Straight Talk on the End Times

The Meaning & Place of “Israel”

     To begin with, I want to identify the issue that is foremost in my thinking.  Few folks develop their theology and/or worldview by objectively collecting and analyzing the data.  Instead, most adopt some pre-packaged paradigm, an imagined mental picture of “how things are” that then shapes how they approach and understand Scripture.  End Times beliefs fall into this category - the most popular “Evangelical/Fundamentalist” paradigm for the end times is Dispensational Premillennialism.  Dispensationalism focuses its energies on exalting earthly Judaism - (1) the earthly Promised Land, (2) the earthly physical descendants of Abraham - the Jewish people, (3) an earthly throne of David, (4) an earthly Israelite kingdom, (5) an earthly Temple, etc.  Thus, when they look at God’s prophetic purposes, the main thing they focus on is the belief that God’s main concern in the future is the Messiah returning to rescue the Jews and rule an earthly Jewish kingdom from Jerusalem.  You will encounter this viewpoint from most Television and radio ministries, Billy Graham, Tim LaHaye’s “Left Behind” series of books, and most “Christian” Bookstores.  I encountered and embraced this view in the 1970s through the writings of Hal Lindsey and Jack van Impe,

I begin with the Jew, because this is God's time-piece and key that unlocks every door into prophecy.^[1]

 There are scores of passages that make it emphatically clear that the regathering and re-establishment of Israel in her ancient homeland occurs when Messiah is ready to return to this earth.  And we're witnessing it at this hour, indicating that the coming of Christ is very near.^[2]

 All prophetic truth revolves around the Jews.^[3]

     You will also see a couple of Psalms cited, encouraging Christians to pray for and emphasize the central importance of earthly Jerusalem and the Jews in Palestine,

Psalm 122:6/ Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: "May they prosper who love you.

Psalm 137:5-6/ If I forget you, O Jerusalem, May my right hand forget her skill.  May my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, If I do not remember you, If I do not exalt Jerusalem Above my chief joy.

     How could anyone disagree with this picture?  Simple, first remember that these Psalms were written during the Mosaic era when earthly Jerusalem was central to the covenant in force at that time.  Second, read the New Testament as revealed and inspired information from the Promised Messiah and His Apostles - some of what is said there caused me to question the entire dispensational program and to, eventually, come to see some things in the Old Testament Scriptures differently.

I. What is “Central” to God’s Program?

     I believe the first and central issue, which the quotes from van Impe identify, is to determine the central focus and concern of the Bible - is the “main thing” what God wants to do the fleshly, Jewish national “Israel” or the coming of the Promised Messiah to bless all nations?  This is, perhaps, the most pressing question - is God’s program built around the Jewish people or Jesus?

     The Coming Messiah - My assertion is that Jesus is the Messiah promised from Eden and it is He that is to have first place in everything (Colossians 1:13-18) and the testimony concerning Him is the very “spirit/breath” of prophecy (Revelation 19:10).  After creation, sin entered and long before there was any mention of “Israel,” God told the Serpent in Eden that he would be defeated by the a single “seed of woman” (“He”) who was coming into the world to deal with our “serpent/sin” problem and He would be wounded in the event,

Genesis 3:14-15/ The Lord God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, Cursed are you more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you will go, And dust you will eat All the days of your life; And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel."

From that point on, Genesis marks out the lineage that will culminate in this coming Messiah, in both genealogical material and promises to individuals: Adam to Noah (Genesis 5), Shem -> Terah (Genesis 11:10-27), then Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3), Isaac (Genesis 26:1-4), Jacob/“Israel” (Genesis 28:10-14), and Judah (Genesis 49:10), with the final marker given to David (2Samuel 7:16).

     The 2-Phase Program - Upon the earlier foundational promise that a Messiah is coming, God added more detail in His promise to Abraham,

Genesis 12:1-3/ Now the Lord said to Abram, "Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father's house, To the land which I will show you; And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed."

