Does the Nation of
Israel Have an End Time Role?
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Two Major
Problems
I have found several
conflicts in the Bible relating to
the idea that the nation of Israel
has a prophetic role during the Great
Tribulation. Since this response has
to be short due to the length of this
article, I would like to present two
significant problems. The first
concerns the Old and New Covenants.
The second problem concerns the
rapture, the 70th week and
the judgment of Christ.
Problem 1: Two
different Covenants – Two
Different Schematics
Many Christians
believe that salvation’s
prerequisites change from
dispensation to dispensation. In
other words, advocates of
dispensationalism believe that a
person is saved in different ways at
different times throughout history. I
cannot accept this teaching because I
believe that salvation – from
Genesis through Revelation – always
comes through faith. Hebrews 11 (New
Testament) obviously indicates that salvation
came through faith during Old
Testament times. In fact, I
believe the Bible teaches that faith
in God (a willful submission to the
call and will of God) was necessary
in Heaven before sin began and
I believe that faith in God will
be necessary throughout eternity.
Lucifer and one - third of the angels
were cast out of Heaven because they
refused to trust God. Adam and Eve
sinned because they did not trust
God. God’s children, whether
fallen or unfallen, sinful or
sinless, are called to live a life of
faith. Absolute trust in God is the
only way finite beings can live with
an infinite God “whose ways are
not our ways.” (Isaiah 55:9)
Abraham had a heart
for God. When God called Abraham to
leave his home, the Bible says that
by faith Abraham “went out, not
knowing whither he went.” (KJV,
Hebrews 11:8) Abraham’s
departure from home required a lot of
faith in God and the Bible states
that God counted Abraham as a
righteous man because of his faith!
(Genesis 15:6) In other words, because
of his faith, God considered Abraham
a saint instead of a sinner he
actually was. (Romans 1:17;
4:16, Galatians 3:9) Remember, this
happened before God made a
covenant with the nation of Israel.
Because Abraham humbly walked with
God (lived in harmony with God’s
calling and will), Jesus honored
Abraham’s faith by making three
unconditional promises to
him. First, Jesus promised to give
Abraham’s descendants the land
of Canaan. (Genesis 15:18) Second,
Jesus promised a childless Abraham
that his descendants would someday be
as numerous as the stars in the sky.
(Genesis 15:5) Third, Jesus promised
Abraham that all nations would be
blessed through him. (Genesis 18:18)
About four hundred
years after making these promises.
Jesus miraculously delivered
Abraham’s descendants from
Egyptian slavery and took them into
the desert to prepare them for
service. These slaves were the
descendants of Jacob, the grandson of
Abraham, whose name had been
changed to Israel because of his
faith in God. At mount Sinai Jesus
entered into a covenant with the
nation of Israel. It is important to
understand that God’s covenant
with the nation of Israel was not
for the purpose of salvation. God
does not save people in groups.
Salvation is an intimate, personal
matter. Salvation comes to one person
at a time when he surrenders his life
to God’s control (lives by
faith).
The covenant that God
offered the nation of Israel was that
of serving as trustees of His
gospel. From the beginning of
sin, the plan of salvation has
operated as a living trust. A
living trust has three elements: A
benefactor, one of more trustees, and
one or more beneficiaries. In a
living trust, the benefactor chooses
trustees to deliver his benefits to
his beneficiaries. Prior to Mount
Sinai, the patriarchs were the
trustees of the gospel. They spoke
for God and the gospel preached
contained important information that
was otherwise unknown. After God
dispersed humanity at the Tower of
Babel and nations formed, He decided
to use one nation to reach al the
other nations. So, God – the
Benefactor – chose Israel as
trustee through which He would bless
all nations (beneficiaries). The
wonder thing about the eternal gospel
is that whosoever will may
come and enjoy the benefits of
God’s salvation. As the Creator
of mankind, God is not exclusive;
instead, He is inclusive. At Mount
Sinai the nation of Israel agreed to
do whatever the Lord commanded.
(Exodus 24:3) It is most important to
understand the nature and structure
of God’s covenant because God’s
covenant with Israel was conditional
from the beginning. Look
at two passages (there are many) from
the Old Testament showing that the
covenant between God and the nation
of Israel was conditional:
1. “Then
Moses went up to God, and the Lord
called to him from the mountain and
said, ‘This is what you are to
say to the house of Jacob and what
you are to tell the people of Israel:
‘You yourselves have seen what I
did to Egypt, and how I carried you
on eagles’ wings and brought you
to myself. Now if you
obey me fully and keep my covenant,
then out of all nations you will be
my treasured possession. Although the
whole earth is mine, you
will be for me a kingdom
of priests and a holy nation.’
