Much of this post is just going to
include some insightful statements from a number of Christian commentators as
to why they support the legitimacy of Israel as a nation and people and what
significance that holds for the Church as the statements I have included here
pretty much say much of what needs to be said for why the Church must continue
supporting the legitimacy of Israel as a nation and as a people albeit for further
clarification, I have added a few comments of my own where I have felt
necessary (my comments in brackets) which is why the formatting and set up of
this particular post may appear to be a bit unusual.
Why God chose Israel to be His
representative nation to the world:
“Throughout Scripture, God works
through chosen representatives — not because they are superior, but because
they are entrusted with the weight of covenant vocation. Israel was not chosen
for righteousness but because God’s promises to Abraham are irrevocable.”
---Dinah Dye
https://www.christianpost.com/voices/why-fulfillment-not-replacement-is-the-story-of-israel-church.html
[Irrevocable means that the promises
made cannot be cancelled, (Rom. 11:29) not because the Jews are superior to
other people or more righteous than other people---they clearly are not---but
because of the faith, devotion, obedience, and righteousness of their father
Abraham with whom God made an everlasting covenant]
Gentiles do not replace the
Jews. They are simply grafted into the
existing tree of which the Jews are a part: (Rom. 11:17-24)
“Gentiles are grafted into Israel’s
olive tree; they do not become a new tree. The root remains the patriarchal
promise. Paul’s warning is unambiguous: Gentiles must not boast over the
branches as though they have supplanted what came before. The metaphor assumes
continuity within one unfolding covenant story…
The earliest believers understood
this. They worshiped in the Temple, observed the feasts, and saw themselves as
participants in Israel’s restoration.”
---Dinah Dye
https://www.christianpost.com/voices/why-fulfillment-not-replacement-is-the-story-of-israel-church.html
Israel’s historical significance for
the Church:
“The Gospel does not bypass
Jerusalem; it begins there. It does not abandon Judea; it spreads through it.
It does not erase Israel; it extends from it.
Acts presents a Kingdom that expands
outward without ever severing itself from its covenantal and geographic center…
Throughout Acts, the apostles
consistently affirm Israel’s covenantal identity.
Peter proclaims that Jesus fulfills
“the covenant God made with your fathers” (Acts 3:25). James, at the Jerusalem
Council, quotes the prophets to show that Gentile inclusion does not negate
Israel’s restoration but accompanies it (Acts 15). Paul preaches the Kingdom
while affirming the hope of Israel, not dismissing it.
Gentiles are welcomed fully into the
people of God — but Israel is never described as rejected, displaced, or
obsolete…
Acts does not allow us to choose
between Israel and the Church.
It demands that we honor both, under
one covenant-keeping King who ascended from Jerusalem, and who will return
there again.”
---Doug Reed
https://www.christianpost.com/voices/the-question-jesus-didnt-correct-is-about-israel.html
The integrity of God and His Word is
tied to the fulfillment of His promises that He has made to Israel and to the rest
of the world. If His promises to Israel
are no good, then His promises to the rest of the world are no good:
“If Israel can be replaced, then
covenant promises are ultimately conditional and transferable. But if the New
Testament presents fulfillment rather than replacement, then the integrity of
God’s word stands firm. The God who called Abraham, formed Israel at Sinai, and
spoke through the prophets is the same God who raised the Messiah from the
dead. His promises are brought to completion.”
---Dinah Dye
https://www.christianpost.com/voices/why-fulfillment-not-replacement-is-the-story-of-israel-church.html
“If God can permanently abandon
Israel, the Church has no assurance that it will not one day be abandoned as
well.”
---Doug Reed
https://www.christianpost.com/voices/the-question-jesus-didnt-correct-is-about-israel.html
But that doesn’t mean that Israel has
not been nor ever will be held accountable by God for their actions:
“With election comes accountability,
which includes serious consequences for violating the covenant.”
