Israel in scripture, anti-semitism and end times

By going through Israel’s place in scripture, we will see why anti-semitism doesn’t connect with what scripture says.

Along the way I will deal with a view that’s very common among Christians which is that the church has replaced Israel in the program of God. And I’ll explain why that’s an oversimplification of the scripture and in the process eliminates promises that God has made to Israel even as He expanded the promise to include the world.

This post is based on a presentation by Dr Darrell Bock of the of the Dallas Theological Seminary.

Some principles

1. God’s word as revelation has clarity, and is to be read normally by genre.
   As we move through scripture we are dealing with different genres [types of literary presentations]. We have the law in the first five books of the Old Testament known as the Torah. Then history of the Israelites, wisdom and poetry, and prophecy in the Old Testament. And then in the New Testament we’ve got Gospels, a history of the church known as Acts, letters, and then Revelation which is known as apocalyptic literature. Apocalyptic literature is behind the scenes literature, which is telling you in symbolism what’s going on in the world and what’s happening in heaven at the same time.
2. God’s word as revelation gives us hope and perspective as it reveals what is to come.
   The promise of God is expressed in the scripture, and we know where the story goes and where the story ends. That’s important because we live in a world that’s full of uncertainty. The scripture reminds us there’s a victory coming and we don’t need to be consumed with excessive worry about where things are going because ultimately God has this in His hands.
3. God keeps His promises to those He made the promise to.
   This is the key principle we are going to address. God can expand promises and bring in people who weren’t originally addressed. And He’s done that in scripture. But that doesn’t mean that that cancels out the people to whom the original promises were made. This is the most important principle as it relates to Israel. Another way to say this is that the expansion of the promise among Gentiles does not nullify Israelite inclusion.

In the Hebrew scripture, God has made a commitment to Israel. He promised to bless the world through Israel, through Israel’s seed. And through that blessing, eventually Jews and Gentiles become united (reconciled). Shalom becomes a part of the world because the nations are going to get along in the new heaven and the new earth. And even though the promise is expanded to include the Gentiles, the original promise to the Israelites stands.

4. God’s covenants guide the promise to the kingdom where reconciliation, shalom, justice, and righteousness come to pass.
   When the kingdom of God fully comes, evil will get dealt with. Justice will be done. Shalom will come. Ask yourself, what does it take to have shalom in our world? What it takes to have shalom in our world is that people have to be able to get along. It’s a simple idea. That means that Jews and Gentiles have to be able to get along. That means the people of different nations have to be able to get along. That’s what shalom brings. You get to shalom through reconciliation. And the reconciliation that Christ brings is taking us corporately in that direction. In fact, the message of the gospel from the very beginning was that at a corporate level God takes different people groups and He brings them together. Thus, in the New Testament you read about Jews and Gentiles being together. God is bringing them together and He’s making them family.

In the second half of Ephesians 2 after what I like to call the Protestant Creed – Salvation is by faith not by works so that no one can boast (Eph. 2:8-9). Then it says, “For we are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10NIV). So good works don’t save us, but they’re supposed to be a product of what it means to know God.  Good works are not the engine in the front of the train, they’re the caboose in the back of the train.  The first good work mentioned here is that Gentiles who were apart from God and far from God, have now been brought near along with those who were near (the Jews) (Eph. 2:11-22). And God has made out of Jews and Gentiles one new humanity. That’s all about reconciliation at a corporate level.

So that’s what’s supposed to drive the way we see the world when we think of people groups. We’re supposed to understand that Christ is in the business of bringing people who did not get along together, and get them on the same page.

5. As the story progresses we get more detail, but we do not get everything (which means there are gaps in what is said about the future).
   We are to take what we have been given as enough. So we have to be careful about speculating even who the antichrist might be or whether this is the end time. There have been lots of guesses about who the antichrist is and there have been lots of statements that this is the end times and so far no one’s been right. Now one day someone will be right about this. We have some idea about the outline, but we don’t know all the details. There’s a tendency for us to want to fill in the gaps and particularly fill in the gaps in relationship to today when we’ve been given an assignment to engage in a mission until God decides it’s time.
6. Anti-semitism runs against the promises of God in scripture about Israel.

The core covenant of Abraham

The core covenant is the covenant of Abraham. The Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. 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).

