Has God finished with Israel?

Have you heard the media reports of genocide in Gaza? What are the facts? In the war between Israel and Hamas there have been about 32k people killed in Gaza. But these are not all civilians. About 13k were soldiers and 19k were civilians. This is a ratio of 1.5 civilians for each soldier, which for urban combat in the Middle East is a very normal ratio. The ratio of civilians to combatants is better than the American armies was when they got the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) out of Mosul. That was 10k civilians dead to kill 4k Isis (a ratio of 2.5). What’s unique about this war? Unlike every other war, the army of Hamas has perfected the art of embedding itself with civilians so that you cannot hit them without hitting the people around them. They locate their bases near mosques, schools, and hospitals in urban areas.

You probably haven’t heard that because the media are generally anti-Israel. They also don’t seem to acknowledge that Israel is the only free and democratic nation in the Middle East. Or that Israel has a long history in that region.

This blogpost uses the Bible to answer the question, “Has God finished with Israel?”. It shows that God has not finished with Israel because He always keeps His promises.

History of Israel

According to the Bible, Abraham left polytheism to follow the God who made the universe. Abraham lived about 2,000 BC and he and his descendants were known as Hebrews (Gen. 14:13). Isaac was Abraham’s son and Jacob his grandson. Jacob’s name was changed to Israel (Gen. 32:28; 46:1). Since this time Israel’s descendants were known as the children of Israel or Israel or Israelites or Jews. Israel’s family moved to Egypt where his son Joseph was second in command to the Pharaoh. In Egypt the Israelites grew to about 2 million people when they migrated to Canaan in the Middle East under the leadership of Moses and Joshua.

After the Israelites invaded Canaan, they were ruled by the judges and then by the kings Saul, David and Solomon. King David lived about 1,000 BC. After this, the kingdom was divided into two, with 10 tribes in the northern kingdom of Israel and two in the southern kingdom of Judah (1 Ki. 12; 2 Chron. 10). Samaria was the capital of Israel and Jerusalem the capital of Judah.

But the Israelites started to follow the gods of the Canaanites and so came under God’s judgment. In 722 BC, Samaria was conquered by the Assyrians and the Israelites were dispersed into surrounding nations (2 Ki. 17). As they assimilated and now have no national identity, they are known as the “Ten lost tribes of Israel”. However, they weren’t all lost because some remained in Israel and some moved to Judah (2 Chron. 15:9; 35:18). But God protected Judah from the Assyrians (2 Ki. 18:17 – 19:37).

In 605 BC and 598 BC, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia invaded Judah and in 586 B.C. Jerusalem was destroyed. Many of the Jews were taken to exile in Babylon. This looked like the end of Israel as a nation. They were ruled by the Babylonians.

Their situation improved when the Persians conquered Babylon in 538 BC, and the Persian King Cyrus permitted the Jews to return to their homeland and many returned to Judah. That’s when they became to be known as Jews.

But then the king issued Haman’s edict to annihilate the Jews. This looked like the end of Israel as a nation, but they were saved by queen Esther.

After Jerusalem was rebuilt, Judea was ruled by the Greeks, Egyptians, Syrians and Romans. The Romans ruled during the time of Jesus Christ.

In AD 70, the Romans destroyed Jerusalem (this didn’t destroy all the Jews as many were living in other countries). But this looked like the end of Israel as a nation.

Then in AD 134 the Romans attacked again and the Jews were killed, enslaved and dispersed to surrounding countries including Europe and North Africa. This looked like the end of Israel as a nation as they were banished from Palestine.

Since this time, Judea has been ruled by the Byzantine Empire, the Islamic Empire, the Crusaders, the Mamluk Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the British Empire. In the 1930s and 1940s the Jews were persecuted and driven out of many regions culminating in the holocaust when about 6 million died. Despite all these difficulties, the Jews maintained their identity, even in foreign lands. The need to find a homeland for Jewish refugees led to the establishment of the state of Israel on 14 May 1948. But on the next day there were Arab armies on the border ready to wipe them out. Once again, this looked like the end of Israel as a nation. But Israel won the war of independence.

Since then, Israel has defended itself against enormous odds during the Suez crisis (1956), the six-day war (1967), the Yom Kippur war (1973), the Lebanese war (1982), the first Intifada (1987), the second Intifada (1987) and now the Gaza war. Today Israel is surrounded by enemies. Iran is determined to wipe Israel off the face of the earth. Iran is supported by Iraq, Syria and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Russian and Turkey also support Iran.