---Dinah Dye
https://www.christianpost.com/voices/why-fulfillment-not-replacement-is-the-story-of-israel-church.html
[Scripture and even history itself
show that God has not ignored the unbelief and wickedness of the Jewish people
and has periodically purged out from amongst them the wicked and unbelieving
members when their sin has reached a measure so as to warrant it and will do so
again until they no longer remain in unbelief but come to Him in repentance and
away from their unbelief and their wickedness and there are several passages
throughout scripture that foretell that their spiritual and even moral
bankruptcy will not be a permanent condition.]
It is okay to support the legitimacy
of Israel as a nation and scrutinize their actions:
“Israel is a Western nation, and our
greatest ally in the Middle East, if not the whole world. It is constantly
maligned and threatened by radical Islamic regimes. However, it doesn’t mean
that we give them an automatic pass for every action, claiming that they are
“God’s people” based merely on their ethnicity. We want them to become God’s
true people, grafted back into God’s one olive tree. And that’s only possible
through faith in Jesus.”
---John B. Carpenter
https://www.christianpost.com/voices/the-church-didnt-replace-israel-it-was-the-original-plan.html
You can support Israel’s right to
exist (let’s call this Zionism). You can believe a Jewish state has a
legitimate claim to security and sovereignty (as I do, proudly). You can oppose
terrorism and antisemitism with moral clarity (as any Christian should). You
can even describe yourself politically as a Zionist in that sense (again, as I
do). But you do not need to pretend that every policy, every military action,
every political coalition is beyond critique. Loving a nation does not mean
baptizing its every decision. Christians and Americans already know how to do
this with their own countries.
---Mikale Olson
https://www.christianpost.com/voices/two-ditches-why-both-christian-extremes-are-wrong-about-israel.html
[Here is a strong and avid supporter
of Israel who is not afraid to criticize their actions when he believes such
criticism is warranted but actions for which he last criticized them were swiftly
rectified
https://x.com/GovMikeHuckabee/status/2038267075592872362?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2038267075592872362%7Ctwgr%5E68844c9fb2c759d7bc1741e543bd72254398df4d%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fiframe.nbcnews.com%2FAUncksS6%3F_showcaption%3Dtrueapp%3D1
]
The present situation of both Israel
and the Church:
“The Kingdom has been inaugurated but
not completed. The Church has been commissioned but not enthroned. Israel has
been regathered into the story but not yet fully restored…”
---Doug Reed
https://www.christianpost.com/voices/the-question-jesus-didnt-correct-is-about-israel.html
[Thus when we study passages and
sections of scripture such as Ezekiel 37, we find that the restoration of Israel
takes place in stages, beginning with their physical restoration and being
completed with their spiritual restoration.]
The consequences of delegitimizing
Israel and the Jewish people:
“When Christians disconnect from
Israel, the Bible becomes abstract rather than geographic, the Kingdom becomes
spiritualized rather than embodied, and God’s promises become conditional
rather than covenantal.”
