The Error Of Replacement Theology

by Clarence H. Wagner, Jr.

Perhaps you have heard of the term Replacement Theology. However, if you look it up in a dictionary of Church history, you will not find it listed as a systematic study. Rather, it is a doctrinal teaching that originated in the early Church. It became the fertile soil from which Christian anti-Semitism grew and has infected the Church for nearly 1,900 years.
What Is Replacement Theology?
Replacement Theology was introduced to the Church shortly after Gentile leadership took over from Jewish leadership. What are its premises?
0. Israel (the Jewish people and the land) has been replaced by the Christian Church in the purposes of God, or, more precisely, the Church is the historic continuation of Israel to the exclusion of the former.
1. The Jewish people are now no longer a "chosen people." In fact, they are no different from any other group, such as the English, Spanish, or Africans.
2. Apart from repentance, the new birth, and incorporation into the Church, the Jewish people have no future, no hope, and no calling in the plan of God. The same is true for every other nation and group.
3. Since Pentecost of Acts 2, the term "Israel," as found in the Bible, now refers to the Church.
4. The promises, covenants and blessings ascribed to Israel in the Bible have been taken away from the Jews and given to the Church, which has superseded them. However, the Jews are subject to the curses found in the Bible, as a result of their rejection of Christ.
How Do Replacement Theologians Argue Their Case? They Say:
(Note: I have added my rebuttal to each point.)
0. To be a son of Abraham is to have faith in Jesus Christ. For them, Galatians 3:29 shows that sonship to Abraham is seen only in spiritual, not national terms: "And if you be Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."

Rebuttal: While this is a wonderful inclusionary promise for Gentiles, this verse does not exclude the Jewish people from their original covenant, promise and blessing as the natural seed of Abraham. This verse simply joins us Gentile Christians to what God had already started with Israel.

1. The promise of the land of Canaan to Abraham was only a "starter." The real Promised Land is the whole world. They use Romans 4:13 to claim it will be the Church that inherits the world, not Israel. "For the promise that he should be the heir of the world was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith."

Rebuttal: Where does this verse exclude Abraham and His natural prodigy, the Jews? It simply says that through the law, they would not inherit the world, but this would be acquired through faith. This is also true of the Church.

2. The nation of Israel was only the seed of the future Church, which would arise and incorporate people of all nations (Mal. 1:11): "For from the rising of the sun, even unto the going down of the same, My Name shall be great among the nations, and in every place, incense shall be offered to My Name, and a pure offering for My Name shall be great among the nations, says the Lord of Hosts."

Rebuttal: This is great, and shows that the Jewish people and Israel fulfilled one of their callings to be "a light to the nations," so that God's Word has gone around the world. It does not suggest God's dealing with Israel was negated because His Name spread around the world.

3. Jesus taught that the Jews would lose their spiritual privileges, and be replaced by another people (Matt. 21:43): "Therefore I am saying to you, 'The kingdom of God will be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits of it.'"

Rebuttal: In this passage, Jesus was talking about the priests and Pharisees, who failed as leaders of the people. This passage is not talking about the Jewish people or nation of Israel. See Teaching Letter #770008, "Did God Break His Covenant With the Jews?"

4. A true Jew is anyone born of the Spirit, whether he is racially Gentile or Jewish (Rom. 2:28-29): "For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh; But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God."

Rebuttal: This argument does not support the notion that the Church replaced Israel. Rather, it simply reinforces what had been said throughout the Hebrew Scriptures [the Old Testament], and it certainly qualifies the spiritual qualifications for Jews or anyone who professes to be a follower of the God of Israel.

5. Paul shows that the Church is really the same "olive tree" as was Israel, and the Church is now the tree. Therefore, to distinguish between Israel and the Church is, strictly speaking, false. Indeed, people of Jewish origin need to be grafted back into the Church (Rom 11:17-23).

Rebuttal:This claim is the most outrageous because this passage clearly shows that we Gentiles are the "wild olive branches," who get our life from being grafted into the olive tree. The tree represents the covenants, promises and hopes of Israel (Eph. 2:12), rooted in the Messiah and fed by the sap, which represents the Holy Spirit, giving life to the Jews (the "natural branches") and Gentile alike. We Gentiles are told to remember that the olive tree holds us up and NOT to be arrogant or boast against the "natural branches" because they can be grafted in again. The olive tree is NOT the Church. We are simply grafted into God's plan that preceded us for over 2,000 years.

6. All the promises made to Israel in the Old Testament, unless they were historically fulfilled before the coming of Jesus Christ, are now the property of the Christian Church. These promises should not be interpreted literally or carnally, but spiritually and symbolically, so that references to Israel, Jerusalem, Zion and the Temple, when they are prophetic, really refer to the Church (II Cor. 1:20). "For all the promises of God in Him (Jesus) are Yea, and in Him, Amen, unto the glory of God by us." Therefore, they teach that the New Testament needs to be taught figuratively, not literally.

Rebuttal: Later, in this Teaching Letter, we will look at the fact that the New Testament references to Israel clearly pertain to Israel, not the Church. Therefore, no promise to Israel and the Jewish people in the Bible is figurative, nor can they be relegated to the Church alone. The promises and covenants are literal, many of them are everlasting, and we Christians can participate in them as part of our rebirth, not in that we took them over to the exclusion of Israel. The New Testament speaks of the Church's relationship to Israel and her covenants as being "grafted in" (Rom. 11:17), "brought near" (Eph. 2:13), "Abraham's offspring (by faith)" (Rom. 4:16), and "partakers" (Rom. 15:27), NOT as usurpers of the covenant and a replacer of physical Israel. We Gentile Christians joined into what God had been doing in Israel, and God did not break His covenant promises with Israel (Rom. 11:29).