Along with the promise of personal blessing and protection to Abraham, God revealed that a two-phase program would unfold through Abraham’s lineage: first, his descendants would become a nation in the land promised, after which a blessing will be offered to all of the families of the earth.  What else can this be but foretelling the era of national 12-tribe Israel in Canaan under the Law, followed by the current international Gospel age under Jesus the Messiah?  Revelation 7:3-10 portrays this same idea - the sealing of all of God’s people, first in a 12-tribe Israel format, then an international body gathered around the enthroned Lamb in heaven.  I must emphasize this point - in Genesis 12:1-3 and Revelation 7, it is an era of international messianic blessing that is the final and ultimate goal of God’s program - NOT the national “Israel” era!  Paul wrote to the Ephesians (2:11 - 3:11) that a Jewish-centered era in which Gentiles were largely excluded has now shifted to a blended Jewish-Gentile “new body” built upon Jesus, His Apostles, and Prophets (i.e. the Church) and that,

This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, (Ephesians 3:11)

     The “main thing” is not the nation of Israel, but the Messiah promised to arise from their midst to bless all nations.  This is why God worked with rebellious national Judaism for 1400 years, during which time He finally divorced and demolished the northern ten tribes through Assyria and punished Judah with Babylonian exile.  A “remnant” of the people of Judah returned to the land afterwards because of God’s faithfulness to His covenanted promise to the Patriarchs that the Messianic blessing would come through their lineage (Deuteronomy 7:7-8; 9:4-6; 2Kings 13:23; Romans 15:8).

     The Apostles recognized Jesus as the one promised in the Law and Prophets (John 1:45,49; Matthew 16:16) and this was so important that Paul was willing to declare that his Jewish “resume” of such value during the Mosaic era he now counted as rubbish in favor of knowing the Messiah (Philippians 3:2-11).  The Apostles viewed the general testimony of OT prophecy to be pointing to Jesus and the events of the first coming (Luke 18:31-33; Acts 3:18-26; 1Peter 1:10-12).

II. The Biblical Nature of “Israel”

     “Israel’s” Origin - the term originated with God’s renaming of one man (Jacob renamed “Israel” - Genesis 32:28; 35:10), whose physical sons produced 12 tribes of descendants.

     Mosaic Covenant “Israel” - National Israel’s covenant, made at Sinai, was: {1} conditioned on their obedience (Exodus 19:5-6) and {2} was intentionally “temporary (added)” to the earlier more important promise to Abraham until the promised Messiah appeared and initiated the final international era (Galatians 3).

     Because the covenant was conditioned on their obedience, a whole generation of rebellious Israelites perished in the Sinai wilderness (Numbers), the idolatrous northern 10-tribe nation (“Israel”) God divorced (Jeremiah 3:8) and destroyed through Assyria acting as His agent (2Kings 17), and “Judah” was sent away into Babylonian exile with only a remnant returning to rebuild and wait for Messiah’s appearance.

     God’s True “Israel” always a genetic mixture - God’s covenant people, the “sons of Abraham,” were a racially “mixed bunch” from the beginning: {1} Abraham’s circumcised covenant household included fleshly offspring and foreigners (Genesis 17:9-14); {2} more than physical descendents of Abraham left Egypt in the Exodus (Exodus 12:38) and in the Passover God specified how covenant-submissive Gentiles could become a part of Israel and share equally in its blessings (Exodus 12:42-49).  {3} There are many examples of believing foreigners being included in “Israel” (Tamar / Rahab / the Gibeonites / Ruth / Bathsheba) as well as Jewish rebels being pruned away.  God told Jonah that His mercy was available to a larger group than the Jewish people (Jonah 4:10-11).  When the Messiah appeared, John the baptizer and He both warned those within national Judaism to not base their hope on their physical descent from Abraham, because God could create “children to Abraham” from rocks and the “axe was ready” to chop down the tree without the desired fruit (Matthew 3:1-10; 7:19; 21:19).  As His own rejection and death approached, Jesus spoke solemn words to Israel’s leaders about what their rejection of Him meant for them as a nation (Matthew 21:33 - 22:14).  In the home of Cornelius, Peter finally came to an important realization about God’s larger program (Acts 10:34-35). 

     The “forever” promises of the OT to national Judaism employ the term “olam” and it suggests something perpetual/ongoing (as long as the covenant is in force) rather than “eternal” in the Greek sense of endless endurance “forever.”

III. Israel in the New Testament

     The National "Son" Prefigured the Incarnated "Son" - The Old Testament teaches us that “Israel” began as one man, multiplied thru the physical seed of 12 patriarchal sons, God brought His “first-born Son” (Exodus 4:22) out of Egypt and later to a mountain-top experience (Exodus 19-20), protected and maintained them through a period of temptation and troubles (Joshua-Judges), blessed them with a period of earthly success (David-Solomon), then there was a period of opposition and decline (divided kingdom) to the point of national “death” (conquered/exiled by Assyria and Babylon), and finally a “resurrection” (return and restoration under Zerubbabel, Ezra, & Nehemiah).