From a historical standpoint, the Jews are a miracle. They survived 1,900 years of exile! No other people has ever gone into exile and survived this long and returned to re-establish a national homeland. And the Jews went into exile twice! They also survived the persecutions of the Hamans and Hitlers of this world (Est. 3:1-15). How amazing! Surely this is evidence of the Bible’s inspiration, and of the existence of the God who promised to preserve the Jews, return them to their homeland, and bring them to a time of great national blessing in the last days.

Replacement theology

Many Christians believe that God has finished with Israel as a nation. This is called “replacement theology” because the idea is that the Christians in the church have replaced Israel as God’s people, both now and in the future. I will now give some reasons for this opinion.

Hebrews chapter 8 teaches that Jesus is the high priest of a new covenant. He is a better high priest than the Jewish ones and the new covenant was better than the old one given to Moses. It finishes by saying, “By calling this covenant ‘new,’ he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear” (Heb. 8:13NIV). So the old covenant of Moses is obsolete and has been replaced or superseded by the new one. This means that Christians have replaced Jews as the people of God. It is then assumed that the Jews are no longer God’s chosen people, and God does not have any specific future plans for the nation of Israel. The entire future of God’s people is assumed to be with Gentiles. Christians have replaced the people of Israel in God’s plan. And the promises given to the Jews in the Old Testament are now applied to Christians. But instead of physical promises like occupying Palestine, they now have a spiritual meaning like God’s blessing for Christians.

Paul said that Christians are spiritual descendants of Abraham and inheritors of the promises made to him (Gal. 3:7-9, 29). And he also mentions “the Israel of God” (Gal. 6:16), which links the church with Israel in a letter written to the churches in Galatia. But this is probably a reference to Jewish Christians. All the other instances of the word “Israel” in the New Testament refer to Jews.

And it is also claimed that Jesus is now sitting on the throne of David in heaven. But the Bible doesn’t say this. Jesus is at the right hand of God in heaven (Rom. 8:34), whereas the throne of David is linked geographically with Jerusalem and Israel on earth.

And it is claimed we are living in the everlasting kingdom now (amillennialism). It’s only spiritual and not physical at all.

So, it is taught that the church has now inherited all the promises of Israel. They take all the blessings and glories that were promised to Israel in the Old Testament and apply them to the church, but take all the curses and all the punishments and apply those to Israel! That does not treat the Scriptures fairly.

What does the Bible say?

The Bible was written over a period of about 1,500 years. There is progressive revelation through the Bible, so we will start with the Old Testament and then move to the New Testament.

Old Testament revelation

According to Scripture, after Abraham’s time there were two categories of people: Jews (God’s chosen people) and Gentiles (those who were not Jews).

In the Old Testament, God gave the Jews many promises including, covenants, judgments, the Messiah and their restoration.

Covenants

A covenant is a contract that ancient men would make with one another. They made covenants over land, family ties, and marriages. A list of covenants in the Old Testament between God and the people of Israel is given in Appendix A.

God made three covenants with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob (Israel), and their descendants that He will never renounce. He called them an “everlasting covenant” (Gen. 17:7-8, 13, 19). There are 14 verses in the OT where this phrase is applied to Israel. This means that these covenants apply until eternity.
They are:

1. Abrahamic covenant (Gen. 12:1-3; 13:14-17; 15:4-21; 17:1-22: 22:15-18; Jud. 2:1; 1 Chron. 16:15-18; Ps. 105:8-11)

The Lord had said to Abram, … “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Gen. 12:1-3).

And, ‘On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates’ (Gen. 15:18).

Israel would become a nation of God’s special people and live in the land of Canaan. And all the people on earth would be blessed through Abram.

2. Davidic covenant (2 Sam. 7:12-16; 23:5; Ps. 89; Isa. 55:3)

King David was told, “The Lord declares to you that the Lord himself will establish a house for you: When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name [the temple], and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever” (2 Sam. 7:11b-13).

Solomon built the temple and Israel would be ruled by a descendant of David in an everlasting dynasty.

3. New covenant (Jer. 31:31-34; 32:27-40; 50:5; Isa. 55:5; 59:21; 61:8; Ezek. 16:60; 34:25; 37:26; Hos. 2:18-20; Heb. 8:8-13)

“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah … “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more” (Jer. 31:31-34).

Israel would experience a spiritual revival.

What were the everlasting covenants?
– Israel would be a nation who would be God’s special people
– Israel would occupy the land of Canaan
– Israel would be ruled by an everlasting dynasty from king David, and
– Israel would experience a spiritual revival.