How Did The Position Of The Early Church Fathers Affect The Church?
Let us look at a brief history of the first four centuries of Christianity, which established a "legacy of hatred" towards the Jewish people, which was against the clear teaching of the New Testament.

(For a complete history of Christian anti-Semitism, send the equivalent of US$1 to your nearest BFP National Office and ask for a copy of the Israel Teaching Letter (#779806), "Where Was Love and Mercy," or download a copy from our Bridges for Peace website, found under the Israel Teaching Letters button at www.bridgesforpeace.com This teaching is also a chapter of my book, Lessons From the Land of the Bible with 13 other great teachings including "Lessons from the Olive Tree," which can be ordered from your nearest BFP national office.)

In the first century AD, the church was well-connected to its Jewish roots, and Jesus did not intend for it to be any other way. After all, Jesus is Jewish and the basis of His teaching is consistent with the Hebrew Scriptures. In Matthew 5:17-18 He states: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished." Before the First Jewish Revolt in AD 66, Christianity was basically a sect of Judaism, as were the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes.
Separation between Judaism and Christianity began as a result of religious and social differences. According to David Rausch in his book, A Legacy of Hatred, there were several contributing factors:

1) the Roman intrusion into Judea, and the widespread acceptance of Christianity by the Gentiles, complicated the history of Jewish Christianity;
2) the Roman wars against the Jews not only destroyed the Temple and Jerusalem, but also resulted in Jerusalem's relinquishing her position as a center of Christian faith in the Roman world; and,
3) the rapid acceptance of Christianity among the Gentiles led to an early conflict between the Church and Synagogue. Paul's missionary journeys brought the Christian faith to the Gentile world, and as their numbers grew, so did their influence, which ultimately disconnected Christianity from its Jewish roots.

Many Gentile Christians interpreted the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem as a sign that God had abandoned Judaism, and that He had provided the Gentiles freedom to develop their own Christian theology in a setting free from Jerusalem's influence. Could it be He was showing us that Temple worship was no longer necessary as His Holy Spirit now resides in us (I Cor. 6:19), not in the Holy of Holies?
After the Second Jewish Revolt (AD 133-135) put down by the Roman Emperor Hadrian, theological and political power moved from Jewish Christian leaders to centers of Gentile Christian leadership such as Alexandria, Rome, and Antioch. It is important to understand this change, because it influenced the early Church Fathers to make anti-Jewish statements as Christianity began to disconnect itself from its Jewish roots.
As the Church spread far and wide within the Roman Empire, and its membership grew increasingly non-Jewish, Greek and Roman thought began to creep in and completely change the orientation of Biblical interpretation through a Greek mindset, rather than a Jewish or Hebraic mindset. This would later result in many heresies, some of which the Church is still practicing today.
Once Christianity and Judaism began to take separate paths, the chasm became wider and wider. Judaism was considered a legal religion under Roman law, while Christianity, a new religion, was illegal. As Christianity grew, the Romans tried to suppress it. In an attempt to alleviate this persecution, Christian apologists tried in vain to convince Rome that Christianity was an extension of Judaism. However, Rome was not convinced. The resulting persecutions and frustration of the Christians bred an animosity towards the Jewish community, which was free to worship without persecution. Later, when the Church became the religion of the state, it would pass laws against the Jews in retribution.
The antagonism of the early Christians towards the Jews was reflected in the writings of the early Church Fathers. For example, Justin Martyr (c. AD 160) in speaking to a Jew said: "The Scriptures are not yours, but ours." Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyon (c. AD 177) declared: "Jews are disinherited from the grace of God." Tertullian (AD 160-230), in his treatise, "Against the Jews," announced that God had rejected the Jews in favor of the Christians.
In the early 4th century, Eusebius wrote that the promises of the Hebrew Scriptures were for Christians and not the Jews, and the curses were for the Jews. He argued that the Church was the continuation of the Old Testament and thus superseded Judaism. The young Church declared itself to be the true Israel, or "Israel according to the Spirit," heir to the divine promises. They found it essential to discredit the "Israel according to the flesh" to prove that God had cast away His people and transferred His love to the Christians.
At the beginning of the 4th century, a monumental event occurred for the Church, which placed "the Church Triumphant" over "Vanquished Israel." In AD 306, Constantine became the first Christian Roman Emperor. At first, he had a rather pluralistic view and accorded Jews the same religious rights as Christians. However, in AD 321, he made Christianity the official religion of the Empire to the exclusion of all other religions. This signaled the end of the persecution of Christians, but the beginning of discrimination and persecution of the Jewish people.
Already at the Church Council in Elvira (Spain) in AD 305, declarations were made to keep Jews and Christians apart, including ordering Christians not to share meals with Jews, not to marry Jews, not to use Jews to bless their fields, and not to observe the Jewish Sabbath.
Imperial Rome, in AD 313, issued the Edict of Milan, which granted favor to Christianity, while outlawing synagogues. Then, in AD 315, another edict allowed the burning of Jews if they were convicted of breaking the laws. As Christianity was becoming the religion of the state, further laws were passed against the Jews:

* The ancient privileges granted to the Jews were withdrawn.

* Rabbinical jurisdiction was abolished or severely curtailed.

* Proselytism to Judaism was prohibited and made punishable by death.

* Jews were excluded from holding high office or a military career.

