Where I stand on Israel...and why

[nebula]

Jesus never used the word "church."

[Matthitjah]

Jesus never used the word "church."

Amen sis!

He used the word Kingdom.

[OneLight]

Jesus never used the word "church."

Amen sis!

He used the word Kingdom.

When we are told that the Kingdom is within us (Luke 17:20-21 "Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said,

[nebula]

Jesus never used the word "church."

Amen sis!

He used the word Kingdom.

When we are told that the Kingdom is within us (Luke 17:20-21 "Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said,

[lekh l'kha]

Mat 21:43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.

"Until"............

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one killing the prophets and stoning those who are sent to her, how often would I have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you would not! Behold, your house is left to you desolate. For I say to you, You shall not see Me from now on until you say, "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord." (Mat 23:37-39)

So Peter said to the Jews,

"Therefore repent and convert so that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. And He shall send Jesus Christ, who before was proclaimed to you, whom Heaven truly needs to receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of His holy prophets since the world began." (Act 3:19-21)

"A Psalm of David. Jehovah said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand until I place Your enemies as Your footstool." (Psa 110:1)

"And they shall fall by the sword's edge. And shall be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem shall be trodden down by the nations until the times of the Gentiles is fulfilled." (Luk 21:24).

"For I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, lest you should be wise within yourselves; that blindness in part has happened to Israel, until the fullness of the nations has comes in." (Rom 11:25).

"For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first-fruit, and afterward they who are Christ's at His coming; then is the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God, even the Father; when He makes to cease all rule and all authority and power. for it is right for Him to reign until He has put all the enemies under His feet. The last enemy made to cease is death." (1Co 15:22-26)

After the millennium of the reign of Christ ruling all nations with a rod of iron:

"And death and hell were cast into the Lake of Fire. This is the second death." (Rev 20:14).

When shall He begin reigning all nations with a rod of iron?

So Peter said to the Jews,

"Therefore repent and convert so that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. And He shall send Jesus Christ, who before was proclaimed to you, whom Heaven truly needs to receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of His holy prophets since the world began." (Act 3:19-21)

And Paul said,

"For I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, lest you should be wise within yourselves; that blindness in part has happened to Israel, until the fullness of the nations has comes in." (Rom 11:25).

And Jesus said,

"And they shall fall by the sword's edge. And shall be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem shall be trodden down by the nations until the times of the Gentiles is fulfilled." (Luk 21:24).

Because Jesus said, "

For I say to you, You shall not see Me from now on until you say, "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord." (Mat 23:37-39)

So Paul said (to the Gentiles),

"Indeed as regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes. But as regards the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sakes. For the free gifts and calling of God are without repentance." (Rom 11:28-29)

Because God said,

"... Neither shall your name any more be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham. For I have made you a father of many nations. And I will make you exceedingly fruitful, greatly so, and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come out of you. And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your seed after you in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God to you and to your seed after you. And I will give the land to you in which you are a stranger, and to your seed after you, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession. And I will be their God. " (Gen 17:5-8)

And because God cannot lie or say one thing and mean another, Peter said to the Jews,

"Therefore repent and convert so that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. And He shall send Jesus Christ, who before was proclaimed to you, whom Heaven truly needs to receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of His holy prophets since the world began. For Moses truly said to the fathers, "The Lord your God shall raise up a Prophet to you from your brothers, One like me. You shall hear Him in all things, whatever He may say to you. And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be destroyed from among the people." And also all the prophets from Samuel and those following after, as many as spoke, have likewise foretold of these days. You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, "And in your Seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed." Having raised up His son Jesus, God sent Him to you first, to bless you in turning every one of you away from his iniquities. " (Act 3:19-26)

So you see, when "the times of the Gentiles has been fulfilled" and "the fullness of the Gentiles has come in" and the Jews have repented of their unbelief and call upon their Messiah - their only Messiah - when Jerusalem is surrounded by the armies of all nations, then:

"And Jehovah shall go out and fight against those nations, like the day He fought in the day of battle. And His feet shall stand in that day on the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall divide from its middle, from the east and to the west, a very great valley. And half of the mountain shall move toward the north, and half of it toward the south." (Zec 14:3-4)

Because our Lord ascended into heaven from the Mount of Olives and He will come back to the Mount of Olives, because the angels said,

"... Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into the heaven? This same Jesus who is taken up from you into Heaven, will come in the way you have seen Him going into Heaven." (Act 1:11)

immediately after Jesus said,

"And He said to them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power, the Holy Spirit coming upon you. And you shall be witnesses to Me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and to the end of the earth." (Act 1:7-8)

Because Jesus said,

"And this gospel of the kingdom shall be proclaimed in all the world as a witness to all nations. And then the end shall come."

(Mat 24:14)

And so when the apostles asked,

"... Lord, do You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" (Act 1:6), Jesus said,

"And He said to them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power, the Holy Spirit coming upon you. And you shall be witnesses to Me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and to the end of the earth." (Act 1:7-8)

And then He was taken up into heaven - and now He is seated at the right hand of the Father waiting for the day He will return to the Mount of Olives and make His enemies His footstool:

"And Jehovah shall go out and fight against those nations (which will have gathered once again against Jerusalem), like the day He fought in the day of battle. And His feet shall stand in that day on the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall divide from its middle, from the east and to the west, a very great valley. And half of the mountain shall move toward the north, and half of it toward the south." (Zec 14:3-4)

It's very easy to understand, really - because Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever, and our God does not change His mind about His covenant with Abraham and his seed.

The land of Judah is the inheritance of the son of David, and He will rule all nations with a rod of iron from His throne in Jerusalem - because he has never changed His mind about what He swore to Abraham and promised Moses and the prophets.