     National Israel’s history prefigures Jesus’ life, which is why Matthew (2:13-23) cited Hosea 11:1 to show us that a typological national history was being replayed in the Messiah’s life, much of which is foretold in OT prophecy.  It is no accident that Jesus came out of Egypt, began a new nation through the spiritual seed (the message) that He passed on to 12 spiritual sons (new “Patriarch” Apostles - Matthew 19:27-28), the mountain-top experience (Transfiguration), a period of popularity, then opposition leading to death, and finally resurrection.

     In Matthew 8:5-13, Jesus presents the same idea that Paul will develop in Romans 11:17-24 - “Israel” is a tree into which God grafts believing Gentiles and prunes away unbelieving Jews.

     With Jesus’ first coming and the New Covenant inaugurated, many things changed,

     {1} the entire Mosaic covenant system (the Law, Canaan-centered, Levitical Tabernacle-Temple system), added until the Messianic descendant promised to Abraham appeared, ended (Galatians 3) and this brought with it a number of sweeping changes.  With Jesus’ mediation of the promised “New Covenant” with “Judah/Israel” (Jeremiah 31:31-34; Matthew 26:28; Hebrews 8), the writer of Hebrews wrote that the previous covenant with fleshly national Israel had become obsolete, was growing old, and was ready to disappear (Hebrews 8:13) as 70 A.D. approached.

     {2} earthly Jerusalem ceased to be the central worship site (John 4:20-24) and the focus has shifted to heavenly Jerusalem (Galatians 4:21-31; Hebrews 11:10,13-16; 12:18-25; 13:12-14)

     {3} the food laws of Leviticus 11 & Deuteronomy 14 ended (Mark 7:19; Acts 10:9-16,27-28; Colossians 2:16)

     {4} by rejecting their Messiah, national Israel lost their special claim on the kingdom of God (Matthew 21:43) and the “holy nation/kingdom of priests” offered and rejected at Sinai (Exodus 19:5-6) has been transferred to the Church (1Peter 2:9-10)

     {5} the Levitical priesthood was replaced by Jesus’ Melchizedek priesthood (Hebrews 4-10)

     {6} fleshly circumcision no longer has any spiritual significance (Romans 2:25-29; 1Corinthians 7:18-20; Galatians 5:1-4; 6:15-16; Philippians 3:2-9)

     {7} Rejecting Jesus as the promised Messiah has ominous consequences for Jewish folks (Deuteronomy 18:18-19 & Acts 3:13-26; John 5:22-23; Acts 13:46; 1John 2:22-23)

     “Faith” Always Dominates “Flesh” - Before circumcision and the Mosaic Law were even in the picture, Abraham was declared righteous before God by his faith (Genesis 15:6).  The Apostle Paul was very consistent with the Old Testament that “Abraham’s true children” are identified by faith in God and the promised Messiah rather than fleshly descent, fleshly circumcision, and keeping the Mosaic Law (which Jews focused on).  Paul (in Romans 4 and Galatians 3:6-9,26-29) is laying out some powerful arguments against continuing to focus on a fleshly, circumcised, Mosaic Law-keeping, group of Abraham’s physical descendants.  The “Judaizers” were Christians who would not let go of fleshly Judaism - circumcision and the Mosaic covenant (Acts 15:1,15) and were troubling the Galatian believers with their agenda.  This same problem continues as dispensationalism continues to focus on the physical descendants of Abraham, Mt. Sinai/Mosaic covenant “Israel,” and earthly Jerusalem/Promised Land - these folks really need to grapple with what Paul wrote in Galatians 4:21-31.

     Identifying “Abraham’s children/All Israel” - For those with ears to hear, Jesus and the Apostle Paul laid this out quite clearly as well.  Jesus said that the true “children of Abraham” are those with the faith-motivated deeds of Abraham (John 8:31-44; James 2:20-24), while those who trusted in their physical descent from Abraham and rejected Him as Messiah were “children of the Devil.”  In the Revelation, the thrust of Jesus’ comment in John 8:44 appears again in the letter to two of the churches (Revelation 2:9; 3:9).  In Romans 2, Paul warned Jewish Christians about hypocrisy and ended with a clear explanation that true “Jews” are NOT identified outwardly, but inwardly (Romans 2:28-29).  Although the physical nation of Abraham’s descendants - the Jews - had a number of advantages (Romans 3:1-2; 9:1-5), Paul wrote that “all Israel” is NOT determined by fleshly descent from Jacob/Israel, but are those who embrace the Messianic blessing provided in Jesus (Romans 9:6-8,22-24).  To the Galatians, Paul wrote that the “sons of God” and “Abraham’s offspring” are those who believe Jesus to be the Messiah and have been baptized into Him (Galatians 3:26-29).