Now there’s a promise of a people. There’s the promise of a nation in a land. And then there’s a promise that through that the world will eventually be blessed – through Abraham’s seed. This seed term is ambiguous in scripture because the entire story of the book of Genesis is about the generation of Abraham’s seed in a particular way. Through Isaac, through Jacob, through the 12 tribes that became the nation of Israel. That’s the story of Genesis. So in one sense seed is multiple. But ultimately there’s the idea that there is a special seed through whom the promise is running. That’s why it’s Isaac and not Eleazar. That’s why it’s Jacob and not Esau. And it’s the 12 tribes, and eventually there’s a tribe of Judah that becomes the background for a Davidic promise coming later that tells you the seed is both generic and spreading out. I’m going to make your nation like the sands of the sea. I’m going to make you like the stars in the sky. That’s about the seed corporate.

But there also is a narrowing of the promise of the seed that’s also going on at the same time as the scripture unfolds. Further on in Genesis 12, the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring [descendant(s)] I will give this land” (Gen. 12:7). The word translated “offspring” is “seed”. So there’s a promise not only of a nation but a nation that has a place, a place for future shalom. That’s actually what God is offering Abraham – a people who will eventually live in shalom in the world. Now how solid is this promise?

Promise repeated

And just to show you how committed this is, there’s a reaffirmation of the promise that comes throughout Genesis. That promise is reaffirmed not just to Abraham (Gen. 15:5-7, 18-21; 17:1-8) but to Isaac (Gen. 26:2-5) and to Jacob (Gen. 28:3-4, 13-15) as well as to the 12 tribes – Joseph said, “But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land He promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob” (Gen. 50:24). God made a commitment to the people of Israel, and that commitment was to the patriarchs. And He’s going to fulfill the commitment He made to the patriarchs. Sometimes in the Old Testament you get the phrase the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, which is a nice way of saying the God of promise to the patriarchs. So this is reaffirmed again and again at different points. Now sometimes people will raise a question about this and say that Israel was disobedient, and she suffers the penalty of that disobedience and loses access to the promise as a result.

Disobedience does not cancel the hope

Disobedience brings discipline and it brings temporary judgment, but it doesn’t cancel the hope. There is a warning, “You who were as numerous as the stars in the sky will be left but few in number, because you did not obey the Lord your God” (Dt. 28:62). There’s judgment for disobedience and that judgment sometimes is even severe and it’s even devastating but it is not the last word. That’s the point. It’s a temporary judgment. It’s like the picture of the exile. Israel went into exile both in Assyria and in Babylon in the Hebrew scripture And yet God regathered the people and brought them back into the land. So there can be judgment and there is accountability for unfaithfulness, but that does not wipe out God’s promise because God’s promise is based on His word and on His grace. Deuteronomy 28:63-64 goes on to say this judgment includes uprooting from the land and scattering among the nations. That’s why I said it might be severe, and it might be devastating

And yet Deuteronomy 30 not two chapters later speaks of a reversal of all this horrible judgment as the Lord has pity on Israel as they turn back to God. God foresees a time when Israel will turn back to God and be responsive to Him. Then the Lord brings them back into the land and into blessing (Dt. 30:1-4). And then in verse 5 it says this blessing means more blessing even than that received before by their ancestors – I’m going to bless you more than I blessed the patriarchs. The section ends with a call to the nation to obey, and with the note that disobedience does mean severe destruction, but repentance brings restoration (Dt. 30:11-20).

Romans 9-11 makes the same point as all Israel is included even as Israel is disobedient now. Paul begins Romans 9-11 saying, “I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, the people of Israel” (Rom. 9:3-4). And he tells you who the topic is in Romans 9-11 all the way through. And even though some people argue well not everyone who is an Israelite is a true Jew, which is true. we’re never in the situation where disbelieving Israel is out of the point of view of Romans 9-11. How do I know that? Romans 11 says that if God is able to graft in unnatural branches (that’s an illusion to Gentiles) into the vine – the vine is a picture of the promise – then surely He can graft back in natural branches which is a reference to the Jews and the reestablishment of promise there. So Romans 9-11 is making the same point as Deuteronomy 28-30, disobedience does not cancel the hope. The hope still lives. And with the hope of restoration, in the Messiah comes the realization of this hope.

Acts 3:18-22 addresses Jews, “But this is how God fulfilled what He had foretold through all the prophets, saying that His Messiah would suffer (like Isaiah 53 or Psalm 118). Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that He may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus. Heaven must receive Him until the time comes for God to restore everything, as He promised long ago through His holy prophets (the Old Testament tells us what God is going to do). For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me (a leader and a deliverer) from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you”. This passage is applied to Jesus.