These are the words you are to speak
to the Israelites.’” (Exodus
19:3-6, underlines mine)
2. “If
you fully obey the Lord
your God and carefully follow all his
commands I give you today, the Lord
your God will set you high above all
the nations of earth… However, if
you do not obey the Lord
your God and do not carefully follow
all his commands and decrees I am
giving you today, all these curses
will come upon you and overtake
you.” (Deuteronomy 28: 1,15,
underlines mine)
Fifteen hundred years
after establishing His covenant with
Israel at Mount Sinai, Jesus came to
Earth as the Messiah. The very nation
(Acts 3:15) that He had chosen to be
His representatives on Earth rejected
and killed Him. “He came to
that which was his own, but his own
did not receive him.” (John
1:11; Luke 20:9-16) The Old Testament
is unmistakably clear! For 15
centuries, God did everything
possible to get Israel to fulfill His
objectives, but Israel rebelled at
every turn. (Ezekiel 23, Romans
11:20,21) Israel’s rejection of
Jesus as the Messiah was “the
straw that broke the camel’s
back.” The eternal gospel of
Jesus could not be given to the world
by a rebellious group of trustees.
How could Israel teach the world
about faith in God when a majority
of people in Israel refused to
live by faith? So, Jesus, the
Benefactor, terminated His covenant
with the nation of Israel by
pronouncing this benediction: “O
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill
the prophets and stone those sent to
you, how often [over the past
1500 years] 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 [your
nation] is left to you desolate [of
God’s covenant, blessings and
presence]. For I tell you, you
will not see me [extending grace
to this house ever] again until
you [are forced by overwhelming
circumstances to] say,
‘Blessed is he who comes in the
name of the Lord [at the Second
Coming*], “’ Matthew
23:37-39, insertions mine, See
Matthew 26:64 and Revelation 1:7.)
A few days after Jesus
terminated His covenant with the
nation of Israel, He implemented a
New Covenant (Luke 22:20) because
Jesus wants the benefits of His
gospel to go throughout the whole
Earth. Now, the New Covenant
differs from the Old Covenant in two
critical ways. First,
instead of choosing a nation of
people to serve as trustees of the
gospel, the New Covenant opens the
door and allows “whosoever
will” to become a trustee of the
gospel. In the New Covenant, there is
neither Jew or Gentile, male or
female (these distinctions had been
important in the Old Covenant).
(Romans 10:12) Under the New
Covenant, God approves every sinner
who chooses to live by faith
to serve as a trustee of the gospel
of Jesus. Said another way, the Old
Covenant pertained to a selected
group of trustees, but the New
Covenant pertains to a self-selecting
group of trustees. One could also
say that after Israel failed (Plan
A), God created even a better
covenant for those who would choose
to participate in Plan B. (Romans
11:15, Hebrews 8:6) Keep in mind
that a new covenant was required when
the covenant with Israel was
terminated because the plan of
salvation operates as a living trust
– there is a Benefactor,
trustees, and beneficiaries.
The second difference
between the Old Covenant and the New
Covenant is profoundly important:
These two covenants have different
laws, different promises and
different prophecies. Mixing and
merging the terms and conditions of
these two covenants will produce
disastrous results. Millions of
Protestants are hopelessly confused
about Bible prophecy (including what
will occur during the Great
Tribulation) because pastors and
theologians are mixing and merging
the terms and conditions of the two
covenants. The prophecies and
promises given to ancient Israel
under the Old Covenant will not be
fulfilled because God terminated
that covenant with the nation of
Israel. Even though God abandoned the
nation of Israel as trustees, any Jew
who surrenders to the gospel of
Christ by faith in Him can receive
salvation because the New Covenant
does not distinguish between Jews and
Gentiles. (Early Jewish converts
understood this concept well. See
Romans 11:23.)
Consider this: The Old
Covenant does not say one word about
the Second Coming because everything
in the Old Covenant centers around
the First Coming which was supposed
to be the only coming! Jesus
would not have returned to Heaven and
He would have established His kingdom
on Earth just as John the Baptist
predicted! (Mark 1:15) Everything
promised and prophesied in the Old
Testament would have been fulfilled
just as it was written in the Old
Covenant if Israel had
remained faithful as trustees and had
accepted Jesus Christ as Messiah. The
past 2,000 year’s of
Earth’s history would be
entirely different than we now know
it if Israel had met the terms and
conditions of the Old Covenant.
Sadly, the Old Covenant had to be
terminated because Israel
persistently refused to cooperate
with God and accomplish His
objectives. Therefore, God made a New
Covenant for those who are faithful
to Him.
Israel Redefined Not
Displaced
Given this discussion
on the two covenants, you may be
wondering what all of this has to do
with modern Israel and the end of the
world. Here is the point: You might
be surprised to learn that
Jesus’ new trustees are also
called “Israel” because
He made three unconditional promises
to Abraham. To fulfill these
unconditional promises, Jesus had to
redefine Israel: that is, Jesus
redefined the “heirs of
Abraham.” Consider this verse: “If
you belong to Christ, then you are
Abraham’s seed [the Greek
word for seed is sperma], and
[therefore] heirs according to the
promise [that will be fulfilled
at the appointed time].”
