You Have to Know how
God Deals with the Dead
Because the millennium
deals with these seven groups of
people, and five of the seven groups
are dead (or soon to be dead), it is
important to understand God’s
plan for dealing with them.
The Role of Israel
during the Millennium
The New Testament
teaches that God has an
“Israel.” However,
God’s New Testament Israel is
not the same nation as Old Testament
Israel. In fact, the Israel mentioned
in Revelation’s story is not the
nation of Israel founded in 1948.
Here are three reasons why the Old
Testament nation of Israel is not to
be confused with the New Testament
nation of Israel:
Reason #1: Jesus
established a new nation.
When Christ came to
earth the first time, the nation He
had chosen to herald His coming
rejected Him. (John 1:11) Therefore,
He established a new nation, also
called Israel. The apostles
considered themselves to be members
of this new nation made up of the
twelve tribes. (James 1:1; James 2:1)
This new nation is not limited to
people of any particular biological
descent. On the contrary, this new
nation consists of all people
who put their faith in Christ and
“are born again in the
Spirit.” (John 3:5) Ephesians 2
and Galatians 3 confirm this point.
In Ephesians’ 2, Paul tells the
Gentile converts in Ephesus that
Jesus Himself dissolved the two
nations (Jews and Gentiles) and made
a new nation [a new Israel]
out of the two. Carefully read what
Paul said (my remarks are enclosed in
brackets []):
Ephesians 2:10-22
For we [all human beings] are
God’s workmanship, created in
Christ Jesus to do good works, which
God prepared in advance for us to do.
Therefore, remember that formerly you
who are Gentiles by [natural] birth
and called “uncircumcised”
by those [the Jews] who call
themselves “the
circumcision” [but it is
only] done in the body by the
hands of men) – remember that at
that time [before Christ came to
Earth] you were separate from
Christ, excluded from citizenship in [the
nation of] Israel and foreigners
to the covenants of the promise,
without hope and without God in the
world. But now in Christ Jesus
you who once were far away have been
brought near [reconciled] through
the blood of Christ. For he himself
is our peace [union], who has
made the two [nations] one and
has destroyed the [religious] barrier,
the dividing wall of hostility [that
religion causes], by abolishing in
his flesh the [constitutional] law
[of Israel] with its
[endless number of] commandments
and regulation. His purpose was to
create in himself one new man out of
to [nations], thus making
peace, and in this one body to
reconcile both of them to God through
the cross, by which he put to death
their hostility [so that God and
His salvation are the same for both
of us].
He came and
preached peace to you [Gentiles] who
were far away and peace to those [of
us Jews] who were near. For
through him we both
have access to the Father by one
Spirit. Consequently, you
are no longer foreigners and aliens
[as our Jewish constitution once
declared], but [you are] fellow
citizens with God’s
people and members of God’s
household, built on the foundation of
the apostles and prophets, with
Christ Jesus himself as the chief
cornerstone.
In him, the whole
building [house or nation] is
joined together and rises to become a
holy temple in the Lord. And in him
you too are being built together
to become a dwelling in which God
lives by his Spirit.”
When Jesus came to
Earth, He removed an enormous barrier
to salvation that was erected by the
leaders of Israel. The problem is
quite logical. Israel’s leaders
knew the special covenant given to
Abraham and his descendants. What
they did not understand was the
premise for salvation has forever
been faith. However, it is the
nature of man to “justify”
himself in God’s sight by
fleshly works. Consequently, the
Jews, the Jews wrongly concluded that
salvation was only possible
for the offspring of Abraham since
the covenant excluded foreigners or
Gentiles. (A point Paul emphasizes in
the text above.) In other words, at
the time of Christ, the leaders of
Israel believed that salvation came
through lineage rather than faith.