The word “until” is important. And now I need to talk about the way some Christians read the text that I think is incomplete. They will say that all fulfillment happens in Jesus – that’s true. And they use replacement theology to say that the hope of Israel is replaced with the hope of the church, and that’s not what scripture does. Someone who holds this theology says the church has totally replaced Israel. The church is the new Israel. They may say that I’m not a believer in replacement theology, I’m a believer in fulfillment theology, because Jesus is the fulfillment of the promise. Now that statement is correct. If we’re going to say Jesus is the fulfillment of the promise, then we better see what the fulfiller has to say about Israel. Here’s some of the things that Jesus said. Jesus said, “Look, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” (Lk. 13:35). Now you don’t put an “until” on a statement that is comprehensive. So Jesus didn’t say your house is desolate end of story. He said your house is desolate until you say blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Holding out the very real possibility of what Jesus is indicating that there will be a time when Israel turns back to God through the Messiah. It’s said a second way by Jesus later on in a speech known as the Olivet Discourse (Mt 24-25; Mk. 13; Lk 21) when He’s talking about the end. And He talks about Jerusalem being trampled down “until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled” (Lk. 21:24). That’s another until phrase. Again, you don’t put an “until” phrase on an unlimited commitment. It’s limited the moment you say until. So Jerusalem is trampled down until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. And then you got to think a little bit because what’s the contrast to Gentiles in scripture? It’s the Jews. So if the times of Gentiles is fulfilled what comes after that? The time for the Jews. The restoration. So Jesus is hinting that there’s a future for Israel in the things that He’s saying. And then Peter who walked and talked with Jesus for three and a half years, when he comes to speak on this says that heaven must hold (receive) Jesus until the time all things are restored which God declared long ago through His holy prophets (Acts 3:21). You want to know what’s coming in the future? Read the Old Testament it will tell you. Israel is all over those texts. Israel in relationship to the nations is all over those texts.

One example of restoration

Here is the best text in the Hebrew scripture about the relationship between Jews and Gentiles as seen in the restoration.

^‘In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together.  In that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on the earth.  The Lord Almighty will bless them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance” (Isa. 19:23-25).

This describes a time when there is a highway that runs from Egypt to Assyria through Israel. The Assyrians will visit Egypt, and the Egyptians will visit Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. At that time Israel will be the third member of the group. When this was written, Egypt and Assyria were enemies of Israel. So this is a shocking statement. At that time Israel will be the third member of the group along with Egypt and Assyria because we’re working our way to reconciliation, we’re working our way to shalom. The only way you get to shalom is if the nations get along. The Lord will pronounce a blessing over the earth. Now look at this blessing – “blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance”. Jew and Gentile together. Reconciliation. Shalom.

This is exactly the picture we get in Revelation.

Victory to come is sure: The book of Revelation

Revelation says that victory to come is sure This is what the book of Revelation is ultimately all about. The people of God will be vindicated. In fact, the major theme of scripture, the kingdom of God, as it comes out of Judaism into Christianity is basically about the idea that God rules and the righteous will be vindicated, justice will be done, and shalom will come. And that’s what Revelation is depicting.

And so in Revelation 20-22 we get an earthly rule before we get to the new heavens and the new earth. You have six mentions of a reign on earth that goes a thousand years called the millennium. Now there are some Christians who are amillennial – they don’t believe in a millennium. But why would you mention a thousand years six times in the space of a five verses (Rev. 20:2-6) with things happening before and after unless there’s a real calendar? And this is where genre matters. Apocalyptic is a genre that is symbolic. But apocalyptic also is a genre that explains how justice will come in a world of injustice and how the righteous will be vindicated and how God has a plan to do this. And in that plan in apocalyptic literature there is often a calendar and that calendar says there is a time when things are going to happen that God has planned. For example, Daniel references periods like three and a half years (Dan. 7:25; 12:7) and Revelation mentions this thousand-year period. The whole point is apocalyptic is a theodicy (an answer to the question of why God permits evil) explaining that the injustice of the world is going to be reversed and victory is going to come. And God has a plan. And God has a calendar. We don’t know when the calendar plugs in. Scripture doesn’t tell us that. But it says God has a calendar and this is what it looks like. And so there’s this thousand-year reign before the new heavens and the new earth. And this is why I think a thousand years means a thousand years because God has a plan and a calendar and He knows the number of days that are coming. We just don’t know when they plug in. And out of that shalom, justice, righteousness is going to come for all the nations in Christ.