These and other restrictions were confirmed over and over again by various Church Councils for the next 1,000 years.
In AD 321, Constantine decreed all business should cease on "the honored day of the sun." By substituting Sunday for Saturday as the day for Christian worship, he further advanced the split. This Jewish Shabbat/Christian Sunday controversy also came up at the first real ecumenical Council of Nicea (AD 325), which concluded Sunday to be the Christian day of rest, although it was debated for long after that.
Overnight, Christianity was given the power of the Imperial State, and the emperors began to translate the concepts and claims of the Christian theologians against the Jews and Judaism into practice. Instead of the Church taking this opportunity to spread its Gospel message in love, it truly became the Church Triumphant, ready to vanquish its foes.
After 321, the writings of the Church Fathers changed in character. No longer was it on the defensive and apologetic, but aggressive, directing its venom at everyone "outside of the flock," in particular the Jewish people who could be found in almost every community and nation. During this period, we find more examples of anti-Jewish bias in Church literature written by church leaders:

* Hilary of Poitiers (AD 291-371) wrote: "Jews are a perverse people accursed by God forever."

* Gregory of Nyssa (died AD 394), Bishop of Cappadocia: "the Jews are a brood of vipers, haters of goodness..."

* St. Jerome (AD 347-407) describes the Jews as "... serpents, wearing the image of Judas, their psalms and prayers are the braying of donkeys."

At the end of the 4th century, the Bishop of Antioch, John Chrysostom (Golden Tongued), the great orator, wrote a series of eight sermons against the Jews. He had seen Christians talking with Jewish people, taking oaths in front of the Ark, and some were keeping the Jewish feasts. He wanted this to stop. In an effort to bring his people back to what he called, "the true faith," the Jews became the whipping boy for his sermon series. To quote him, "the synagogue is not only a brothel and a theater; it is also a den of robbers and a lodging for wild beasts. No Jew adores God... Jews are inveterate murderers, possessed by the devil, their debauchery and drunkenness gives them the manners of the pig. They kill and maim one another..."
One can easily see that a Judeo-Christian who wanted to hold on to his heritage, or a Gentile Christian who wanted to learn more about the parent faith of Christianity, would have found it extremely difficult under this pressure. Chrysostom further sought to separate Christianity totally from Judaism. He wrote in his 4th Discourse, "I have said enough against those who say they are on our side, but are eager to follow the Jewish rites... it is against the Jews that I wish to draw up my battle... Jews are abandoned by God and for the crime of deicide, there is no expiation possible."
Chrysostom was known for his fiery preaching against what he saw as threats to his flock, including wealth, entertainment, privilege and outward adornment. However, his preaching against the Jewish community, which he believed had a negative influence on Christians, is inexcusable and blatantly anti-Semitic in its content. Another unfortunate contribution Chrysostom made to Christian anti-Semitism was to hold the whole Jewish people culpable for the killing of Christ.
In the fifth century, the burning question was: If the Jews and Judaism were cursed by God, then how can you explain their existence?
Augustine tackled this issue in his "Sermon Against the Jews." He asserted that even though the Jews deserved the most severe punishment for having put Jesus to death, they have been kept alive by Divine Providence to serve, together with their Scriptures, as witnesses to the truth of Christianity. Their existence was further justified by the service they rendered to the Christian truth, in attesting through their humiliation, the triumph of the Church over the Synagogue. They were to be a "Witness people" - slaves and servants who should be humbled.
The monarchs of the Holy Roman Empire thus regarded the Jews as serfs of the chamber (servi camerae), and utilized them as slave librarians to maintain Hebrew writings. They also utilized the services of Jews in another enterprise - usury, or money-lending. The loaning of money was necessary to a growing economy. However, usury was considered to endanger the eternal salvation of the Christian, and was thus forbidden. So, the church endorsed the practice of lending by Jews, for according to their reasoning, their Jewish souls were lost in any case. Much later, the Jewish people were utilized by the Western countries as trade agents in commerce, and thus we see how the Jewish people found their way into the fields of banking and commerce.
So, by the Middle Ages, the ideological arsenal of Christian anti-Semitism was completely established. This was further manifested in a variety of precedent-setting events within the Church, such as Patriarch Cyril, Bishop of Alexandria, expelling the Jews and giving their property to a Christian mob. From a social standpoint, the deterioration of the Jewish position in society was only beginning its decline. During this early period, the virulent judeo- phobia was primarily limited to the clergy who were always trying to keep their flocks away from the Jews. However, later, the rank and file, growing middle class would be the main source of anti-Semitic activity.
The result of these anti-Jewish teachings continued onwards throughout Church history, manifesting itself in such events and actions as the Crusades, the accusation of communion host desecration and blood libel by the Jews, the forced wearing of distinguishing marks to ostracize them, the Inquisition, the displacement of whole Jewish communities by exile or separate ghettoes, the destruction of synagogues and Jewish books, physical persecution and execution, the Pogroms. Ultimately, the seeds of destruction grew to epic proportions, culminating in the Holocaust, which occurred in "Christian" Europe.
Had the Church understood the clear message of being grafted into the Olive Tree from the beginning, then the sad legacy of anti-Semitic hatred from the Church may have been avoided. The error of Replacement Theology is like a cancer in the Church that has not only caused it to violate God's Word concerning the Jewish people and Israel, but it made us into instruments of hate, not love in God's Name.
Is the New Testament anti-Semitic? Was it Intended That the Church Treat the Jewish People with Contempt?
ABSOLUTELY NOT!
While the New Testament has been used by Gentile anti-Semites, even within the Church, the writers of the New Testament were Jewish, and therefore their arguments, even critical ones, were from the vantage point of being an intra-communal debate, not inter-communal accusation. Even where the criticism is harsh, it is directed towards a particular group or sect of Jews because of their practices, which needed correcting. For example, even though Yeshua spoke harshly to the Pharisees, He nevertheless said of them, "The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach" (Matt: 23:2-3). He was distressed that they were "missing the mark" in their self-righteousness, which is something all of us need to be careful of doing.
The clear teaching of the New Testament is that the Church was and is to love and honour the Jewish people. In Ephesians 2:11-18, we are told that "by the blood of Messiah," we Gentiles are "made near" to the commonwealth of Israel, the covenants, promises and hopes given to Israel. In Romans 11:11-12, 25, we are told that "blindness in part" has come to the Jews so that the message would be forced out into the nations. Nevertheless, we are told that a time would come when "all Israel would be saved" (v. 26), because the gifts and callings of God towards Israel and the Jewish people were given without repentance (v. 29). God's relationship with Israel and the Jewish people is everlasting.
We Gentile Christians are told that the Jews are "beloved for the sake of the Patriarchs" (Rom. 11:28). They are a chosen people who fulfilled their calling and brought the Gospel to the world. They were chosen to:

1) Be obedient to God's Word and demonstrate to the world as "a light to the nations."
2) Hear God's Word and record it - the Bible.
3) Be the human channel for the Messiah.

