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‘…Comfort one another with these words.’ 1 Thessalonians 4:18 LSB
One of the marks of a healthy Christian is to consistently study Scripture, commune with the saints (other believers), and come to the Lord in prayer unceasingly. The result of these practices should often lead us to see the need for adjustment, strengthening, and (at times) total realignment of our beliefs. In my studies over the past few years, I have seen the need for a stronger stance on Biblical eschatology than just ‘it’s a complex subject and, as long as we don’t believe heresy, we shouldn’t be concerned
with it too much‘.
About 10 years ago, if asked, I would have stated that I loosely subscribed to a view termed as Replacement Theology (or Supercessionism) which can be traced back to Augustine in North Africa as well as others. It teaches, essentially, that Israel’s repeated disobedience and apostasy caused God to replace ancient Israel as God’s true Israel and that Christians (including Gentiles) have replaced the biological bloodline of ancient Israelites as the new people of God. Supercessionism, when carried out to its logical conclusions, portrays God as having broken His Biblical promises & covenants with the Jewish people and, instead, in turning to the Christian church to fulfil and keep all those promises originally destined for the Jewish people, He has forsaken those that He repeatedly said in Scripture He would never forsake. It is clear throughout Old testament prophecies that God elected Israel to be saved, inherit the land, become a blessing to the earth, rule from Jerusalem, and so on. These covenants and promises are all throughout the Old Testament. And so, this boils down to election, a hot button topic in Christian theology.
When studying Scripture, it is vital that we see Scripture as interpreting all else and never allow us to be deceived into interpreting Scripture based on what we see outside of it. Doing so leads to Biblical misapplication, taking passages out of context, and other dangerous errors. After deep research into Scripture and removing preconceived interpretations and assumptions which had been formed outside Scripture, it became clear to me that this doctrine of Supercessionism is in error and the overwhelming evidence of God’s unbroken promise to the people of Israel became clear. Passages throughout Scripture including Zechariah 12 – 14, Ezekiel 36 – 39, Romans 9 – 11, and others removed all possibility that God was finished with Israel or that He broke His covenant with them due to their failure to recognise Jesus Christ’s first coming (apostasy). In fact, Jeremiah 31:37 speaks directly as if to counter Supercessionism in this rhetorical passage:
Thus says Yahweh,“If the heavens above can be measuredAnd the foundations of the earth searched out below,Then I will also reject all the seed of IsraelFor all that they have done,” declares Yahweh.Jer. 31:37 LSB
Understanding the context of that passage and the rhetorical sentiments of the first portion of verse 37, I concluded, therefore, that God will not reject all the seed of Israel. I also saw that the Old Testament, which I had felt to be simply a tool or key with which to interpret the New Testament by, is far more significant than simply a key for the Gentile church. The promises in the Old Testament inform the significance of the New Testament and many other indispensable aspects but the Old Testament is also crucial in other ways. Not least of which, those in Old Testament times who read and wrote the ancient books of God knew them to be true and trustworthy. To take a position of Supercessionism would necessitate that the writers and readers of the Old Testament would have, in their day, been consuming prophecies, promises, and alliterations that were known, by God, to be untrue (due to His omniscience). One author says it this way,
‘This, then, means that the Old Testament can’t be interpreted on its own; that people who are writing it and reading it can’t have any idea what it is that they’re writing and reading. If Old Testament promises were actually for the church, and not for ethnic Jews, ethnic Israel, then those Old Testament promises are meaningless; they are utterly unintelligible, and they are irrelevant to the Old Testament reader. But this is essentially what you’re left with if you take an amillennial view; the New Testament is the starting point for understanding the Old Testament, and what you’ve just done is damage any meaningful interpretation of the Old Testament on its own. And this is basically what leads to what we call spiritualizing the Scripture; spiritualizing the Scripture – that is, taking texts out of their literal sense, spiritualizing them into some other than literal sense.‘1John MacArthur
But what put me on the fast track more recently, is reading Romans 11 with renewed eyes.