Therefore, any Gentile wanting
salvation first had to become
a “son” of Israel. This
gives us additional insight on the
meaning of the words Jesus said to
the Pharisees: “Woe to you,
teachers of the law and Pharisees,
you hypocrites! You travel over land
and sea to win a single convert, and
when he becomes one, you make him
twice as much a son of hell as you
are.” (Matthew 23:15)
The Jews were to be a
means to salvation. Instead, they
became an obstacle to salvation due
to their narrow and exclusive
thinking. This is why Jesus
established a new nation when He was
on Earth (also called Israel in the
New Testament). Citizenship in this
new nation continues (as always) to
come through the faith experience.
This might be confusing at first, but
salvation has always come through
faith. (Genesis 15:6; Romans 1:17;
Ephesians 2:8) When God established
the first nation of Israel at the
Exodus, He intended to have a nation
of “faith-ful” helpers to
tell the world about His goodness and
mercy, His justice and wrath. He
chose the nation of Israel to be
trustees of the gospel. However,
because of national apostasy, Israel
came to view itself as the
beneficiary of the gospel rather than
its trustee. So, Israel became
intolerant, exclusive and arrogant,
completely ignoring the needs of the
Gentiles. When Jesus went to the
cross, He broke down the wall of
exclusivity that Israel has built
around salvation. Jesus reaffirmed
the conditions of faith. (John 3:16)
Because Israel corporately refused to
change, Jesus had no alternative but
to establish a new kingdom upon the
experience of faith. The trustees of
this new nation are those who receive
the Word of God and live by faith in
Christ. It no longer matters whether
one is born a Jew or a Gentile!
Citizenship through
faith stands in stark contrast to the
heavy hand of obedience that
Israel’s leaders required.
Because faith, not biological
heritage determines membership in the
family of Abraham, Paul states that
in Christ, there is neither Jew nor
Gentile. Paul also claims that every
Gentile who receives Christ will
inherit (that is, receive) all that
was promised to Abraham. (Galatians
3:22-29) His statement eliminates the
exclusive focus on modern Israel that
so many claim today, because the
Israel that will be saved (according
to Paul in Romans 9-11) comprises all
people who have been grafted
into the covenant and promises
given to faith-full Abraham. Yes, the
modern nation of Israel will
participate in end-time events, but
so will the Australians and the
Canadians. Revelation does not
specifically mention any nationality
except the spiritual nation of
Christ, the New Testament Israel.
Notice what Paul says:
Galatians 3:22-29: “But
the Scripture declares that the whole
world is a prisoner of sin, so that
what was promised [by God to
Abraham, namely, salvation and
complete restitution], [is now] being
given [or offered] through
faith in Jesus Christ, [so that
everyone] might be given [the
promise] to those who believe
[in salvation through Christ rather
than to those who are born as
biological descendants of Abraham and
depend upon His righteousness].
Before [the
understanding of] this faith came,
we were held prisoners by the [constitutional]
law [that governed immigration
into Israel –the world was], locked
up until faith should be revealed.
Therefore, the [constitutional] law
was put in charge to lead us [Jews]
to Christ [by constantly
revealing our need of a Savior so] that
we [Jews] might be justified
by faith.
Now that faith has
come [and Christ has clearly
shown that citizenship in
Christ’s kingdom is through
faith], we are no longer under the
supervision of the [constitutional]
law [to determine who will
constitute Israel]. You are all
sons of God through faith in Christ
Jesus [just like those Jews who
had received Him through faith], for
all of you who were baptized into
Christ has clothed yourselves with
Christ [and what better garment
of righteousness do we need?].
[Because the
constitution of Israel has been made
void] There is neither Jew nor
Greek, slave nor free, male nor
female, for you [Gentiles] are
all one in Christ Jesus [just
like believing Jews]. If you
belong to Christ, then you are [reckoned
as] Abraham’s seed, and [as
such, you are] heirs according to
the promise [that God gave
him].”