The Jewish people have fulfilled their role. The promise to the world through Abraham was that, "in you will all the nations on the earth be blessed" (Gen. 12:3). They were to be a light unto the nations and, while they made mistakes as we all do, they did demonstrate the power of God on earth, they did hear God's Word and record it so that we have the Bible, and they were the human channel for the Messiah, who was born, ministered, died, rose from the dead, ascended to heaven and will return to Jerusalem, Israel, in a day yet to come.
God made an everlasting covenant between the land of Israel and the Jewish people that must be fulfilled and completed or His Word, the Bible, will be proven a lie, which it is not. God will never forget or annul His ancient people. If God will not fulfil His promises to Israel, what guarantee do we have that He will fulfil His promises to the Church? (See Jeremiah 31:35-37).
Are Jews, Jews, and is Israel, Israel in the New Testament? Do They Still Have a Covenant with God?
ABSOLUTELY. THE BIBLE IS CLEAR ON THIS.
1) The Jews are Israelites, not Gentiles (Rom. 9:4).
2) To Israel still belong the sonship, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship and the promises (Rom. 9:4).
3) The gifts and calling of God for Israel are irrevocable (Rom. 11:29).
4) There are 77 references to Israel in the NT and none of them refer to the Church. Try replacing the words, "the Church," where Israel is mentioned and the passage is rendered unreadable and silly, e.g., Rom. 10:1, "Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved." If you put "the Church" where Israel is mentioned, then it is redundant. The Church is the body of saved believers, so how could Paul's prayer be for the Church to be saved?
5) Psalm 105 has a seven-fold affirmation of God's promises of Canaan to Abraham. This is an everlasting promise, as was Genesis 12:1-3.
6) Jeremiah 31:35-37 speaks of the everlasting nature of God's promises to and for Israel, the Jewish people, which is as sure as the sun that shines by day and the moon and stars that glow in the night.
7) The end-time prophecies, which speak of the return of the House of Jacob to their land (Israel) and its restoration, have overwhelmingly been fulfilled in Israel and the Jewish people in the past 120 years. (See, Isa. 11:11-12; Eze. 37:1-14; Eze. 36; Eze. 35:1, Isa. 43:5,6; Jer. 16:14-16; Isa. 60:9-11; Isa. 49:22-23, etc.).
8) The Gospel and Yeshua came "to the Jews first, then the Greek" (Rom. 2:9,10; Matt:10:5-7;15:24). There is a distinction in roles between the two. Galatians 3:28 says: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." This is speaking of everyone's standing before God as equals, because we are all sinners saved by God's grace and the atoning work on the Cross. Nevertheless, our roles here on earth are definitely distinct; e.g., men and women, mothers and fathers, husbands and wives, etc. all have distinct roles to play. Likewise, Jews and Gentiles have distinct roles to play.
What is the Role of the Church?
1) "On this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of Hell will not overcome it" (Matt. 16:18). The Church is built on the testimony and understanding of Peter, who is Jewish. Ephesians 2:11-14 indicates that Israel and the Jews (we) were chosen, but Gentiles (you) were also included. 2) The Church is related to Israel and partakers of the covenants, promises, and hopes, but we have not been called to usurp them. Our relationship is as "grafted in" (Rom. 11:17); "brought near" (Eph 2:13); "Abraham's offspring" (by faith) (Rom. 4:16); "heirs" to Abraham's promise as adopted sons (Gal. 3:29) and "partakers" (Rom 15:27).
3) To the world, the Church is called to preach the Gospel to all nations and make disciples (Matt. 28:19-20); to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength; and to love our neighbour as ourselves (Mk. 12:30-31).
4) To the Jewish people, we are called to show God's love "for the sake of the Patriarchs" (Rom. 11:28), for without them we would not have had God's Word or our Saviour who was a Jew from Israel. We are to show God's mercy (Rom. 11:31). We are to give our material gifts to help them (Rom. 15:27). We are to pray for them and for Israel (Ps. 122:6). We are to be watchman on the walls to protect them (Isa. 62:6,7). We are to help with the aliyah (immigration) to Israel and the building up of Zion (Isa. 60:9-11; Jer. 16:14-16; Isa. 49:22-23).
5) According to Romans 11, we are two distinct groups, both grafted into the same tree, which are the covenants and promises given to Israel; grounded in the same root, the Messiah; drinking of the same sap, God's Holy Spirit. We do not hold up the tree, but the tree us, and we are forbidden from boasting against or being arrogant to God's covenant people the Jews (Rom. 11:17-18).
What Happens When the Church Replaces Israel?
1) The Church becomes arrogant and self-centred.
2) It boasts against the Jews and Israel.
3) It devalues the role of Israel or has no role for Israel at all.
4) These attitudes result in anti-Semitism in word and deed.
5) Without a place for Israel and the Jewish people today, you cannot explain the Bible prophecies, especially the very specific ones being fulfilled in Israel today.
6) Many New Testament passages do not make sense when the Jewish people are replaced by the Church.
7) You can lose the significance of the Hebrew Scriptures, the Old Testament, for today. Many Christians boast of being a New Testament (NT) Christian or a NT Church as in the Book of Acts. However, the Bible of the early Church was not the New Testament, which did not get codified until the 4th century, but rather the Hebrew Scriptures.
8) You can lose the Hebraic/Judaic contextualization of the New Testament, which teaches us more about Yeshua and how to become better disciples.
9) The Church loses out on the opportunity to participate in God's plan and prophecy for the Church, Israel and the world today.
What Happens When the Church Relates to Israel?
1) The Church takes its proper role in God's redemptive plan for the world, appreciating God's ongoing covenant relationship and love for Israel and the Jewish people.
2) We can see the consistency of God's redemptive plan from Genesis to Revelation as an ongoing complementary process, not as disconnected snapshots.
3) We show love and honour for God's covenant people, not contempt.
4) We value the Old and New Testaments as equally inspired and significant for the Church today.
5) Bible prophecy makes sense for today and offers opportunities for involvement in God's plan for Israel.
6) We become better disciples of Yeshua as we are able to appreciate the Hebraic/Judaic roots that fill in the definitions, concepts, words and events in the New Testament that are otherwise obscured. Why? Many were not explained by the Jewish writers of the New Testament, because they did not feel the need to fill in all the details that were already explained in the Old Testament.
Had the Church understood this very clear message from the beginning, then the sad legacy of anti-Semitic hatred from the Church may have been avoided. The error of Replacement Theology is like a cancer in the Church that has not only caused it to violate God's Word concerning the Jewish people and Israel, but it made us into instruments of hate, not love in God's Name. Yet, it is not too late to change our ways and rightly relate to the Jewish people and Israel today. Through Bridges for Peace you can read, study and learn more, and also give to demonstrate God's exhortation to us to bless His Covenant People, whom He still loves. Not only do we need to learn and do for ourselves, but we need to teach others so as to counteract the historical error that has been fostered in the Church for nearly 2,000 years.
Thank God, He is a God of mercy, redemption and second chances.
Bibliography
1) Gerhard Falk, The Jew in Christian Theology, (MacFarland: Jefferson, NC, 1992).
2) Leopold Lucas, The Conflict Between Christianity and Judaism, (Aris & Phillips, Warminster, UK: 1993).
3) The New International Study Bible, (The Zondervan Corporation: Grand Rapids, MI, 1985).
4) The New Scofield Reference Bible, Authorized King James Version, (Oxford University Press: New York, NY, 1967).
5) Keith Parker, Is the Church the "New Israel?, (Prayer for Israel: Golant, UK).
6) James Parkes, The Conflict of the Church and the Synagogue, (Athenaeum, New York, 1974).
7) David Rausch, The Legacy of Hatred, (Moody Press: Chicago, IL, 1984).
8) Marcel Simon, Verus Israel, (Oxford University Press: New York, NY, 1986).
9) Clarence H. Wagner, Jr., Lessons from the Land of the Bible, (Bridges for Peace: Jerusalem, Israel, 1998).
10) Eds. C. Roth and G. Wigoder, Encyclopaedia Judaica, (Keter Publishing House, Ltd.: Jerusalem, Israel, 1972).
11) A. Lukyn Williams, Adversus Judaeos, (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 1935).
12) Robert Louis Wilken, John Chrysostom and the Jews, (University of California Press: Berkeley, 1983)