---Doug Reed
https://www.christianpost.com/voices/the-question-jesus-didnt-correct-is-about-israel.html
My closing statements:
If anyone would disconnect Israel
from the Bible, then what else have they disconnected from the Bible? Scripture,
from Genesis to Revelation, for the most part, revolves very much around the people
of Israel because it is from them that the world receive the general revelation
of God as recorded in the scriptures,
it is through their line and lineage
that the Messiah was born and in their land in which He was raised, lived,
died, rose again, and from where He ascended back into Heaven,
and it is the very place where He
will return again to establish His throne and rulership upon the earth but in
order for Him to return to the earth, there must first be a nation in place in which
to set His throne on the earth and a people of whom that nation consists over
which to bear rule and from which to expand and extend His rule over the entire
earth,
it was a Jew upon which Christ built
his Church (He Himself being the cornerstone of that foundation),
it was in Israel the Church had its
beginnings, consisting mostly of Jews,
most of the Apostles were Jews,
and it was primarily Jewish believers
who were first commissioned to preach the Gospel of salvation to the entire
world (seems to me the replacement theologians, preterists and antisemites
forget those facts; too inconvenient for them)
The New Testament often appeals to
the Old Testament to make its case for the Messiahship of Christ and the Gospel
of salvation because it was the Old Testament scriptures which foretold the
coming of the Messiah which is why the Old Testament scriptures will never be obsolete,
for as our Lord says, “think not that I have come to destroy the law, or the
prophets…but to fulfill (Mt. 5:17) and He says again, “Til heaven and earth
pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be
fulfilled,” (Mt. 5:18) and there are still some things left to be fulfilled,
even with Israel which cannot be fulfilled without a distinct people and a
distinct nation in place and now that there is a nation restored to its place
with its people, the rest of what has been foretold concerning them and the
rest of the world is slowly but surely coming to fruition and I believe that some
very consequential events and happenings in our world are taking place and are
about to take place that will prepare the way for prophetic fulfillment and for
the eventual return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who will restore
creation back to what God initially intended for creation to be which is a
place of peace, happiness, and contentment and with a perfect and uninterrupted
harmony between God, man, and nature which is exactly how it was when God had
first created the world until the day that sin and death entered into the world
by a consequential act of disobedience of the first man Adam and the first
woman Eve who was the wife of Adam and from whom all of humanity descend.
Adam and Eve had been forbidden by
God to eat of a fruit from a certain tree called the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil having been warned of Him that in the day that they ate thereof,
they would surely die (Gen. 2:16-17, 3:3) But when they committed that fateful
act, it was then that the world fell into the fallen decaying state that it is
in now and in which death and suffering abound beginning with them when, upon
the eating of that forbidden fruit, sin entered into them and when sin entered
into them, the sentence of death came upon them just as they had been warned
(Gen. 3:19) and from them, the sin which entered into them and brought about
their eventual deaths, was also passed down to all of mankind for all of us are
descendants of that first man and that first woman and because we are their
descendants, we have also inherited the sin that entered into them (Rom. 5:12)
and because of that sin which we have inherited, we all sin in some form or
fashion and as a consequence we all die for as it is written, the wages of sin
is death (Rom. 6:23) but sin is not merely confined to outward behavior or
performance or even the words we speak, but it is rather the inherent inward
corruption of our very nature defiling our thoughts, hardening and darkening
our hearts, and corrupting our very motives which is why it is written that we
are not defiled from that which comes from without, but that which comes from
within (Mt. 15:11, 18-20) and which is why it is written that all have sinned
and fallen short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23) which demands of us nothing
less than moral perfection and not just in our outward acts but also in our
inward as well which is why it is impossible by our own efforts and our own
goodness to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, for sin taints, corrupts,
defiles, twists, and distorts more than we can comprehend and the effects of
sin are not merely confined to mankind, but all of creation is subjected to a
curse because of sin which is why it is written that the entire creation groans
and travails in pain to this day. (Rom. 8:19-22)
But eventually, all of the death,
sin, decay, suffering, pain, and evil that entered into the world by one
fateful act of disobedience will be done away with and in place of this present
world, a new and better world will be created in which there will be no sin, no
death, no evil, and no suffering. It
will be the world that God had intended our world to be in the first place,
(Rev. 21-22) but that will require the elimination of all who persist in their
unrepentant, sinful, and evil ways because they cannot be members of the
Kingdom of God and they will be unfit to dwell in the new and better world to
come because if they would set themselves at enmity against their Maker now
presently, they will continue to do so in His Kingdom and besides, the pervasiveness
of sin is beyond comprehension.
