With the worldwide rise in anti-Semitism, it's interesting
to see all the different groups who claim that they are really Israel and the
legitimate heirs to God's promises. The first and largest of these is the
Church.
Replacement Theology
Among Christians, there is a school of thought called
Replacement Theology, sometimes known as Supercessionism. This view holds that
when the Jews crucified the Messiah they forfeited all the promises God made to
Israel and those promises were transferred to the Church. The New Covenant
superceded the Old. Therefore, the Jews are no
longer God’s chosen people, and God does not have specific future plans for the
nation of Israel. The many promises made to Israel in the Bible are to be
fulfilled in the Christian Church. Therefore, the prophecies in Scripture
concerning the blessing and restoration of Israel to the Promised Land are
"spiritualized" or “allegorized” into promises of God's blessing for the
Church.
Adherents to Covenant and
Reformed Schools of Theology (many of the main line denominations) often
subscribe to Replacement Theology as well. For them the re-emergence of Israel
on the world scene serves no purpose and is a contradiction of their teaching.
This explains how an organization like the World Council of Churches can be so
anti-Israel in its world view, or how the Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) can
justify divesting itself of all financial holdings related to Israel.
It also explains how America's
highest elected officials can pursue a diplomatic policy of dividing Israel with
the Palestinians while professing Christianity. Even though the relationship
between forcing Israel to cede Biblical lands and the occurrence of so-called
natural disasters defies coincidence, they see no connection because they've
been taught that Israel's existence today carries no Biblical significance.
The Blood Of Ephraim
Then there's the Mormon Church, with its members claiming
to be descendants of the tribe of Ephraim (some include Manasseh as well) who
escaped from the Babylonian destruction by sailing boats to the Americas.
Theirs is the Temple of God, they say, and on land they've purchased in
Kirtland, Missouri the New Jerusalem will stand. Every practicing Mormon
receives a Patriarchal blessing that reveals his or her lineage in the House of
Israel.
Historically Mormons have referred to themselves as Israel,
and we who are not members are still called Gentiles. When I lived in Salt Lake
City and brought Jewish men like Gershon Solomon of the Temple Mount Faithful,
and Rabbi Chaim Richman of the Temple Institute to our ministry to teach us
about the Coming Temple, I took delight in the shocked looks I received as I
told them that they had come to the only place in the world where a Jew is
considered a Gentile.
According to Mormon eschatology, at a time when the US
constitution hangs by a thread, a Mormon leader will emerge on a white horse to
save the land and restore peace.
The Sword Of Islam
Among Moslems there's a view that since Ishmael was
Abraham's first-born son, he's the rightful beneficiary of God's covenant with
Abraham. Therefore the Promised Land belongs to his descendants, not Isaac's.
Others say that even if the inheritance does pass through Isaac, the current
residents of Israel are the descendants of European converts to Judaism and are
the sons of Gentiles, not Isaac, and have no claim to the Land. Whether they
adhere to one view or the other, all agree that at the End of the Age Jesus will
come back with Mohammed and help him rid the land of any remaining Jews. Even
the rocks and the trees will get involved saying, "O Moslem, there is a Jew
hiding behind me. Come and kill him."
What Does God Say?
It seems like just about everybody is claiming the
inheritance promised to Israel. But what does God say? Has Israel been
forgotten because of her disloyalty, to be replaced by the Church?
This is what the LORD says: "Only if the heavens above can be measured and
the foundations of the earth below be searched out will I reject all the
descendants of Israel because of all they have done," declares the LORD. (Jeremiah
31:37)
Why does Israel serve a future purpose in God's plan, after what she's done
in the past?
"Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says:
It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am going to do these things,
but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations
where you have gone. I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been
profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the
nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Sovereign LORD, when I show
myself holy through you before their eyes. (Ezekiel 36:22-23)
Will the Lord bring His people back to the land He promised them?
I will bring back my exiled people Israel; they will rebuild the ruined
cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they
will make gardens and eat their fruit. I will plant Israel in their own land,
never again to be uprooted from the land I have given them," says the LORD your
God. (Amos 9:14-15)
Will Israel once again be the pre-imminent nation on Earth?
This is what the Sovereign LORD says: "See, I will beckon to the Gentiles, I
will lift up my banner to the peoples; they will bring your sons in their arms
and carry your daughters on their shoulders. Kings will be your foster fathers,
and their queens your nursing mothers. They will bow down before you with their
faces to the ground; they will lick the dust at your feet. Then you will know
that I am the LORD; those who hope in me will not be disappointed." (Isaiah
49:22-23)
What role will the rocks and the trees really play in this?
You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills
will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their
hands. (Isaiah 55:12)
So once again we see the contrast between man's view and God's view.
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,"
declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways
higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)
Think about it. How can we believe that God will keep all His promises to
us, while at the same time believing that he broke all His promises to Israel?
Sure, they don't deserve His loyalty, but then again, what makes us think that
we do?
God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change
his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? (Numbers
23:19)
It's a good thing, because we're betting our eternal destiny on His
trustworthiness. Watching Him perform on His promises to Israel gives us great
comfort, because by the time be know for sure that He's going to perform on His
promises to us, it'll be too late. Selah 06-03-07
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