What is the situation today? Israel is not God’s special people (Christians are God’s special people today). Israel occupies only part of the promised land, not all of it. Israel does not have king. And there is no spiritual revival in Israel. So, God is not finished with Israel.

God also made other promises about Israel and Jerusalem (Jer. 31:35-40). In the context of the new covenant, Israel will always exist as nation and the city of Jerusalem will be rebuilt and never destroyed again. Israel and Judah will be restored in Canaan (Jer. 30-33). They will repent and enjoy the new covenant.

All these promises were made to the children of Israel, not to Christians. They were made over 600 years before the first Christians existed on the day of Pentecost.

Judgment, Messiah and kingdom

The 17 books on prophecy in the Old Testament are addressed to the Jews. The Old Testament Jewish prophets had two main messages about the future: God’s judgment of their sinfulness when there will be great suffering (on the “day of the Lord”) and God’s blessing when the Messiah will come and lead their nation.

The “day of the Lord” refers to any time when God puts down evil and rebellion. In these cases it was referring to immediate judgments (such as their captivity in Babylon) and those that had not yet been fulfilled. In particular it refers to a time of persecution and trials for the Jews—Jeremiah called it “Jacob’s trouble” (Jer. 30:7).

Some of the Old Testament prophecies had both an immediate partial fulfilment and a distant complete fulfilment. For example, the prophecies about the “day of the Lord” were fulfilled when Jerusalem was conquered by the Babylonians in 586 B.C and Jews were taken captive to Babylon. It happened like they said. This was a “day of the Lord” for the Jews. But Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi prophesied about the “day of the Lord” after this captivity. Their prophecies were fulfilled in the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans in AD 70. It happened like they said. This was also a “day of the Lord” for the Jews. As these prophecies all came true, there is no reason to doubt that the remaining prophecies about the “day of the Lord” will also come true. This gives us confidence in the prophetic Scriptures yet to be fulfilled.

Zechariah says, “A day of the Lord is coming, Jerusalem, when your possessions will be plundered and divided up within your very walls. I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it; the city will be captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped. Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be taken from the city. Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations, as He fights on a day of battle. On that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south. You will flee by my mountain valley, for it will extend to Azel. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with Him. On that day there will be neither sunlight nor cold, frosty darkness. It will be a unique day—a day known only to the Lord—with no distinction between day and night. When evening comes, there will be light. On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half of it east to the Dead Sea and half of it west to the Mediterranean Sea, in summer and in winter. The Lord will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one Lord, and His name the only name.” (Zech. 14:1-9).

Zechariah says that a day of the Lord is coming for Jerusalem when all the nations will gather to fight against. But the Lord will defeat them when He comes to the Mount of Olives. Similarly, Daniel predicts that God’s people will suffer, but this will be replaced by God’s “everlasting kingdom” (Dan. 7:20-27). And after describing a “day of the Lord” in which the Lord judges the world, Isaiah said that, “the Lord Almighty will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before its elders—with great glory” (Isa. 24:23).

The Jews were promised blessing in a coming kingdom. But when they kept following idols, they were dominated by Gentile nations. And that’s been to case since 586 BC. But God promised to bring them back to Canaan (Dt.30:3). This began when Israel was established as a nation in 1948 and it will end in the millennial reign of Christ when the Jews will flourish.

The Messiah will regather Jews from around the world and restore the kingdom of David and the temple in Jerusalem. They will have a spiritual revival under the new covenant. And there will be world peace and world knowledge of the true God.

So the future predicted for Israel in the Old Testament was suffering under God’s judgement followed by the intervention of the Messiah to rescue them and then to rule over them in the kingdom when the everlasting covenants would be fulfilled.

The Lord hasn’t returned to the Mount of Olives to reign yet, so God isn’t finished with Israel.

Jesus’s revelation

Because He came as a suffering servant rather than a conquering king, most of the Jews didn’t think that Jesus was the Messiah they were waiting for.

Jesus peached to the Jews about the coming kingdom of God. He said that they would suffer and be persecuted before the kingdom came. People would be separated when He came to establish the kingdom. The faithful would enter the kingdom, while the unfaithful would be taken away for judgment.

In the week before His death, the Lord prophesied about a great tribulation (“pressure” or suffering or distress) (Mt 24:21-22) and the return of the Lord to the earth in great power (v.29-31) that is associated with the day of the Lord. This is repeated in Mark 13:1-37 and Luke 21:5-36.

“As Jesus was leaving the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, “Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!” (Mk. 13:1). Apparently, Herod’s Temple was ten stories high and adorned with gold, silver, and other precious items. But Jesus predicted that is would be reduced to rubble. He said, “Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down” (Mk. 13:2).