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From The Bridges for Peace Web Site: http://www.bridgesforpeace.com/publications/teaching/Article-18.html

http://www.ldolphin.org/replacement/

The Gog-Magog Battle - Search For Timing

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

The Gog-Magog Battle - Search For Timing

 By Nathan Jones

The million dollar question for you and me is, "Are we going to live through the events of Ezekiel 38-39?" Will we suffer from the fallout of a world turned upside down, or is this event not meant for the Church?

Let us go to the Bible in search for the answers. Five general timing clues the Bible gives us when taken together will reveal a clearer picture of when this world-altering battle will occur.

Clue 1) "Latter Years" and "Last Days"
The first general timing clue is Ezekiel's use of the terms "latter years" (Ezek 38:8) and "last days" (Ezek. 38:16). The key verse to understanding what these terms mean is Deuteronomy 4:30 which reads, "When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the LORD your God and obey him." "Distress" is also translated as "Tribulation." It is the Tribulation of Daniel's 70th week that brings the Jewish people as a nation back into the belief in God, and later to accept Yeshua as their Messiah. The Tribulation leading up to the Millennial reign of Christ is what the Old Testament prophets consistently and repeatedly taught about.

Conclusion: We now know based on these key phrases that the Gog-Magog Battle has to happen somewhere around or in the Tribulation and in relation to the Millennial Kingdom — the 1,000 year reign of Christ. Neither of these have occurred, so we know that Ezekiel 38-39 is future.

Clue 2) Historical Absence
The second general timing clue is that history has never recorded the Gog-Magog Battle as ever having happened. Never in the history of the Middle East have the nations described in the Gog-Magog coalition been united in an attack against Israel. In no time has such a specific group of nations been destroyed by inclement weather. And, in no time in history has Israel named a valley Hamon Gog (Ezek. 39:11). No adjoining town called Hamonah has existed where the Jews buried invaders.

Conclusion: History just does not show that the Gog-Magog Battle has ever happened, which only leaves a future timing for it to occur.

Clue 3) Israel a Nation Once More
The third general timing clue is given in Ezekiel 36 and 37 — the regathering of the Jewish people back into their homeland "from all the countries" of the world (Ezek. 36:24). Like the vision of dry bones reanimated into a living person that Ezekiel witnessed, Israel did indeed become a nation once again on May 14, 1948, after nearly 1900 years since the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70 A.D and scattered the Jewish people across the globe. After all these centuries, this prophecy has been fulfilled in our modern generation.