Its power and ability to corrupt,
twist, pervert, and eventually destroy all that it touches is beyond anything
that we can possibly comprehend and it is due to this pervasiveness that we are
estranged and separated from our Creator because that which is perfectly good,
holy, and sinless cannot allow that which is tainted by or given over to sin to
dwell in its presence lest the Kingdom of Heaven be defiled just as the earth
itself has been defiled and since sin dwells in each and every one of us, without
a means of redemption and cleansing of sin, the elimination of sin would
require our elimination as well; such is the severity of our condition before
Almighty God, but because God is good and because He is merciful and because He
would rather demonstrate love and goodness than resort to punishment, He is not
willing that any should perish and be eternally damned, but that all would come
to repentance (2 Pet. 3:9)
and therefore has done for us what we
could never do for ourselves in that He, in His graciousness has purchased
redemption on our behalf in Christ Jesus, His only begotten Son, (Jn. 3:16) who
came to us in the flesh, (Jn. 1:14) and being without any sin (2 Cor. 5:21) was
made that perfect sacrifice (Heb. 7:26-27) that was needed to take away the
sins of the world and because of His perfect goodness, He was able to offer
Himself up on our behalf to satisfy the demanded penalty for all sin and
granting mercy and grace through the shedding of His blood on the cross and
after having died, rose again from the dead three days later that we might be
justified in Him (Rom. 4:25) if we will but call upon His name so that we might
be saved from what would otherwise be a terrifying everlasting punishment if we
will but call upon His name (Rom. 10:9, 13) and believe in our hearts that God
raised Him from the dead (Rom. 10:9) for it is by calling upon His name in
sincere repentance that salvation is granted and our souls made clean from sin
thereby liberating us from the threat of eternal damnation and with that
cleansing comes a new spiritual transformation (2 Cor. 5:17) that causes us to
no longer desire to follow after selfish and worldly pursuits but after those
things that pertain to the Kingdom of Heaven,
to no longer take pleasure in those
things that are evil and displeasing in the sight of the Lord, but in that
which is good, right, and pleasing in His sight,
to no longer desire to walk in the
lies of this present world, but only in the truth that comes from Christ
Almighty who is the source of all truth, (Jn. 14:6)
no longer placing our hopes in the
things of this present world, but looking forward to that new and better world
to come, (Rev. 21-22)
to no longer rely on worldly
resources, men, or even our own power, abilities, skills, and wisdom for our
needs and provision but upon God who is able to meet all of our needs,
recognizing that the resources of this world and even the people He brings into
our lives are but instruments and vessels through which God meets our needs and
that the skills, power, knowledge, and wisdom by which we might acquire our
provision are provided and instilled in us by God, (Mt. 6:25-33)
to no longer fear what men can do to
us, but rather fearing the God before whom we will have to one day give an
account for how we lived our lives, (Mt. 10:28)
to no longer look to corruptible
institutions within our society for direction and order in our lives but to God
who, by His written Word has given us laws and precepts to be applied to our
lives and which serve to produce and maintain an ordered life, and who, by His
Holy Spirit which comes to dwell within us upon repentance, establishes in our
lives a course and direction in our lives to pursue for His glory,
to no longer seek our own glory but
the glory of God,
to no longer rally behind corruptible
men, but instead behind the incorruptible God in Heaven bearing in mind that
those men and women God raises up for our edification are but instruments and
servants of His for that respective purpose to which He has called them,
to no longer seek to align ourselves
with the things of darkness but only with the things of the light,
to no longer trust in the wisdom of
the world but only on the wisdom and knowledge that comes from above, (Jas.
1:5) nor depend on corruptible earthly authorities to swiftly administer
justice, but only in the power of God to deliver us from evil.
And it is this new inward
transformation that reconciles us to our Creator (2 Cor. 5:18) from whom we had
once been estranged and just as our souls are cleansed from sin and our spirits
regenerated in Christ Jesus thereby liberating us from the eternal tormenting
punishment that must come upon all who remain in their sins, so one day we look
forward to the liberation of our bodies from death itself when our mortal and
corruptible forms are transformed into that which is immortal and incorruptible
and from that which is imperfect to that which is perfect (1 Cor. 15:51-55, 1
Thess. 4:13-18) and lastly, creation itself will be delivered from the curse
placed upon it because of sin when it is made into a new and better world.