(Galatians 3:29, insertion mine) “It
is not as though God’s word had
failed [when He established the
New Covenant]. For not all who are
descended from Israel [Jacob] are
[part of] Israel. Nor because
they are his descendants are they all
Abraham’s children. On
the contrary, [biology means
little to God. Faith means everything
to God. This is why God said to
Abraham] ‘It is through Isaac
[the son who was promised to you
and Sarah, not Ishmael] that your
offspring will be reckoned.’ In
other words, it is not the natural [biological]
children who are God’s
children, but it is the children of
the promise [like Isaac, those
who live by faith] who are
regarded as Abraham’s
offspring.” (Romans 9:6-8,
insertions mine)
The Apostle James knew
that Israel had been redefined
because he calls the believers in
Christ the twelve tribes of
Israel. (See James 1:1 and
2:1.) Of course, current saints do
not know which tribe is theirs, but
this information will be clarified
when the time comes for them to enter
the Holy City. (By the way, no one
belonging to the Jewish race today
knows their biological tribe or
origin either. The Roman army
destroyed all of Israel’s
genealogical records in the first
century A.D.) So, biological origin,
temple services, sacrificial
offerings, circumcision, and all of
the Old Covenant terms and conditions
mean nothing to God today. (Galatians
2-4, Romans 2:28,29, Hebrews 7-10)
God has terminated the Old Covenant,
with its promises and prophecies, and
has declared it null and void because
there is a New Covenant, a group of
trustees and new promises and
prophecies.
Because the twelve
tribes have been redefined, the
144,000 will come from all nations
and religions. They are identified as
the “twelve tribes” of
Israel in Revelation 7 because the
144,000 will be people who have faith
in God, just like Abraham and Jacob
(also call Israel). These people will
love God with all their heart, mind
and soul as Abraham and Jacob did.
Carefully study the passage and
notice how Jesus defines the issue of
ancestry: “’Abraham is our
father,’ they
answered. ‘If
you were Abraham’s children,’
said Jesus, ‘then you
would do the things Abraham did.
As it is, you are determined to kill
me, a man who has told you the truth
that I heard from God. Abraham did
not do such things…. You
belong to your father, the devil,
and you want to carry out your
father’s
desire…’” (John
8:39-44, emphasis mine) If our
behavior reflects the faith of
Abraham, God considers us children
and heirs of Abraham. If our behavior
reflects the rebellion of the devil,
God considers us children of the
devil.
Throughout the ages,
the saints of God have been tested
with persecution and the same holds
true for the Great Tribulation.
(Revelation 3:9, 12:17, 13:7) The
Great Tribulation will separate
people of faith from people of
rebellion. Thus, in the end, all
Israel will be saved (Romans
11:26) because the Israel of God (the
descendants of Abraham) consists only
of people who have a faith in God
like Abraham and Jacob. When the
Israel of god goes marching into New
Jerusalem at the Second Coming, the
twelve tribes will enter through
their respective gates! (Revelation
21:12) Think about that glorious day!
When the time arrives for all of
Abraham’s children to enter into
the Holy city, twelve great
processions will form, and after
marching through those pearly gates,
a numberless group of
“Jews” will gather around
the throne of God and together as one
man, they will bow down before Jesus,
the Messiah, the eternal King of the
Jews. (Mark 15:2, John 19:19-22)
A thousand years
later, when the Holy city comes down
from God out of Heaven and lands on
Earth, the three unconditional
promises made to Abraham will
THEN be fulfilled. (1) The Holy City
will physically encompass all of the
land that was promised to the
patriarch. Abraham’s descendants
will possess the land, and the Holy
city will be their home throughout
eternity. Incidentally, the Holy
City, built by God Himself, is the
city that Abraham anticipated.
(Hebrews 11:10) (2) When the saints
of all ages are gathered around the
throne, Abraham’s heirs will be
as numberless as the stars in the
sky. They will come from all nations
and religious backgrounds, and a
“once childless” Abraham
will rejoice as he looks over the
vast throng. Among the redeemed,
Abraham will be known as “the
father of the faithful.” (3)
Last, there will be rejoicing
throughout Heaven at the end of
sin’s drama because the redeemed
will realize that all nations were
truly blessed with the gift of
salvation through Abraham’s
seed. Jesus, the Lamb of God and the
Lion from the tribe of Judah, will be
eternally praised to the highest
Heavens for the salvation that He so
generously provided to all who were
willing to live by faith. Thus, the
three unconditional promises
given to Abraham will be fulfilled.
The salient point is
that in this marvelous drama, the
modern nation of Israel is not in the
picture. The establishment of modern
Israel is no different than the
recent establishment of Serbia.
Neither event is prophetically
significant. For further study,
please review these four articles:
http://www.wake-up.org/daystar/ds2006/jan.htm
http://www.wake-up.org/Revelation/Rev144.htm
http://www.wake-up.org/Alpha/Chapter7.htm
http://www.wake-up.org/Alpha/Chapter8.htm.
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