Furthermore, “When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in the country not enter the city. For this is the time of punishment in fulfilment of all that has been written. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! There will be great distress in the land and wrath against this people. They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled” (Lk. 21:20-24).

In AD 70, it happened like He said—the ungodly Jews were scattered. The sign of this was armies of the Roman Empire around Jerusalem. According to the Bible, Jerusalem will remain under Gentile control until the Lord returns to the earth.

Some prophecies about the “day of the Lord” by the Old Testament prophets and by Jesus were fulfilled when Jerusalem was conquered by the Romans in AD 70. This was a “day of the Lord” for the Jews. However, it is clear from the Lord’s Olivet discourse (Mt 24, 25; Mk 13; Lk 21), that at this time there were still unfulfilled prophecies about the “day of the Lord”. Similar prophecies are also given in 1&2 Thessalonians and Revelation, which was probably written after AD70.

So Jesus repeated the promises of suffering (before a kingdom) and blessing (in a kingdom), which had been given to the Jews in the Old Testament. It was now clear that when the Messiah arrives on the Mount of Olives that it will be the second advent. He clarified that there would be two advents. This was difficult to see in the Old Testament. We can see it in hindsight, but the Old Testament Jews couldn’t see it.

Jesus told the Jewish religious leaders, “I tell you, the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation that will produce the proper fruit” (Mt. 21:43). If this verse were isolated, it could teach that God was finished with Israel and that the church has replaced Israel, but it cannot possibly teach that since Christ also said that He is not finished with Israel. He said they would not see Him until they repent (Mt. 23:39).

Most of the Jews rejected Jesus and this resulted in Jesus being crucified to save us from our sins. So God used this rejection to bring salvation to humanity. God works in unexpected ways.

After His ascension, Christ “spoke about the kingdom of God” with the disciples (Acts 1:1-7). Later they asked, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”. He did not respond by telling them there would be no kingdom. Rather, He told them that it was not for them to know the time.

So Jesus repeated what had been told in the Old Testament – there would be suffering, followed by the Messiah (in the second advent), followed by the kingdom of God. And He said that He was the Messiah.

Paul’s revelation

Paul was given new revelations about the church, the rapture and the restoration of Israel.

1. The church

After Peter saw the vision of the animals on a sheet, he realized that Gentiles could follow Jesus and be indwelt with the Holy Spirit.

At Pisidian Antioch and Corinth Paul preached to the Jews, but when their leaders rejected him, he turned to preach to the Gentiles. As most of the Jews rejected the gospel, this resulted in preaching to the Gentiles. So God used this to bring salvation to the Gentiles (Rom. 11:11). Their rejection benefited the Gentiles. In fact, Paul was given divine instruction to preach to the Gentiles (Acts 22:21).

After the ascension of Christ, God changed the relationship between Jew and Gentile. Beforehand, God primarily dealt with the nation of Israel. After Israel rejected Jesus as the Messiah, He turned to whosoever might come. Although the church was mainly Jewish at the beginning, it changed to be mainly Gentile. In the church the barrier between Jew and Gentile has been broken down (Eph. 2:14). This was a new revelation given to Paul (Eph. 3:1-6).

2. The rapture

Paul was also given a new revelation about the resurrection from the dead and the translation of the living to heaven of all true Christians at the end of the church age (1 Cor. 15:51-52). This is called the rapture, which means to be “caught up” (1 Th. 4:17). At the resurrection the souls and spirits of the dead will rejoin their bodies. Old Testament believers were promised resurrection from the dead at the end of their suffering so they can live in the kingdom of God (Dan. 12:1-2). But at the Rapture, God changes the believer’s body into a body like the resurrected body of Christ. And Jesus alluded to the rapture in John 14:1-3.

Paul described the rapture as, “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up [raptured] together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever” (1 Th. 4:16-17). He then described the day of the Lord, that includes a time of suffering (1 Th. 5:1-11). This order in 1 Thessalonians 4 and 5 indicates that the rapture will be followed by suffering on earth.

God uses the rapture to deliver Christians from the coming time of suffering (Appendix B).

A video editor lets you create a video by editing your videos. You can delete parts of videos, cut and paste, and combine videos. Let’s combine the above revelations from the Old Testament, Jesus and Paul. The one thing they have in common is judgment. So we can use that to line them up. Paul has the church and the rapture before the judgment. When these two are inserted into Jesus’ revelation as a “cut and paste”, we get this combined revelation of the first advent of the Messiah being followed by the church age, then the rapture, then the judgment, then the 2^nd advent of the Messiah and then the kingdom of God.