[Littlelambseativy]

Throughout the Old Testament(Old Covenant), Israel has been compared to an unfaithful wife, following false gods despite the goodness of God to her and in the New Testament(New Testament), the Church is compared or refered to as the Bride of Christ. This is the only way I have ever looked at Israel. God will NEVER abandon her. She will yet see and aknowledge just Who her Messiah was and still is.

Here is a Jack Kelly's explanation of this same topic,

~~~~~~~~~

The symbolic references to Israel as God's unfaithful wife and the Church as the virgin bride of Christ are meant to demonstrate the differences in the Old and New Covenants, because in truth the Church has been just as unfaithful as Israel. The difference is the cross, which makes us appear to be without spot or blemish even though we aren't.

Put another way, the central issue between God and Israel was obedience whereas between Christ and the Church it's faith. Paul wrote that no one could ever be declared righteous by keeping the Law, because the Law can only make us more conscious of our sin (Romans 3:20) So if we're being compared to the standard of the Law we can only be pronounced unfaithful.

But then came a righteousness from God apart from the Law, imputed to us by faith in the completed work of Jesus Christ. This faith lets God see us as if we had never sinned, as if we're as righteous as He is. It's what makes us appear to be as pure as a virgin bride (Romans 3:21-22, Ephes. 5:25-27).

Isaiah 62 speaks of the Millennium when Israel, having accepted the New Covenant, will no longer be called unfaithful.

[lekh l'kha]

By the way, Bold Believer,

I looked at the language used in Mt 21:43, specifically the words given and nation.

Mat 21:43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.

Didomi (given) conveys the idea of presenting someone something to be entrusted with or to administer.

Ethnos refers to a people group, usually the Gentiles in Scripture.

The Head of the "ethnos" "Church" is Jesus, and he is not an "ethnos" - He is a Jew. He is still as fully man and as fully God as He always was and shall be - the anti-type of Joseph and of Moses - who became princes of the Gentiles and yet identified fully with their Jewish heritage, their Jewish culture and their Jewish brethren, though they took a Gentile bride. Jesus is just as fully man as He is fully God, and he identifies fully with His Jewish heritage, Jewish culture and Jewish brethren, and like Joseph He yearns for them and mourns for them with such a deep yearning and mourning that when the reconciliation finally comes, the whole "house of Pharaoh" will hear His loud sobs as He embraces them again - and if the Lord were to walk on earth this December passed your "church", and you had to invite Him in to celebrate Christmas, He will look you up and down and tell you you can keep your festival with pagan roots which He wants no part of, and walk straight across to the Jewish part of town to enter a Messianic congregation and celebrate Chanukkah with His brethren.

[lekh l'kha]

Throughout the Old Testament(Old Covenant), Israel has been compared to an unfaithful wife, following false gods despite the goodness of God to her and in the New Testament(New Testament), the Church is compared or refered to as the Bride of Christ. This is the only way I have ever looked at Israel. God will NEVER abandon her. She will yet see and aknowledge just Who her Messiah was and still is.

Here is a Jack Kelly's explanation of this same topic,

~~~~~~~~~

The symbolic references to Israel as God's unfaithful wife and the Church as the virgin bride of Christ are meant to demonstrate the differences in the Old and New Covenants, because in truth the Church has been just as unfaithful as Israel. The difference is the cross, which makes us appear to be without spot or blemish even though we aren't.

Put another way, the central issue between God and Israel was obedience whereas between Christ and the Church it's faith. Paul wrote that no one could ever be declared righteous by keeping the Law, because the Law can only make us more conscious of our sin (Romans 3:20) So if we're being compared to the standard of the Law we can only be pronounced unfaithful.

But then came a righteousness from God apart from the Law, imputed to us by faith in the completed work of Jesus Christ. This faith lets God see us as if we had never sinned, as if we're as righteous as He is. It's what makes us appear to be as pure as a virgin bride (Romans 3:21-22, Ephes. 5:25-27).

Isaiah 62 speaks of the Millennium when Israel, having accepted the New Covenant, will no longer be called unfaithful.

[lekh l'kha]

Of course, Bold believer, you would be welcome to join Him where He is, but would you want to? Or would you rather continue to hold onto your tradition?

By the way, Bold Believer,

I looked at the language used in Mt 21:43, specifically the words given and nation.

Mat 21:43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.

Didomi (given) conveys the idea of presenting someone something to be entrusted with or to administer.

Ethnos refers to a people group, usually the Gentiles in Scripture.

The Head of the "ethnos" "Church" is Jesus, and he is not an "ethnos" - He is a Jew. He is still as fully man and as fully God as He always was and shall be - the anti-type of Joseph and of Moses - who became princes of the Gentiles and yet identified fully with their Jewish heritage, their Jewish culture and their Jewish brethren, though they took a Gentile bride. Jesus is just as fully man as He is fully God, and he identifies fully with His Jewish heritage, Jewish culture and Jewish brethren, and like Joseph He yearns for them and mourns for them with such a deep yearning and mourning that when the reconciliation finally comes, the whole "house of Pharaoh" will hear His loud sobs as He embraces them again - and if the Lord were to walk on earth this December passed your "church", and you had to invite Him in to celebrate Christmas, He will look you up and down and tell you you can keep your festival with pagan roots which He wants no part of, and walk straight across to the Jewish part of town to enter a Messianic congregation and celebrate Chanukkah with His brethren.

[OneLight]

Jesus never used the word "church."

Amen sis!

He used the word Kingdom.

When we are told that the Kingdom is within us (Luke 17:20-21 "Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said,