And now I want to make a very important point. And that is that the future of Israel in the program of God is not about Israelite nationalism. It’s about world reconciliation. It’s part of a program in which God is in the business bringing different people groups together. Like Isaiah 19 said we’re going to have Assyria, Egypt and Israel and they’re all going to be dancing together. That’s not a nationalism picture. The idea of having a hope for Israel in the future is not just for Israel, it’s for the world. And it’s part of the picture of the reconciliation for the world, which tells you how important the theme of reconciliation is in scripture. And why the church needs to be committed to a biblical kind of diversity in which people of many tribes and many nations are affirmed as God’s children among the people of God. And you can see it because Christianity is a non-tribal religion in a tribal world. It’s being offered to everybody, and everyone has the opportunity for that forgiveness. And that forgiveness means that people from various backgrounds can now become family. That’s actually part of what the gospel is all about. As we walk with God, we walk with God together.

We know that there’s a victory coming. We know that we can rest in that victory. So how should we look for it? And what should we be doing in the meantime? Acts 1:6-8 is the disciples last conversation with Jesus before He ascended into heaven. Probably a pretty important moment. During that conversation, they gathered around Him and asked Him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

They’ve spent 40 days with the raised Jesus. Jesus had been reading them the Hebrew scriptures and talking about the fulfillment of the Hebrew scriptures. Nothing has changed with the idea that there is a time coming when the kingdom is going to be reconnected to Israel even though Israel has rejected her Messiah [Jesus]. And so they are asking about restoring the kingdom of Israel. Now there are some Christian commentators who say this is a bad question and it totally misses eschatology. But Jesus’s answer is not that they’ve got it totally wrong. That isn’t Jesus’s answer. Jesus’s answer is you’re not permitted “to know the times or dates the Father has set by His own authority”. He doesn’t reject the premise of the question. He simply says, as nicely as He can, it’s none of your business. So you are not permitted to know the times of the period the Father has set by His own authority.

But in the meantime, I’m going to give you an assignment. This is what I want you to be doing in the meantime. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” until that time when God moves to finish what He started in in Jesus. You have one assignment. Share Jesus with anybody and everybody. Share Jesus in Jerusalem, probably with Jews. In Judea, probably with Jews. In Samaria, with a mix of Jews and Gentiles. And to the farthest parts of the earth, that’s everybody else. So you’ve got to be able to share. This is your assignment. You can spend all your time worrying, is this the time when the kingdom of Israel will be restored? Should we be on top of this? Don’t worry, God’s got it. It’s not for you to know the times or dates. You know victory is coming. You know evil will be dealt with. You know righteousness will be established. You know shalom will come. You know God will vindicate the righteous. You know that those who know God will be delivered. You can trust in all of that. You can rest in all that. All that’s going to happen. You can be confident about that. You don’t need to fear what’s going on around you as a result. But it’s going to happen in God’s timing and He’s not telling exactly when. So don’t try and figure it out. A lot of energy is given to trying to figure this out. Just chill. We’re going to chill on this. But in the meantime, I have given you an assignment, something that I want you to be committed to, something to be thinking about, something about be courageous about, and that is I want you to be my witnesses in the world. To anybody and everybody for whom the gospel is on offer.

Lessons for us

God keeps His promises. He’s faithful. If He makes a commitment to someone, He’s going to keep it. This is about God’s faithfulness. The role of Israel in scripture is about God’s faithfulness and God’s grace. Israel doesn’t get it because she deserves it. Israel gets it because God is gracious and He keeps His commitments to whom He made them. It isn’t dependent on them, it’s dependent on Him.

Salvation involves reconciliation of the nations and the only way I can get reconciliation of the nations is if a nation like Israel is included.

There needs to be a balance about how we think about the end. It’s not ours to know the when. We know the what, what’s going to happen, we just don’t know the when. We can look for when the when is approaching and we can actually know that each day we’re one day closer to the end approaching, but we don’t know the when. But we do know the what.

Israel has a future in the program of God as a witness to this reconciliation. Israel is part of the story of ultimate reconciliation and shalom that God is in the business of achieving through the Messiah that He sent. And in the meantime, we have a calling. We have something we’ve been asked to do by the way that we live, by the way we share, by the way that we relate, by the way we reach out to those around us who don’t know God. We have a calling. And so the application is this, go and share Jesus.

Acknowledgement

This post comes from a presentation by Dr Darrell Bock of the Dallas Theological Seminary.

Posted, July 2026