The fundamental point
in Ephesians 2 and Galatians 3 is
this: Israel failed to produce the
fruit that God wanted, therefore, God
established a new nation of people
based upon faith in Christ. Jesus
told the Jews, “Therefore I
tell you that the kingdom of God will
be taken away from you and given to a
people who will produce its
fruit.” (Matthew 21:43) Just
before His crucifixion, Jesus
signaled His rejection of Israel by
saying, “O Jerusalem,
Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets
and stone those sent to you, how
often I have longed to gather your
children together, as a hen gathers
her chicks under her wings, but you
were not willing. Look, your house is
left to you desolate.” (Matthew
23: 37,38) God abandoned the nation
of Israel and made its constitution
void. (Colossians 2: 13-17) While the
spiritual nation of Israel shares
certain similarities with the Israel
of flesh, there are some important
dissimilarities and knowing
difference strongly affects my
understanding of Revelation and of
course, the millennium.
Note: Some
people have accused me of being
anti-Semitic because I present an
unfavorable picture of Israel from
the Bible. I am not anti-Semitic at
all. If I present the Biblical record
concerning the Babylonians, Egyptians
or Hittites, and the Biblical record
is unfavorable in each case, am I
anti-Babylonian, anti-Egyptian or
anti-Hittite? No. The historical
record speaks for itself. The facts
are all in the Bible. As mankind
goes, the Jews are human beings like
the Egyptians, Hittites, Babylonians
and all other races. We have all been
endowed with certain inalienable
rights and privileges.
God granted a corporate
opportunity to the descendants of
Jacob (Israel). They were to be a
light for the Gentiles. (Acts 13:47;
Isaiah 43:10) However, according to
the Bible, they failed. After the
crucifixion of Christ, that corporate
opportunity was transferred from
biological Israel to those who
believe in Christ. (Acts 1:8; Matthew
28:18-20; Romans 11:23)
Therefore, Christians
are forever indebted to Old Testament
Israel for numerous reasons. However,
Jews, and Christians part company
over the issue of salvation as it
relates to Jesus Christ. The
transition from the Israel of flesh
to the Israel of faith is an
important study and it goes beyond
the scope of this brief look at the
millennium.
Reason # 2 The
Covenant Given to Abraham will be
Fulfilled.
The second reason we
should not confuse Old Testament
Israel with New Testament Israel is
stated in the original covenant given
to Abraham.
God gave Abraham favor
because he was willing to walk humbly
with God and be His faithful servant.
(Genesis 12) The covenant God gave to
Abraham involved three things. First,
God promised Abraham he would become
the father of many nations (notice
the plural). (Genesis 17:4) Second,
God promised Abraham that his
descendants would inherit the
“Beautiful Land” forever.
(Genesis 17:8) Last, a year before
Isaac’s birth, God informed
Abraham that he would perpetuate His
covenant through Isaac, not Ishmael.
(Genesis 17:19)
These three points
require some explanation. First, God
was looking beyond the biological
reproduction of Abraham’s
offspring and intended that Abraham
would be the father of many
nations. Can Abraham be a
biological father of many nations if
his descendants were limited to
Isaac’s offspring and thus one
nation? Abraham is also the father of
the Arabs through Ishmael also.
However, the promise God gave to
Abraham is much more inclusive than
the two nations which were derived
from Isaac and Ishmael. God was
referring to the “adoption of
other nations who were part of
Abraham’s lineage – not
one. (Incidentally, this covenant
will be fulfilled after the
resurrection when Christ returns. The
Abraham will see the global harvest
of souls who have inherited his faith
in Christ.)
Second, the promise
that Abraham’s descendants would
inherit the “Beautiful
Land” forever shows that
God was looking beyond the physical
borders of Canaan. Yes, Canaan was
considered a beautiful portion of
real estate, but its beauty was
marred by sin. God’s promise to
Abraham, however, was to give him a
glorious land as an inheritance where
righteousness would exist forever.
That is what Abraham wanted. (Hebrews
11:10) If the descendants of Jacob
(Israel) had fulfilled all that God
wanted, the whole plan of salvation
would be quite different from where
we now understand it!