Before diving into Romans 11, there is a prerequisite to all of this. I firmly believe that the Word of God is interpreted literally. There is no question about this and much of the deconstructionism and other apostasy we see around us today stems from a belief that the Bible is not literal in much of its accounts and instruction. Examining yourself and searching the Scriptures is required and necessary in the Christian walk. Deconstructing Scripture and spiritualising Biblical accounts is not part of this. If you say that the Bible does not, in fact, mean what it says, all definitive instruction is lost. All precision is nullified. If you take Scripture and say it may not mean what is says, you have just broken the tools of Scripture and have no ability to understand any portion of it with certainty. Now, of course, many will ask if I believe every word of the Bible is literal in a tangible way. They will mock, in their misunderstanding of what Biblical literalism is, and ask if I believe that the world is a flat circle, resting on immovable pillars, and with monsters that guard the sea. These arguments display an ignorance (willful or otherwise) of Scripture and the full meaning of passages like this. For example, the pillars are an analogy to the earth’s stability and the fact that it cannot be moved off of its intended course as set in creation. And again, the sea monsters are simply references to Leviathan which was some type of unknown & terrifying creature of the sea of which there are countless throughout history. The Biblical author was making reference to this creature to bring about a point about man’s control (or lack of it) in the world. If man cannot control Leviathan, how then can he contend with the Lord? Isaiah 40’s reference to the word ‘circle’, here, refers to the spherical shape of Planet Earth and it simply describes that the Lord is actively involved in His creation continually. As He looks down, people of the earth appear as grasshoppers. The author waxes eloquent with his speech but still fills each meaning with truth and instruction. The fast jabs at Biblical literalism fall flat because they are conjured up from emotion-driven dislike of Scripture’s truth.
Contextual study of Scripture means sincere and dedicated time in the Word; something that those who despise Biblical literalism will not easily engage in.
Understanding of the tone, rhetorical usage, poetry, and other aspects that define what we are reading is key. Naturally, there is no woman with an unnaturally long neck made out of ivory (Song of Solomon 7:4). This is poetry & prose. But there are other portions of Scripture that many try to claim is poetry but, unlike Song of Solomon and other passages, these references have none of the hallmarks of Hebrew poetry. Creation is another prime example of this. The creation account is narrative history and is completely literal. There is no prose, poetry, or other analogous features that are found in this account to leave room for other interpretations of the Biblical creation of the planet on which we live.
And so, continuing with Romans 11’s revelation to me in my studies, my preconceived notions of Replacement Theology had no footing at all with which to stand on once Romans 11 was laid out before me in its narrative & literal manner. The words jumped off the page at me: ‘Has God rejected His people? May it never be!‘ (v1) And again in v 11, ‘did [the Jews] stumble so as to fall? May it never be! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous.’ Reading further through Romans 11, without external interpretations from current events or preconceived beliefs, I saw clear descriptions, laid out in basic storybook format, of what had begun at Christ’s 1st coming and continues on to the present, namely that, ‘a partial hardening has happened to Israel…’. I read on to see the future. ‘Until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved‘ (v 25, 26). Interpreting things around me with the literal truth of Scripture made it crystal clear that, right now, a partial time of unbelief has come over Israel. There was no reason to be found in Scripture to believe that Israel means something other than Israel any more than Gentiles actually means Martians. It is a partial hardening or unbelief because we are, of course, still seeing a small trickle of Jewish people coming to Christ. But then, the moment that the last Gentile to be saved has been saved and the rapture of the believing church is triggered, Israel would be saved. I read and re-read the passage and others over and over. It didn’t say some of Israel. It didn’t say a few Jews like I had believed in years past. It says all Israel will be saved. Studying Romans 11 and the other passages in the Old & New Testaments showed me that Israel is the crux for eschatology. If your eschatological view of Israel is off base, the rest of your structure will be off base and unstable. Without the key of understanding Israel’s future as laid out literally in Scripture, it is impossible to grasp the rest of Scripture’s teaching about the last days.
