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