3. The restoration of Israel

Romans 9-11 is a vindication of God’s righteousness in setting aside national Israel to save the Gentiles. Chapter 11 has praise for God’s wisdom in temporarily casting away national Israel to save the Gentiles (Appendix C). Twice it asks, Has God finished with Israel (Rom. 1:1, 11)? And both answers are “No!”. It shows that God works in unexpected ways.

Has God rejected the Jews? (Rom. 11:1-10).

The answer is no because there will always be a faithful remnant of Messianic Jews. Paul was one of them. But Paul was told that as a nation they were spiritually blind and deaf because they rejected the Messiah.

Five reasons why God is not finished with Israel (Rom. 11:11-24)

First, God has turned to the Gentiles because he wants to make Israel jealous (v.11). God is reaching Gentiles because, ultimately, He wants to reach Jews.

Second, the promises of worldwide blessing that fill so many prophetic passages of the Old Testament hinge upon the restoration of Israel to God (v.12-15). Worldwide blessing can never come until Israel is back in right relationship with its God. This hasn’t happened yet. Most of the Jews don’t trust in Christ as their Savior.

Third, if the first Jews (Abraham and Isaac and Jacob) could be made holy by God, then God is able to make Jews holy after thousands of years have passed (v.16). Therefore, there is hope for Israel.

In the fourth, Paul uses the figure of an olive tree to represent God’s special people (v.17-21). In the Old Testament it was the Jews, so the branches were Jewish. But after the ascension, most of these branches were replaced by Gentiles. This is like wild branches being grafted onto a tree. So today Christians of many nations are God’s special people. But after the “full number of the Gentiles” have been saved, the natural (Jewish) branches will be grafted back into the tree. So after the rapture, Jews will be saved to be God’s people once again. 

The natural branches of the olive tree symbolise Jews as a nation and the wild branches symbolise Gentiles as a nation. But the wild branches do not become natural branches, nor are they grafted into the natural branches. They are always distinct.

Fifth, if God could make the wild (unnatural) branches into children of God, how much more can He do this with the natural branches, the Jews (v.22-24). It will be easier to graft the natural branches back into the tree after the Jews repent.

The restoration of Israel (Rom. 11:25-32)

Paul prophesies what this restoration will be like. After the church age, a spiritual awakening will come to the Jews. After the Christians are raptured to heaven, Jews will be converted during the tribulation. Then when Christ returns to Jerusalem, they will be saved to live in the millennial kingdom under the new covenant. Israel’s restoration will be brought about by the second advent of Christ.

This revival hasn’t happened yet, so God isn’t finished with Israel. He has not abandoned them.

Just as the Gentiles changed from a position of disobedience to God (before the church age) to one of privilege (during the church age), the Jews will change from a position of disobedience to God (during the church age) to one of privilege (after the church age) (v. 30-31).

John’s revelation

Revelation is the main prophetic book in the New Testament.

The kingdom of God

Revelation 20 address the kingdom of God, “And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time.

“I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded [in the Tribulation] because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast [ruler of the Revived Roman Empire] or its image and had not received its mark [666, Rev. 13:18] on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.” (Rev. 20:1-6).

This says several times that the kingdom of God lasts for 1,000 years after the second advent of Christ. That’s why it’s called the Millennium.

Instead of being bound, Satan is still deceiving the nations, so God isn’t finished with Israel.

Outline of the book of Revelation

The timing of future events is also evident from the sequence of topics in the book of Revelation.

At present the church is on earth (Rev. 2-3) and the next event is the “rapture” when all believers (dead and alive) will be resurrected to heaven. The rapture is not mentioned specifically in Revelation; but in Revelation 4, the church is in heaven. While the church is in heaven (Rev. 4-5), there will be a period of tribulation on earth (Rev. 6-18), which will end with the second advent of the Lord Jesus Christ in great power and glory (Rev. 19:11-21). This will be followed by the 1,000 year reign of the Lord on the earth (the millennium) (Rev. 20:1-10), and then the eternal state of the new heaven and the new earth (Rev. 21-22).

We have now used two separate methods to determine the sequence of events:
– “Combined revelation” – from the Old Testament, Jesus and Paul, and
– “Outline of the book of Revelation” – from John.
The results are consistent, as would be expected if the Bible is divinely inspired.

How does this compare to replacement theology? In replacement theology all the references about God’s judgment and kingdom blessings are applied to the current church age. And all the references about the return on Christ are applied to a single event. So there is no time of judgement (tribulation) and no separate kingdom (its amillennial) and no rapture.