Conclusion: Because this prophecy has been fulfilled and Israel is a nation once more, that vital piece is in place allowing for the prophecy concerning the Gog-Magog Battle to commence.

Clue 4) — Uniting the Nations
The fourth general timing clue involves the developments nationally that have to occur to make the nations of the coalition unite in an effort to invade Israel. Two factors have made this coalition possible today. The first is the religion of Islam uniting these nations in satanic hatred of the Jewish people. The second is the economic bounty that Israel now has with its revitalized land and newly discovered gas and oil deposits. Today, the nations of the coalition are united in the single purpose of destroying Israel and plundering its wealth.

Conclusion: The daily news is resplendent with stories in support that this general timing clue has been fulfilled in just the last few years, allowing for the prophecy concerning the Gog-Magog Battle to commence.

Clue 5) Israel Peaceful and Unsuspecting
The fifth general timing clue is given in Ezekiel 38:11 which reads, "You will say, 'I will invade a land of unwalled villages; I will attack a peaceful and unsuspecting people — all of them living without walls and without gates and bars.'"

This verse requires that Israel must be living without walls, peacefully and unsuspecting of an attack. Israel today lives in constant fear of attack and is always prepared for an invasion by the 60-plus million hostile Muslims surrounding their borders.

Conclusion: Because of this most unfriendly climate and the constant tension on the borders, this part of the prophecy cannot have yet been fulfilled and so is future.

Final Analysis: The Gog-Magog Battle is certainly future, but not the next invasion of Israel. Something has to cause the violent bordering nations of Egypt, Gaza, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon to not become members of the Gog-Magog coalition. For them to sit out acting on their hatred of Israel and to pass up on seizing such an opportunity as Gog presents is an utter improbability.

Another prophecy has to happen first for Israel to become a "peaceful and unsuspecting people." The most likely prophecy that would lie before the Gog-Magog invasion is a Psalm 83 scenario where Israel has subjugated their bordering neighbors, or a nuclear deterrent like Isaiah 17 describes with the one-day destruction of Damascus, or a combination of the two.

Can we clear up the picture even more and know just when during the "latter years" Ezekiel's prophecy in chapters 38 and 39 will occur? In the next part of this "Impending Invasion of Israel" series we'll analyze the possibility that the Gog-Magog Battle could happen before the 7-year Tribulation.

