, and, unlike Gentiles during the Millennial Kingdom, there will not be one unsaved Jew.
The author of this article simply cannot bring forward a coherent understanding of whom God views as Israel or what His kingdom is
On the contrary, it is those who have to approach the Bible already deceived and enslaved to the demonic doctrine of replacement theology who have to twist Scripture to make it fit their false doctrines, and when that doesn't work, allegorize and spirualize the Scriptures, in direct disobedience to God, to try to make the Bible fit their false doctrines.
There is not one verse in the Bible that supports replacement theology, and replacement theologists have no problem denying the four-fifths of the Bible that detail God's future plans for His chosen, covenant people in order to attempt to force Scripture into validating the demonic teaching of replacement theology that they love.
It is replacement theologists who lie about Israel and what God's intentions toward His covenant nation are who don't have a coherent understanding about Israel.