Expert: Cooper P. Abrams III - 5/20/2007

Question
Hi Pastor Abrams,

I wanted some clarification on Jewish people/Israel.  I understand that Jews are God's chosen people and Israel will always be protected from its enemies.  
How do Jews benefit today from being God's chosen people? As, if they don't accept Christ, they will not spend eternal life with God.  Regarding Israel, why does God protect it when they don't believe in His son (are blasphemers)?
I have always supported Israel because I knew they were under God's protection (or maybe I'm wrong on that!), I'm just not sure why.  Thank you for any clarification!

Answer
Hi Rachael,
    Many people today are confused about the position of Israel in God’s plans.   Reformed and Replacement Theology have grossly distorted what the Bible plain states.    Reformed and Replacement theology falsely teach  that God has rejected Israel because they rejected Jesus as the Messiah and that God has now given the promises to Israel to the “church”.     They conclude that the many prophecies that God made to Israel, as God’s Chosen people, are to be allegorized and given a spiritual interpretation, rather than accepting literally what God has said in the Bible. That is a serious mistake and gives an erroneous picture of Israel in God’s plans.    To be able to answer your questions  I needed to make mention of the above and also how we should correctly interpret God’s word.
         We are to interpret the Bible literally and accept the meaning of scripture as what it actually states.   Allegory is used in the Bible but rarely and when it is, it is clearly stated.  (See Galatians 4:24 for an example)   So to correctly interpret God’s word we must accept what God actually stated or literally interpret God’s word in is grammatical, historical, and cultural context.
         I have an article at http://bible-truth.org/Principles.htm  titled “Biblical Principles for Interpreting the God's Word”.  The article will explain in detail how to biblically interpret God’s word.
       Now to Israel.   In Genesis 12:1-3 God called Abram (Abraham) to be the father of a new nation that God would create.     God did not chose an existing nation on earth, but brought into being a special nation to carry out His plan for the redemption of mankind.    God specifically told Abram “And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed..”    (Genesis 12:3)     In Galatians 3:8-16 God inspired the Apostle Paul to explain to us what the passage means.      He said the word “seed” was singular and referred prophetically to the Jesus Christ.   Galatians 3:16 is the key verse.
       God made an unconditional covenant with Israel that He would make them a great nation (Gen. 12:2).  God’s promise was not conditional on the Jews believing or obeying God.   God said this was His will and He would bring it into fruition regardless of Israel’s disobedience.  God promised to give then the land of Canaan for Abraham and his descendants forever.  (Gen. 12:7, 13:14-15, 15:18-21, 17:8)    God promised the Abrahamic covenant was and everlasting covenant .....meaning it would never end. (Gen. 17:7, 19)    God restated the covenant to Isaac and to Jacob Abraham’s son and grandson. (Gen. 26:1-4, 28:1-14, 35:9-12, 48:4)   The meant that the covenant God made with Abraham was everlasting and would be passed on to his descendant forever.   
  God said in Jeremiah 31:35-37, “Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name: If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever. Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD.” (Jeremiah 31:35-37)    Clearly God has plainly stated that He would never forsake or reject the nation of Israel.
         Israel did reject Jesus as their Messiah and in 70 AD God destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem and scattered the Jews all over the world.    Judaism ceased to be practiced on earth and even to this day, 2000 years later, the Jews have no temple and do not follow the Old Testament Law.  Even modern Israel is not a theocracy following God.     70 AD  ended the Old Testament dispensation when God was working with the Jews, offering  them their Messiah and promised Kingdom.    God then during this transitional time, (the beginning of Jesus’ ministry and ending in 70 AD) beginning with Peter taking the Gospel to the Roman Centurion Cornelius, continuing in God calling Paul as the Apostle to the Gentiles.  In Acts 2 God began the current dispensation we are presently in that is called the Church Age.  God instituted His program, offering to the world the presentation of the Gospel through  the local church.     The first Christians were all Jews, but in about on century their were mostly Gentiles.      So what happened was the Jews rejected Jesus Christ and God then began His new covenant with Christians.
        However, this does not mean that God is through with Israel, His chosen people.   After the rapture, when Christians are removed from the earth and taken to heaven, Daniel’s 70 week will begin (Dan. 9:27) called the seven year Tribulation and God will once again begin to work with Israel.    Ezekiel 36-48 explains that God will regather Israel to the land and explains the events that will follow leading to the end of the Tribulation and Christ’s second coming.   The current dispensation of the Church Age will end with the rapture and the dispensation of the Tribulation will begin.  Note that Israel will be regathered. (Eze.36), the Antichrist will be revealed , who is the fourth beast of Daniel 7:7-23.    Israel will be regathered (partly this is already accomplished) in the land and will make a peace treaty with the Antichrist.  In the middle of the seven year Tribulation the Antichrist will turn on Israel, desecrate the new temple built in Jerusalem and set himself up as god to be worshipped.  He will murder millions of Christians and Jews saved during the seven year Tribulation.    He will be controlled by Satan, and as Revelation 19:20 explains the Antichrist and his false prophet will be both cast into the Lake of Fire at the end of the Tribulation at Jesus’ Second Coming.   Revelation 20:1-2 state that Satan will be bound by God and locked up in a bottomless pit for a 1000 years.
      This 1000 years is called the Millennium follows the Second Coming of Christ.  Fifty days will transpire between the end of the Tribulation and the Lord setting up the Millennial Kingdom.  The Millennial Kingdom is the Kingdom that God promised to Israel.     Isaiah 11 explains this Kingdom was promised to Israel as a time of peace. (Please read the Chapter)    Israel will occupy the land from the Nile River in Egypt to the Euphrates River in modern Iraq.  (Gen. 15:18).   
     So presently God is working with the Gentiles in the period or dispensation we are currently in.   However, God’s promises to Israel as a nation were unconditional.  God said He would fulfill all His promises to them and He will in the Millennium.    This does not mean that Jews were saved simply because they were Jews or God’s chosen people.   Individually, a Jew in the Old Testament had to believe and accept God’s promises by faith as we do today in by faith accepting the Gospel and Jesus Christ as our Savior.(John 3:1f)    What God promised was that the nation of people that He created.....would be given promises as a people.   But they had to accept it.  In the Tribulation many Jews will be saved and a remnant of them will be alive on earth at the end of the Tribulation and will go into the Millennial Kingdom with the Gentiles who escape the Antichrist’s persecution.      
  In the Millennium Israel will be fully restored as a nation and Jesus the Messiah will rule them and the world from Jerusalem.  It will be a time of peace on earth as Isaiah 11 explains.  The Bride of Christ, which refers to Christians in this Church Age dispensation (begun in Acts 2) will rule with Christ.     Micah 4:1-2 teaches that all the nations of earth will come to Jerusalem and learn from Christ.    
  So God is not finished with Israel and never will be.  He established with them as a nation an unconditional covenant which He will complete in every detail.    Christians will be a part of the Kingdom and will rule with Christ.
             I know this is a long, but I have tried to make is a clear as I can in a brief and to the point way.   If you have further questions or comments please write.   Your question is on the minds of a lot of people and as I said before there is a great deal of confusion on the matter.  What I have given you is literally what the Bible says.     I sincerely hope it helps your understanding although it does not cover all the events that bare on this matter.  God bless you as you study God’s word.
Cooper Abrams
http://bible-truth.org
Romans 12:1-2