I have believed in the Doctrines of Grace (commonly called Calvinism) for many years. This is the fundamental understanding that God has predestined all things from the beginning of time until the end and nothing happens beyond the absolute control and pre-planning of God. But, despite fighting for this doctrine in the face of Arminianism (the belief that God has not elected anyone to be saved but rather that man’s free will enables him to choose Christ or not), I stopped at the election of the church and did not see the same as true for Israel. And yet, the same God and the same terms are employed for both Israel and the church’s predestination for salvation. Why believe one is elect, but the other is not if God says both are? ‘Because,’ as the previously referenced author states, ‘if you believe in divine sovereign election, then you have to believe that as God will be faithful to His promises to His church, He will also be faithful to His promises to His elect nation Israel.‘2 As I stated earlier, election is a very hot button topic in Christian theology. But, Calvinists (those who adhere strongly to the Doctrines of Grace) are key proponents of election. And yet, many of these same proponents, while believing God has elected them to salvation, state that God’s election of Israel has fallen flat and they are no longer elect. In fact, many subscribe to Supercessionism which states that Israel has been permanently removed from the plan, due to their apostasy, and all promises and covenants have been shifted over to the church and it is now elect. The kingdom promised is spiritualised into a solely heavenly one and the earthly kingdom promises are discounted. Now, to be clear, by its very definition, election is not a temporary state. And so, Calvinists should be the very first to recognise Israel’s election still fully in place, despite their apostasy in the present time. To truly be a Calvinist and understand God’s election for the church, we must first understand God’s election of Israel. And, upon understanding God’s election of Israel, unless we manipulate Scripture to avoid this, we quickly see the blocks fall into place to form a solid Premillennialist view. By saying all of this, I am not calling into question the salvation of Supercessionists. I want to be clear that this does not appear, at this level, to be a salvific matter and, as such, is not touching on salvation of the proponent or denier of these things. However, those that do adhere to Supercessionism are mired in much deeper and confusing eschatology due to their denial of Israel’s future in the last days. Scriptural understanding is fundamentally shifted from a normative understanding to an interpretive one. This changes everything. Many building blocks are fundamentally altered in this view and many square pegs are forced into round holes when laying out Replacement Theology. Scripture is treated like a cypher which must be unencrypted. Further, without going deep into church history, it is interesting to note that John Calvin also struggled with this view and was heavily influenced by Supercessionism himself, having studied under the works of Augustine (mentioned above).
My studies, starting in about 2015, have now culminated in a shift from replacement theology, having found no proof of this in Scripture and ample proof to the very contrary. Today, my firm belief can be defined in what is often termed Premillennialism. However, with that term comes some needed clarification. Notably, a clarification would be the common association of Premillennial theology with Dispensationalism. While some aspects of the view are orthodox and not arguable, I disagree with many of the more radical Dispensational claims such as the 7 dispensations, 2 kingdoms, more than one New Covenant, more than one way of salvation, discontinuity between the Biblical Old & New Testaments, and so on. These are flatly wrong and gross misunderstandings of Scripture. My studies also informed that Scripture definitively teaches of a literal rapture of all believers (which could take place at any time as there is nothing prophetic in Scripture left to take place before this occurs). One notable caveat with this (as images of Kirk Cameron and empty airplanes spring to your mind) is that I do not see Scripture giving us exegesis of this event with moment by moment plays of how this will unfold. It is simply an event that the Lord has orchestrated into future events to remove His bride from the earth before the Great Tribulation occurs. After this, Christ will return to the earth in His second coming and Satan will be bound for a literal 1,000 years during the millennial kingdom. Again, there is no reason to believe this is not literal and, as such, should not be spiritualised away like so many other passages written in the same way as things which have already come to pass since being written. If those things came to pass literally, there is absolutely no reason to believe that the other things will not. At the end of the literal 1,000 years, Scripture lays out that Satan will be released and will lead a rebellion which will be completely crushed by God and the new heaven, and the new earth will be set up. At this point, the elect (true Christians who are saved by Christ) will live in eternity with God while all who are not truly saved by Christ will forever be relegated to total & terrifying true separation from God and thus be subjected to the removal of all the restraints of evil which will make way for the most despicable and unimaginable torment and agony on every being placed there by the sovereign God. This is hell.
