Replacing Israel--An End Times DeceptionProphecy Chat by Sharon L. Clemens

     Our childhood Sunday School lessons were filled with the heroic stories of the children of Israel and their God. Jesus, our Savior, is a Jew, born in Bethlehem, south of Jerusalem. The Gospel of the Good News that Christ came to bear witness to the truth was to be given first to the Jews and then to the Gentiles. How, then, can the church turn away from God's people? And yet, the growing false teaching of Replacement Theology does just that.

     To those who believe in a pre-tribulation rapture of the church AND THE LITERAL INTERPRETATION OF BIBLE PROPHECY, leaving Israel out of the end times makes no sense. When the church is raptured, it is Israel that God will use as a tool to complete His prophetic plan. As Thomas Ice states,

          "The Church is unique in the plan of God and separate from His plan for Israel... Israel--not the church--will fulfill its national destiny as a separate entity, during the millennium [after the rapture and tribulation]. The New Testament teaches that the church was an unrevealed mystery in the Old Testament [Romans 16:25, 26; Ephesians 3:2-10; Colossians 1:25-27], which is why it began suddenly, without warning [Acts 2], and why this age will end suddenly and mysteriously at the rapture. The church has no nonresurrected, earthly prophetic destiny beyond the rapture. The New Testament teaches that the church will be removed at the rapture before the time of the tribulation begins [1 Thessalonians 1:10; 5:9; Revelation 3:10] and taken by Christ to the Father's house [John 14:1-3]. The church will be in heaven during the tribulation, as represented by the 24 elders [Revelation 4:4, 9-11; 7:13, 14; 19:4], and during the seven years it will undergo the bema judgment in preparation for accompanying Christ at His descent at the second coming [Revelation 19:11-14]. The heavenly preparation of the church during the tribulation is also pictured as 'His bride has made herself ready' [Revelation 19:7] for the marriage supper of the Lamb. This takes place at the beginning of the millennium, after the second coming." [1]

     The position that Israel has no relevance in end times prophecy is referred to as REPLACEMENT THEOLOGY or RECONSTRUCTIONISM. Those who hold to this view believe Israel lost its status as God's chosen people by breaking God's covenants. They do not believe the modern nation of Israel is the fulfillment of God's promise to regather His people in the end times to prepare for the kingdom, and they SPIRITUALIZE God's promises to Israel rather than taking His prophecies LITERALLY. Therefore, they believe the church has replaced Israel and will fulfill God's remaining plan.

IN DOING SO, THE CHURCH COMMITS THE SAME SIN CHRIST EXPOSED IN THE PHARISEES--PRIDE AND SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS.


          Ice says this about Israel in prophecy:

     "Much detail is given prophetically concerning God's future plans for Israel. When we, as the church, take these prophecies to Israel literally, we see a great prophetic agenda that lies ahead for Israel as a people and nation. When the church spiritualizes these promises, as it has done too often in history, Israel's prophetic uniqueness is subsumed and merged unrealistically into the church. God has an amazing and blessed future for individual Jews and national Israel. ...God's promises to Abraham and Israel are unconditional and guaranteed through the various covenants. A definite pattern for Israel's future history was prophesied in Deuteronomy before the Jews set even one foot into the land [Deuteronomy 4; 28-31]. [2]

     Deuteronomy outlines Israel's regathering of the Jews to their homeland during the latter days and their purging in the tribulation [Zechariah 13]. At the end of the tribulation, Israel would be regenerated by the Holy Spirit and recognize their Messiah [Zechariah 12:10ff; Romans 11]. Christ returns to the earth--to Israel--and fights for Israel against the combined armies of the world at the Battle of Armageddon. Israel will then serve Christ during His millennial reign on the earth with Jerusalem as His capital city.

ISRAEL IS CRUCIAL TO GOD'S END TIME PLANS.   God's unconditional promises stand. He does not break His word.

     Ezekiel 36:21-28; 32 -- "But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations wherever they went. Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: 'I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name's sake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went. And I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, ... For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean;... Not for your sake do I do this, says the Lord God, let it be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel!"