The sequence of events according to replacement theology is more like the Old Testament revelation and Jesus’s revelation than the combined revelation and the outline of the book of Revelation. Therefore, replacement theology doesn’t seem to recognize the progressive nature of revelation in the Bible.

Israel’s future

After the rapture of Christians 144,000 Jewish men will turn to Jesus Christ and will preach the gospel of the kingdom worldwide (Mt. 24:14). Then Russian and Muslim armies from Turkey, Iran, Libya and Sudan invade killing 2/3 of the Jews in Israel and the remaining 1/3 will turn to Christ and God destroys the invaders. By the middle of the 7-year tribulation world famine will allow the Antichrist to establish himself as god in Jerusalem. Then the Jews will flee from Jerusalem and fight for survival. But when they face the battle of Armageddon, Jesus returns to rescue them.

Then Christ establishes His millennial kingdom and rules from Jerusalem. And the land of Israel will be blessed with rain and the desert will flourish. Wars will cease and there will be peace. Jerusalem will be the world center for the worship of God.

God will restore Israel’s national status after the second advent. This is a future day, when Jesus will establish His kingdom on earth. At that day Israel will rule with Jesus on earth. This will be a time of great blessing on earth. Israel will have accepted Jesus as the Messiah at His second advent.

That’s when God’s everlasting unconditional covenants are fulfilled (Abrahamic, Davidic, and New). God keeps His promises.

God has put Israel aside so that the Gentiles can enjoy His blessings. But the Jews need to be revived spiritually so they can be blessed in the Millennial kingdom. So all nations are being given the opportunity to enjoy God’s blessings.

Learning from the past

Prophecy about the future will be fulfilled literally, just as has prophecy of the past. For example, when the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah predicted that the Jewish captivity would be 70 years (Jer. 25:11-12), it turned out that this prediction was literal, not symbolic.

Since the prophecies about Christ’s first advent were fulfilled literally (He came to Bethlehem and died as a suffering servant), then the prophecies relating to His second advent will also be fulfilled literally.

We see that Israel experienced exile before the first and second advent of Christ. They were preserved for about 600 years after the defeat by Babylon so that Jesus could be born into a Jewish nation. And they were preserved at least 1900 years after the Roman defeat so they could be saved in the tribulation and Jesus could come and lead them in the 1,000 year kingdom.

Christian’s future

Christians have a wonderful future. The next event is the rapture when all true Christians are resurrected and transformed to be with the Lord forever. We will also reign with Him in the Millennium. And then “we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth He [God] has promised, a world [universe] filled with God’s righteousness” (2 Pt. 3:13 NLT), when we are eternally with the Lord.

Lessons for us

History is following God’s plan. It isn’t random. And it isn’t determined by the strongest nations. But it’s happening in a way so that all nations can enjoy God’s blessings.

In the Old Testament, Israel was promised that they would be God’s special people who experience a spiritual revival and be ruled to the end of time in Canaan in a wonderful kingdom by the Messiah. But the Jews rejected their Messiah when He came and God used the Jewish rejection of Jesus to bring salvation to humanity.

Replacement Theology says that God is now finished with Israel, but it takes some verses out of context and uses them to overthrow the teaching of the entire Bible. Replacement theology doesn’t seem to recognize the progressive nature of revelation in the Bible because its sequence of events is more like Old Testament revelation and Jesus’s revelation than the revelation of Paul and John. It depends on spiritualizing much of the Bible in a subjective way. Instead, it’s best using the plain meaning of the text unless a symbolic meaning is indicated.

God hasn’t finished with Israel because their being put aside was temporal and not permanent. Likewise, He hasn’t finished with you and me. Until our final day, there will always be another day to follow and serve the Lord.

God has not finished with Israel because He always keeps His promises.

Are you ready for the Lord’s return? It could happen at any moment because the Jewish nation returned to Israel of recent times after a gap of about 1,900 years.

Appendix A: Covenants

Covenants in the Old Testament between God and the people of Israel.

Abrahamic (Gen. 12:1-3; 13:14-17; 15:4-21; 17:1-22: 22:15-18; Jud. 2:1; 1 Chron. 16:15-18; Ps. 105:8-11) A nation and a land (Canaan)(unconditional). The Israelites would be God’s special people (relationship) (conditional). Called an “everlasting covenant”.

Sinai (Ex. 24:7-8) The laws of Moses

Palestinian (Dt. 28-30); Don’t worship other God’s; rewards and punishment; Lev. 26 The laws of Moses.