All these things and countless other Scripture passages have monumentally altered my understanding of Israel’s place in history and, more specifically, the Jewish people in the future of the world and the end times. Rather than inadvertently allowing the world to inform my eschatological views of Scripture, Scripture actively informs my eschatological worldview, and this results in countless pieces of the puzzle fitting together in a perfect and beautiful way. No longer are questions in eschatology like a riddle which must be solved & reconciled with my beliefs. No longer are certain portions of God’s Word treated like a code which must be deciphered. Now, these passages of Scripture fit perfectly with the rest of Scripture, history, and even current events, having been understood through the lens of Biblical literalism.
I close with a quote by the hymnwriter Horatius Bonar:
The prophecies concerning Israel are the key to all the rest. True principles of interpretation in regard to them will aid us in disentangling and illustrating all prophecy. False principles as to them…that is Israel…will most thoroughly perplex and overcloud the whole Word of God.I am one of those who believe in Israel’s restoration and conversion, who receive it as a future certainty, that all Israel shall be gathered and that all Israel shall be saved. As I believe in Israel’s present degradation, so do I believe in Israel’s coming glory and preeminence. I believe that God’s purpose regarding our world can only be understood by understanding God’s purpose as to Israel.I believe that all human calculations as to the earth’s future, whether political or scientific, or philosophical, or religious, must be failures if not taking for their data or basis God’s great purpose regarding the latter day standing of Israel.I believe that it is not possible to enter God’s mind regarding the destiny of man without taking as our key or our guide His mind regarding that ancient nation, that nation whose history so far from being ended or nearly ended is only about to begin.He only to whom the future belongs can reveal it. He only can announce the principles on which that future is to be developed. And if He set Israel as the great nation of the future and Jerusalem as the great metropolis of earth, who are we that without philosophy of science we should set aside the divine arrangements and substitute for them a theory of man? Human guesses concerning the future are the most uncertain of all uncertainties and human hopes built upon these guesses are sure to turn out the most disappointing if not the most disastrous of all failures.I believe that the sons of Abraham are to re-inherit Palestine and that the forfeited fertility will yet return to that land, that the wilderness and the solitary places shall be glad for them, and the desert will rejoice and blossom as the rose.I believe that meanwhile Israel shall not only be wanderers, but that everywhere only a remnant, a small remnant shall be saved. And that it is for the gathering in of this remnant that our missionaries go forth.I believe that these times of ours are the times of the Gentiles and that Jerusalem and Israel shall be trodden down of the Gentiles till the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.I believe that the completion of what the Apostle calls the fullness of the Gentiles will be the signal for the judgments which are to usher in the crisis of earth’s history and the salvation of Israel and the long-expected Kingdom.
Disclaimer: Although there are differences between Replacement Theology & Amillennialism and not all who hold to one hold to the other, the groundwork of Amillennialism and Replacement Theology are fundamentally linked. Conversely, the doctrine of predestination and the Doctrines of Grace are fundamentally linked with Premillennialism although, again, there are those who hold to one who seem not to hold to the other.
So what else does the Bible say about Israel?
There will be a mass return of Jews to the land of Israel (Deuteronomy 30:3; Isaiah 43:6; Ezekiel 34:11-13; 36:24; 37:1-14).
The Antichrist will make a 7-year covenant of “peace” with Israel (Isaiah 28:18; Daniel 9:27).
The temple will be rebuilt in Jerusalem (Daniel 9:27; Matthew 24:15; 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4; Revelation 11:1).
The Antichrist will break his covenant with Israel, and worldwide persecution of Israel will result (Daniel 9:27; 12:1, 11; Zechariah 11:16; Matthew 24:15, 21; Revelation 12:13). Israel will be invaded (Ezekiel chapters 38-39).
Israel will finally recognize Jesus as their Messiah (Zechariah 12:10). Israel will be regenerated, restored, and regathered (Jeremiah 33:8; Ezekiel 11:17; Romans 11:26).3
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