     It is not for Israel's sake that the Lord will restore and redeem them in the end times; it is for the sake of His holy name, to fulfill His promises. Our Lord cut this unconditional covenant with Abraham in Genesis 12 and 15 in which God promised to give to Abraham's descendants a great nation, a great people, and a blessing. In order to confirm this covenant or contract, Abraham was to cut in half several animals, shedding their precious blood. According to custom, both parties entering into the contract would walk through the blood. But God put Abraham into a deep sleep in order that He could pass through the blood alone. Therefore, the covenant is an unconditional covenant that is not dependant on Israel's obedience. It stands on the basis of God's word alone.


ISRAEL--THE PRE-EMINENT SIGN OF THE RETURN OF CHRIST
     The most important sign that we are nearing the return of Jesus Christ to the earth is the existence of Israel as an independent nation. Israel is nearing the celebration of its May 14th birthday as a nation--re-born in 1948 after 2,000 years of non-existence. In order for all remaining prophecy to be fulfilled, Israel must be a literal nation of God's chosen people existing in their promised land grant.

*     The coming of the false kingdom of Antichrist during the Tribulation cannot happen without the existence of Israel. [Daniel 9:27] He, Antichrist, will make a 7-year covenant or confirm a 7-year treaty with Israel. It is this covenant that marks the countdown of the 7-year Tribulation.
*     Antichrist cannot commit the "abomination of desolation" in which he erects an image in the Jewish Temple unless there is a nation of Israel that rebuilds a Jewish Temple to Jehovah God on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. [Daniel 9:27; Matthew 24:15] This abomination to the true God marks the half-way point of the Tribulation.
*     The War of Armageddon which culminates in the Battle of Armageddon that converges at the gates of Jerusalem cannot take place unless there is a restored nation of Israel. [Zechariah 12:2-9] In the madness of fallen man, the armies of the world make their final attack against Jerusalem; God alone stands to defend Israel.
*     The return of Christ to the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem in order to fight for Israel in the Battle of Armageddon cannot take place unless there is a nation of Israel to defend. The Tribulation is defined as the Time of Jacob's Trouble, a definitive way to say it is a time of trouble for the tribe of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the Jewish people. [Zechariah 14:1-4; Jeremiah 30:7] During the Tribulation, God will not only pour out His wrath on a Christ-rejecting world as they come against Israel; He will also purge all unrighteousness from His people, Israel. [Zechariah 13]
*     The taking of the Temple Mount, Mount Zion in Jerusalem, by Jesus Christ at His return, cannot take place unless Israel is in existence as a nation. [Revelation 14:1] The taking of the Temple Mount signifies the taking of the world. Christ returns victorious, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, to take back His creation. [Rev. 19]
*     The Lord will establish His Kingdom in Israel with His capital city in Jerusalem in that day. "Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion! For behold, I am coming and I will dwell in your midst," says the LORD. "...And the LORD will take possession of Judah as His inheritance in the Holy Land, and will again choose Jerusalem." [Zechariah 2:10-13] He will come to His people who are already established in their promised land and will dwell in their midst.
*     The return of the Jewish people to their ancient homeland after 2,000 years of global wandering is a miracle of modern history. In the book of Amos, the prophet revealed that when Israel is regathered in the end times, they shall never be pulled up from the land the LORD has given them again. His return to reign will insure this truth. [Amos 9:15]

As one author expressed it, Israel is the epicenter of the earth; Jerusalem is the epicenter of Israel; and the Temple Mount [Mt. Zion] is the epicenter of Jerusalem. The existence of Israel as a literal nation in the end times is absolutely paramount to the fulfillment of prophecy.

Israel is the center of end times prophecy concerning the return of Jesus Christ to rule and reign.

Why, then, does the DECEIVED church seek to replace LITERAL ISRAEL with the Church?

REPLACEMENT THEOLOGY is in itself a sign of the end times.

It is Satan's attempt to deceive the followers of Jesus Christ and leave them unprepared for His return.

In Him We Wait, Work, and Watch,
Sharon

[1] Fast Facts on Bible Prophecy From A to Z, Thomas Ice & Timothy J. Demy. Harvest House Publishers, 1997, p. 43.

[2] Ibid. p. 103.

[Prophecy Chat is a weekly commentary of current events in light of Bible prophecy. Sharon L. Clemens is an evangelical, premillennial, dispensational teacher of eschatology. She can be reached for comment or questions by e-mail at farmgrove@verizon.net]