Davidic (2 Sam. 7:12-16; 23:5; Ps. 89; Isa. 55:3) An everlasting dynasty (unconditional, but conditional for Solomon’s descendants). Called an “everlasting covenant”.

New (Jer. 31:31; 32:27-40; 50:5; Isa. 55:5; 59:21; 61:8; Ezek. 16:60; 34:25; 37:26; Hos. 2:18-20; Heb. 8:8-13) Revival (unconditional). Called an “everlasting covenant”.

Appendix B: Why the church will not go through the tribulation

Paul told the Christians in Thessalonica that it is “Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath” (1 Th. 1:10). This “wrath” is the wrath of the Tribulation just before the Millennium (Rev. 6:17). Jesus delivers believers from this period of suffering. The Tribulation deals with the evangelization of the nation Israel to establish the promised Millennial kingdom for Israel. The Thessalonians did not need to prepare for the Tribulation because Jesus would deliver them from it via the rapture.

Paul repeated this message latter in this letter, “For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath (in the Tribulation) but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Th. 5:9).

John told the church at Philadelphia, “Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth” (Rev. 3:10. Because they were faithful when facing trials, and didn’t cave in to temptations and pressures around them, they would be kept from the coming tribulation. Those in the tribulation will clearly go through this time of trouble (Rev. 6:9-10; 7:14). By inference, God must have raptured the church before the “hour of trial”. The point of the tribulation is to get the attention of Israel that Jesus is the Messiah.

This is consistent with Paul’s revelation that the rapture will occur before the tribulation (time of suffering or “day of the Lord”).

But replacement theology is inconsistent with these verses (1 Th. 1:10; 5:9; Rev. 3:10).

Appendix C: Romans 11

The problem being addressed in Romans 9-11 is that most Jews in Paul’s day didn’t trust Christ. Romans 11 looks at whether the problem was God’s fault and shows that God had not rejected all the Jewish race.

Has God rejected the Jews? – 11:1-6
Paul begins this chapter by saying that “I ask then: Did God reject His people [the Jews]? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin” (v.1). The first example was that Paul was a Jew who trusted in Christ.

The second example was that it was like in the time of Elijah (v.2-6). Elijah thought that he was the only Israelite who trusted in God, but God told him that there were 7,000 Israelites who hadn’t turned to idolatry (1 Ki. 19:10-18). God said that in Paul’s time there was also some Jews (a remnant) who trusted in Christ. Then Paul emphasized that those in the remnant were there because of God’s grace and not because of any works that they had done. God has graciously decided that everyone who trusts in Christ will be His chosen people.

Who are the elect? – 11:7-10
Paul then explained the situation at his time (“the present time’, v.5), “What then? What the people of Israel sought so earnestly [righteousness] they did not obtain. The elect among them did, but the others were hardened” (v.7). As most of the Jews were seeking righteousness by their own efforts rather than accepting God’s way, they were unsuccessful. The Jewish remnant who trusted in Christ are called “the elect”. Paul distinguished “the elect” from “the others” (Jewish unbelievers).

Then Paul uses quotes from Deuteronomy, Isaiah and Psalms to describe “the others”. They have been hardened. Later in this chapter, Paul says that the unbelieving Jews (the non-elect), can become the elect through faith in Christ:
– “Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all!” (v.11)
– He hopes that his preaching will “save some of them” (v.14).
– “if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again” (v.23).

So according to Paul, “the elect” are all true believers, and “the non-elect” are all unbelievers. If a nonbeliever changes their beliefs in order to trust in Christ, they become one of “the elect”.

Why has God hardened unbelieving Jews? – 11:11-16
God had a higher purpose in hardening the Jewish unbelievers. God used their rejection of Christ to proclaim the gospel to the Gentiles (v.11). The Jews who rejected Jesus’ claim to be the Messiah brought about Christ’s death and resurrection for salvation to be available to everyone (v.15). Because of Jewish opposition, the apostles began to preach to the Gentiles (Acts 13:45-46). And persecution of the believers in Jerusalem resulted in them spreading the gospel throughout the Roman Empire.

And the salvation of Gentiles was intended to promote the salvation of unbelieving Jews by making them envious (v.14). Paul says this three times (10:29; 11:11, 14). Our job is to make the Jews jealous. Are we living the kind of Christian life that will make someone else jealous of what we have? Are we loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, gentle, and self-controlled (Gal. 5:22-23)? Are we so different from everyone around us that an unbelieving world says, “Whatever they’ve got, I want it too!” Because that’s why God grafted us into His family in the first place.

Then when the Jews do repent it will be like the resurrection of the nation of Israel. Paul uses two metaphors (bread and a tree) to indicate the certainty of the restoration of Israel (v.16).