The Future Has Arrived! The Fulfillment of Prophecy in Our Day and Time

The Future Has Arrived! The Fulfillment of Prophecy in Our Day and Time by Dr. David R. Reagan I am constantly running across articles by Dispensationalists in which the argument is presented that in order to be a "consistent futurist," you cannot contend that prophecies are being fulfilled today. Instead, it is argued that all end time prophecy relates to Israel in the Tribulation and Millennium. Therefore, all we are seeing today is "stage setting," but not the fulfillment of prophecy.1 I strongly disagree with this viewpoint. First of all, there are four end time prophecies concerning Israel that were fulfilled even before the 20th Century began. They are: The dispersion of the Jews worldwide — Deuteronomy 28:64. The worldwide persecution of the Jews — Deuteronomy 28:65-67. The desolation of the Jewish homeland — Deuteronomy 29:22-28. The preservation of the Jewish people — Jeremiah 30:7 and Jeremiah 31:36-37. Some might respond by saying these are not end time prophecies, but they are. The end times or the "last days" began at the Cross. The writer of the Hebrew letter referred to his day and time (the First Century) as the "last days." The Apostle Peter also called the time in which he was living the "last times" (1 Peter 1:5 & 20). And in the same letter he stated that "the end of all things is at hand" (1 Peter 4:7). The "end times" began 2,000 years ago. We are currently in the end of the end times, and we know this because God's Word gives us signs to watch for that will mark the end of the age. The fulfillment of the prophecies listed above makes it clear that all future prophecies in the Scriptures regarding Israel do not relate to just the Tribulation and the Millennium. Additionally, there are other futuristic prophecies in the Scriptures regarding Israel that were either fulfilled in part or in whole during the 20th Century, and they are prophecies that point to the soon return of Jesus. Current Fulfillment of Prophecies Related to Israel Consider, to begin with, the most prolific futuristic prophecy in the Hebrew Scriptures — namely, that in the end times the Jewish people will be regathered in unbelief from the four corners of the earth. This regathering began in the late 19th Century when Theodor Herzl wrote his book, The Jewish State, in which he advocated that the time had come for the Jews to return to their homeland. In 1900 there were only 40,000 Jews in Israel. By the end of World War II this number had risen to 800,000. Today, it stands at nearly 6 million. The Jews continue to come, but there is no doubt this is a prophecy that is being fulfilled before our very eyes. Or, consider the re-establishment of the state of Israel on May 14, 1948. This was a clear and definite fulfillment of Bible prophecy. It is an accomplished fact, and it is a miracle of God. It is not mere "stage-setting," it is a play that has already been performed in full. Another accomplished fact is the revival of the Hebrew language from the dead. When the Jews were scattered from their homeland in the First and Second Centuries, they stopped speaking Hebrew. The Jews in Europe mixed Hebrew with German and created a new language called Yiddish. The Jews in the Mediterranean Basin mixed Hebrew with Spanish and created a language called Ladino. But the Bible prophesied that the Hebrew language would be revived in the end times (Zephaniah 3:9), and that is exactly what happened in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries through the efforts of one man — Eliezer Ben Yehuda. Today, the people of Israel speak biblical Hebrew. Equally certifiable is the reclamation of the Jewish homeland. As pointed out earlier, the Bible prophesied that it would become a desolation after the Jewish people were expelled from it. But the Bible also prophesied that when the Jews returned to the land, it would once again become a land of milk and honey: "The desolate land will be cultivated instead of being a desolation in the sight of everyone who passed by. And they will say, 'This desolate land has become like the garden of Eden; and the waste, desolate, and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited.'" (Ezekiel 36:34-35) When the Jews started returning to their homeland in the late 19th Century, it was a total wasteland. Nearly all the trees had been cut down and the soil was badly eroded. The land resembled a desert. Most of the valleys had become malaria-infested swamp lands. The Jewish pioneers began planting trees, reclaiming the soil, and draining the swamps. Today, Israel is the bread basket of the Middle East. Another prophecy that has definitely been fulfilled in our times is the resurgence of the Israeli military. Zechariah 12:6 says that in the end times, God "will make the clans of Judah like a firepot among pieces of wood and a flaming torch among sheaves, so they will consume on the right hand and on the left all the surrounding peoples..." The fulfillment of this prophecy can be seen today in the incredible military power of Israel. It is one of the world's smallest nations, yet it is ranked by all experts as one of the four top military powers in the world. Finally, with regard to Israel before the Tribulation begins, the Bible prophesies that Jerusalem will be re-occupied by the Jews (Zechariah 12:2-3 & 6) and that it will become the focal point of world politics (Zechariah 12:3). The Jews returned to the city when it was captured in the Six Day War in 1967, and today, all the nations of the world are coming against Israel over the issue of who will control Jerusalem in the future. Current Fulfillment of Non-Jewish Prophecies But end time prophecies regarding Israel are not the only ones we see being fulfilled in whole or in part before our very eyes. Daniel prophesied that in the end times the old Roman Empire would be revived (Daniel 2:31-45), and we can see that being accomplished today in the creation and expansion of the European Union. The Bible prophesies repeatedly that in the end times there will be a great apostasy in the Church (1 Timothy 4:1, 2 Timothy 3:1 & 5, 2 Timothy 4:3-4). We are up to our ears in that apostasy today as major Christian denominations ordain homosexuals, approve same-sex marriage, deny the deity of Jesus, and mock the inerrancy of the Scriptures. In like manner, the Bible prophesies that "in the last days" society will disintegrate into a cesspool of immorality and violence (2 Timothy 3:1-5). Can there be any doubt that those days have arrived? Daniel was told that the end time prophecies would not be completely understood until the end time — that is, until the time comes for their fulfillment (Daniel 12:8-9). That time must be upon us for we are living in the time when ancient prophecies are being understood for the first time ever, due to historical developments and technological advances. Taking the Signs of the Times Seriously I could go on and on, but I think I have made my point. The future has arrived! End time prophecies are being fulfilled today. What we are witnessing is much more than "stage-setting." God is clearly fulfilling promises He made thousands of years ago to the Jewish people. And God is orchestrating the fulfillment of end time prophecies that are not related to the Jewish people. It is exciting to see these prophecies fulfilled, and I am tired of seeing people attempt to depreciate their importance by flipping them off in a cavalier way as nothing more than mere "stage-setting." Jesus is coming soon. The signs of the times attest to that fact. God expects us to take those signs seriously because He is about to pour out His wrath upon this world in the Great Tribulation, and He does not desire that any should perish. The fulfillment of prophecy all around us today is God's way of waking us up to the fact that we are living on borrowed time, and we need to use the remaining time to commit ourselves to holiness and evangelism. Notes 1) A good example of the Dispensational viewpoint on this issue is an article by Ron J. Bigalke, Jr entitled, "Prophetic Fulfillment".

Seven Reasons From Scripture Why The Gospel Must Go To The Jewish People

By Dr. Todd Baker

B'rit Hadashah Ministries is committed to proclaiming the Gospel to the Jewish people in Israel. So far I have conducted several Gospel outreaches in Israel. We found the Jewish people there to be open, appreciative, and interested in the good news of Jesus the Messiah. Several individuals there have accepted Him as their Lord and Savior and became completed Jews born anew in the Messiah. Taking the Gospel to the Jews of Israel is not an option or choice for us; it is commanded by God in Scripture. In fact the Bible provides seven reasons why this is so. It is no coincidence about the number seven. Seven, in the Bible, is the number of divine completeness. God created and completed the universe in seven days. Christ spoke seven times from the cross when completing the work of redemption. Seven years are left on Daniel's 70 weeks to complete the present age with the return of Christ to earth. And here God gives seven reasons for preaching the Gospel to Israel. Let's look at them in closer detail.

(1) Romans 1:16 plainly says the Gospel is to go to the Jew first. Paul writes in that passage: "For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation to the Jew first and also to the Gentile." Here we have the divine order of evangelism defined. The Gospel is to go to the Jew first. Why? The answer is not because the Jewish people are somehow superior to the rest of the Gentile world but because God chose their nation and people through whom the Messiah would come and prepared them for this through the Covenants, the Hebrew Scriptures with its many Messianic prophecies, and the Temple and its sacrifices (see Romans 15:8-9 where the divine order of evangelism is confirmed again). Thus Jesus came to save the Jews as a Jew. Jesus came first to offer salvation and the Messianic kingdom to Israel. He said as much during His ministry on earth. When sought by a Gentile Jesus said in Matthew 15:24: "I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the House of Israel." Paul and the Apostles followed this divine order in the book of Acts when going to the Jews in the synagogues first to preach the Gospel. Salvation and the Messiah came directly from the Jewish people. Jesus told the Samaritan woman in John 4:22: "Salvation is of the Jews." The Church is to follow the same order of evangelism given in Romans 1:16 as practiced by the Lord Jesus and the Apostles. We are to witness to the Jews first as they did and commanded us to do.