     The “New Name” - God predicted a “new name” for His covenant people that He would deliver Himself (Isaiah 62:2).  In Acts 11:26, we find the first congregation of Jewish and Gentile believers being “called Christians” and there is no indication that this was a term of derision applied by external opponents.  Instead, the word “called” is chrematidzo and elsewhere in the NT^[4] it is always found to be associated with divine/heavenly communications.  Peter later said that the name “Christian” is the name under which Jesus’ followers are to glorify God in their suffering (1Peter 4:16).

IV. Mishandled Scripture

     As I noted above, Jesus and the Apostles viewed Old Testament Messianic prophecy as “first coming” oriented, but dispensationalism portrays Old Testament prophecy as “second coming” focused.  In order to support this approach, dispensationalists insert mysterious “church-age gaps” between verses in three of the prophecies of Daniel and tend to ignore or downplay the fulfillment of prophecies in the period from the restoration of Judah to the end of the first century A.D. (ca. 539 B.C. - 100 A.D.) so as to make most of these prophecies “appear” to be looking ahead to the Second Coming.  I will deal with these prophecies in a separate lesson.  There are also a couple of New Testament passages which are “interpreted” with inferences made so as to give the impression that there is something special and separate from the Apostles’ Gospel for fleshly Israelites “after” the Church Age.

     Luke 21:20-24/ some claim that the approaching trampling of the Temple “until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled” refers to the entire period from 70 AD to the end of the church age, with the inference made that after this period something special will be done for Jews and earthly Jerusalem will again become central.  However, in Revelation 11:1-2, the same idea of the Temple area being given to the nations (or “Gentiles”) for trampling is presented, but it is clearly tied to a limited, short period of time.

     Romans 11:25-27/ a hardening in part will exist upon Israel (“all Israel” was defined by Paul earlier - 9:6-8) until the full number of Gentiles come in.  “And thus all Israel will be saved” by a deliverer coming from Zion, with a covenant focused on the forgiveness of sins.  Dispensationalists, already convinced that some special salvation program will be offered to the Jews when Jesus returns, read this as “and afterwards all fleshly Israelites/Jews will be saved when Jesus returns.”

     The problem here is two-fold.  First, dispensationalists wrongly render “thus” as “after,” for houtos does not mean “after” but “in the manner described” pointing back to the “faith/unbelief” argument developed in 1:16-17; 3:32; 11:17-24 and the forgiveness now offered in Jesus.  As Paul has already asserted, there is only one means of salvation for all, the Gospel, and even that was offered to Jews first (Romans 1:16-17).

     Second, dispensationalists take vv. 26-27 as a prediction of something yet to occur in the future, at the 2^nd Coming, whereas Paul cited Isaiah 59:20-21 in reference to what Jesus accomplished in His first coming - inaugurating the “new covenant” predicted by Jeremiah (31:31-34) and providing the forgiveness of sins - an accomplished reality when Paul wrote this (Matthew 26:27-28; Hebrews 8; 9:15,26).  He then underlines the New Covenant reality of Isaiah's prediction for the current church age by noting that God’s mercy towards all is being offered NOW (Romans 11:30-32).

       Crucial to this whole discussion is how Daniel 9:24-27 is handled - did the 490 years tick off and end shortly after Jesus’ first coming, with everything pertaining to the Jewish people and Jerusalem mentioned in vs. 24 finished?  Or, did God stop the clock and leave the final 7 years of the Mosaic Covenant for fleshly “Israel” yet to be fulfilled in the future?  If national/Mosaic Law “Israel” still has seven years to go, then Paul was wrong to denigrate fleshly circumcision as he did and the writer of Hebrews was very wrong to describe the Mosaic Covenant as “obsolete, growing old, and ready to disappear” as the events of 70 A.D. approached!  I am convinced that Daniel 9:24-27 was completely fulfilled before the end of the 1^st century A.D. and that the Mosaic covenant fulfilled its purpose and is finished (Galatians 3), replaced with a “better covenant” (Hebrews 8:6).  The Jewish people and earthly Jerusalem are no longer central in God’s program - that phase is finished!

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Charles E. McCoy (October 29, 2006)