Can unbelieving Jews be saved? –  11:17-24
Paul now uses the parable of an olive tree to illustrate God’s relationships with the Jews and the Gentiles. In this section of Romans 11 Gentile believers and Jewish unbelievers are viewed as two groups. He is not addressing individual salvation but corporate salvation.

Here the olive tree is a symbol of God’s family. Some branches have been broken off the olive tree (unbelieving Jews, because of their rejection of the Messiah), some wild olive branches have been grafted onto the tree (believing Gentiles) and some branches remain (believing Jews). God supernaturally connected Gentiles to the family of God.

At the time of Paul’s writing, many Gentiles were becoming believers, and the Jewish believers in the olive tree were becoming outnumbered. There was a risk that the Gentiles could become arrogant, thinking that the time of the Jews had come to an end. Paul’s message to the believing Gentiles was that they shouldn’t feel superior because they owed their spiritual heritage to the Jews (v.18).

The reason God broke the Jews off was so that the Gentiles would be grafted into the tree by faith in Christ (v.19). They were broken off because of unbelief (v.20).

In this parable we see two great contrasting aspects of God’s character—His kindness and His sternness (v.22). His sternness is shown in the removal of Israel from the favored-nation status. His kindness is seen in His turning to the Gentiles with the gospel (Acts 13:46; 18:6). But that goodness must not be taken for granted. The Gentiles too could be cut off if they do not maintain that relative openness which the Savior found during His earthly ministry (Matt. 8:10; Luke 7:9).

The Gentiles were warned that they too could be removed from their present position of special privilege (v.22). But this doesn’t mean that true believers can be being cut off from God’s favor (Rom. 8:38-39).

The Jew’s severance from the olive tree need not be final. If they abandon their national unbelief, there is no reason why God cannot put them back into their original place of privilege (v.23-24). Isaiah promised that God will restore the nation Israel again (v.26). At the end of the Great Tribulation, great numbers of Jews will finally believe in Jesus the Messiah and enter in the Millennial kingdom.

So the olive tree has both natural and grafted branches. This shows that God’s family is comprised of both Jews and Christians (Israel and the church).

So the answer to the question of whether unbelieving Jews can be saved is “yes”, if they change to trust in Christ. But this will not happen to any large extent before the rapture (v.25).

Who does God want to have mercy on? – 11:25-32
The future restoration of Israel is not only a possibility but is an assured fact (v.25). Many of the Jews will be unbelievers who are hardened “until the full number of the Gentiles has come in”. As the Gentiles are saved to be part of the church, their full number will come when the church is raptured to heaven. So, trust in the salvation available through Jesus while it is available. Because Jesus could return in a moment to take the church away to be with Himself (in what is called “the rapture”).

When Paul says that “all Israel will be saved” (v.26), he quotes from Isaiah 59:20-21. The context of this passage is that God intervenes to judge the Gentile nations and bless a godly Jewish remnant and give them a new covenant. Clearly the time is at the end of the great tribulation when Christ comes in great power to judge the ungodly and spare the godly to enter His millennial kingdom (Rev. 19:11-21). So the Jews that are saved will be the believers.

Just as the Gentiles changed from a position of disobedience to God (before the church age) to one of privilege (during the church age), the Jews will change from a position of disobedience to God (during the church age) to one of privilege (after the church age) (v. 30-31). Verse 32 brings verses 30 and 31 together. The disobedience (unbelief) of the Jews and Gentiles was their own doing (v.32). This disobedience provided scope for God to have mercy on all, both Jews and Gentiles. God has shown mercy to the Gentiles and will yet show mercy to the Jews also, but this does not ensure the salvation of everyone. Here it is mercy shown along national lines.

So who does God want to have mercy on? Everyone! The gospel invitation is to everyone. But it will mainly be accepted by Gentiles until the rapture, while more Jews will accept it between the rapture and the second advent of Christ.

Why is Paul so full of praise? – 11:33-36
Romans 9-11 begins with a lament and ends with a doxology. During these three chapters, Paul has changed from despair to praise. He has shown that the reason that there were so many Jewish unbelievers was their fault for not trusting in Christ; and it was not God’s fault. But God had not rejected them and they could still be saved. And Paul looked forward to when the Jewish nation would be restored and trusting in their Messiah.

Also, this is the end of the doctrinal portion of the letter. As the theme of this teaching has been the gospel, Paul is also praising God for the truths of the gospel revealed in Romans.

Also see: What does Romans 9 teach?

Written, May 2024