(Rev. 21-22)
The promise and the hope that we have
in Christ Jesus for our salvation, the eventual liberation from death itself,
and the coming of a new and better world we owe to the Israelite lineage by
which He came into the world and the scriptures by which this Gospel of
salvation is delivered, we owe to Jewish writers and scribes who, under the guidance
and direction of God, wrote down His Words to be read and known by the entire
world and though most of them to this day have yet to come to repentance themselves,
the scripture states that the day will come when they too will not continue to
remain in unbelief (Rom. 11:26) and will call upon and receive that very
Messiah that they had once rejected.
It is one thing to criticize and
condemn the actions of individuals within the Jewish population and within the nation
of Israel itself, but it is an entirely different matter when we condemn an
entire nation and an entire people for actions and deeds that are not representative
of most.
Every conspiracy theory and claim
made against the Jewish people and against the restored nation of Israel has
been done for one reason and one reason only and that is to delegitimize their
historic and divine claim to the land which has been restored as a nation and
to which Jews from all over the world are returning as their restoration as a
nation in the land of their ancestors stands as evidence that God is not
through with them as a people or a nation and that His promises for their preservation
still stand but those in whom resides this prejudice and hatred towards the people
of Israel continue to reject the Word of God on this and deny and dismiss evidence
of the faithful keeping of His promise concerning this and in doing so become
the enemies of God even if they claim to know and worship Him themselves but
the Bible warns that those claiming to love God but harbor that kind of prejudice
and hatred towards anyone or any people in their hearts are liars and the truth
of God is not in them. (1 Jn. 4:20)
I honestly do not see how anyone can
claim to be a follower of Christ and yet harbor prejudice and hatred towards
any person based upon their lineage, ethnicity, and the color of their skin. How can they claim to have the fear and love
of God in them and yet hate that which God commands us to love? They don’t seem
to fear God enough to turn away from such hatred and prejudice.
What will you choose reader? Will you
choose to receive the love and fear of God in you? Or will you continue to
reject His love and His offer of mercy and forgiveness. If you have not done so already and want to
receive the love of God and His offer of mercy and forgiveness, then I urge you
reader to call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ who takes away the sins
of any who will call upon His name. It
is but a simple sincere prayer of repentance away:
"Lord Jesus I need you.
I realize that I am a sinner
who has fallen short of the glory of
God
and that my goodness falls short
of your standard of Moral perfection.
Please forgive me of all of my sins.
Come into my heart and into my life
to be the Savior and Lord of my life.
Make me into the servant and follower
that you want me to be.
In your name Lord Jesus, I pray.
Amen."
Know that God is not concerned with
the words that you use to call upon Him forgiveness, but with the attitude of
your heart and if you have, with all sincerity, have asked Christ to forgive
you of your sins, placing your trust in Him only for your salvation and in
nothing else, then your sins are forgiven and your place in Heaven is certain.
Scripture references:
1.
Romans 11:29
2.
Romans 11:17-24
3.
Matthew 5:17
4.
Matthew 5:18
5.
Genesis 2:16-17, 3:3
6.
Genesis 3:19
7.
Romans 5:12
8.
Romans 6:23
9.
Matthew 15:11, 18-20
10.
Romans 3:23
11.
Romans 8:19-22
12.
Revelation 21-22
13.
2 Peter 3:9
14.
John 3:16
15.
John 1:14
16.
2 Corinthians 5:21
17.
Hebrews 7:26-27
18.
Romans 4:25
19.
Romans 10:9, 13
20.
2 Corinthians 5:17
21.
John 14:6
22.
Matthew 6:25-33
23.
Matthew 10:28
24.
James 1:5
25.
2 Corinthians 5:18
26.
1 Corinthians 15:51-55, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
27.
Romans 11:26
28.
1 John 4:20
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