(2) The Great Commission was given from Jerusalem and the preaching of the Gospel began there. The holy city Jerusalem is mentioned 811 times in Scripture. God has chosen this city as the eternal city where He will place His name there forever (2 Chron. 6:6). Jesus will reign over the world from Jerusalem for a thousand years. Ezekiel 5:5 says God has placed Jerusalem at the center of the earth. There our Lord died for the sins of the world and was raised again. He will return there when He comes again. In Acts 1:8 Christ commanded the Disciples to take the Gospel to the whole world starting in Jerusalem. Jerusalem has been the Jewish capital for 3,000 years. It is not only logical but also strategically smart that if one preaches the Gospel to the Jews you should go to the place they hold highest above all else on earth-Jerusalem.

(3) To fulfill prophecy and hasten the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is an obscure and often ignored prophecy found in Matthew 10: 23. Jesus said there "But when they persecute you in this city, flee to another. For assuredly, I say to you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes." Jesus predicted in this prophecy that the evangelization of the cities of Israel will not be complete before He returns. This prophecy will be fulfilled during the time of the tribulation period when Jewish Christians are persecuted for their Gospel witness in Israel. For nearly 2,000 years of the present Church age the Gospel was not being preached to Jews in Israel because they were scattered throughout the nations of the world since 70 A.D. But all that changed in 1948 when Israel became a nation again and Jews returned en masse to their ancient homeland. The Messianic movement in Israel is growing and now for the first time since the days of Jesus and the Apostles, evangelism and gospel preaching to the Jews is happening in the land again. The fact that this has started and will not be finished before the Second Coming must mean the Lord's return is very soon. Not only do we have a prophecy of this kind found in the New Testament but also one of similar fashion in the Old Testament. It is in Isaiah 62:10-12. Isaiah 62:10-12 is an amazing prophecy that says God will send Gentile believers to Jerusalem "from the ends of the earth" to proclaim to the Jewish inhabitants of Jerusalem that the Savior is coming to redeem and rescue them. Incidentally, the Hebrew word for "salvation" in Isaiah 62:11 is the same word for the name of Jesus in Hebrew - Yeshua, Y'shua or Yeshuach. Yeshua (Jesus in English) means "The Lord is salvation." "She shall bear a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus (Yeshua) (Matthew 1:21). For He shall save His people from their sins." In other words, God wants them to say to Jerusalem Yeshua or Jesus is coming! The chapter closes with the prediction that these Gentile ambassadors of Christ will prepare the way for the return of Y'shua the Savior in much the same way John the Baptist prepared Israel for the Messiah's first coming as predicted in Isaiah 40:3. This interpretation is confirmed as the right one by the fact that Isaiah 63 opens with the second coming of the Messiah in glory after His way has been prepared by His Gentile ambassadors of chapter 62 who come to share the Gospel of salvation to Israel and Jerusalem. The fact that this ministry and others are doing this very thing means prophecy is being fulfilled and Christ's coming is extremely close.

(4) Preaching the Gospel to Israel pays the debt we Gentile believers owe to the Jewish people. Paul said in Romans 15:27 that we are indebted to Israel because of the spiritual blessings they brought to the world. Those blessings that came through the Jewish people are the Bible, the Messiah, and the Judeo-Christian ethic on which the whole of Western civilization is built. The New Testament Church is obligated out of Christ's love to share the Gospel to His ethnic people-the Jews. What greater way to pay that spiritual debt of gratitude than to share with them the great riches of salvation given through Jesus Christ.

(5) To possibly prepare Jewish hearts for the Tribulation. The signs of the Lord's return are here to anybody who has a basic understanding of Bible prophecy. When you witness to an Israeli Jew in this late hour you could very well be planting Gospel seed that will save him after the Rapture and allow him to become part of the 144,000 Jewish evangelists mentioned in Revelation 7. God's Word will not return void. Jews we witness to now who do not get saved, can after the Rapture of the Church when they recall what we told them about this event and the tribulation period to follow.

(6) The Salvation of Israel is the heart cry of God and Jesus. Our Lord wept over the lost condition of Jerusalem saying, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing" (Matthew 23:37). Jesus lamented over the fact that they would reject Him as their Lord and Savior and suffer eternal loss and ruin. The Spirit of Christ spoke through the Apostle Paul in Romans 10:1 when he expressed that his ardent desire and prayer to God was that Israel might be saved. Jesus still weeps over the lost condition of Israel today. But He has purchased their salvation for them through His death on the cross. All they have to do, like anyone else, is believe and receive Y'shua as their Messiah to be saved. We as a Church must in love, understanding, and patience give them that opportunity by sharing the Gospel with them. If we don't they will remain lost without their true Messiah.

(7) We must take the Gospel to the Jews of Jerusalem because God commands it. Preaching the Gospel to the Jews of Jerusalem, Israel, and the world is not an option for Bible believing Christians. It is commanded by God in Isaiah 40:9-10. We are not only to bring the good tidings of salvation to Israel but we are to do it with boldness and strength. But to do this takes financial support from Christians who love the Jews and want to bless Israel with an opportunity for them to be saved by hearing and believing the Gospel. I can tell you from personal experience the Jewish people are open and willing to listen about why Jesus is the Messiah of Israel and the world. The only way I can carry out this last days Gospel outreach to Israel is if people like you obey the Holy Sprit's leading and give to this ministry. For "How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed. And how shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent" (Romans 10:14). What greater blessing to give to the Jewish people than to afford them the opportunity to hear the Gospel and believe it for salvation. God promises a special blessing on those who bless the Chosen People. In Genesis 12:3, the Lord says, "I will bless those who bless you." As you give into this ministry, God will bless you and cause prosperity to abound, "not that I seek a gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account" (Phil. 4:17).

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