Israel in Prophecy

Israel has always seemed to be a theological thorn for many believers. Probably because of their thorny history in the Bible, not to mention that some Christians have foolishly blamed them for the crucifixion of Jesus. The Jewish leaders under the Roman empire were the instruments of the indictment and conviction of Jesus; but it was God Himself Who put Jesus on the Cross, as Peter noted on the Day of Pentecost: "This Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death." (Acts 2:23, NAU, italics are mine) Some theologians argue that since the Jews rejected Christ, God has finished with them and replaced them with the church. To these theologians, the Church is the new Israel or the "Israel of God." Frankly, there is no indication anywhere in the Scriptures that the term Israel ever refers to anyone but ethnic Israel.

Furthermore, there is evidence in the scriptures that God is not finished with Israel yet. Instead, He has inserted what the late Harry Ironside called The Great Parenthesis, the Church Age. One day, when "the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled," (Luke 21:24), God will return to Israel and begin to fulfill many of the still unfulfilled prophecies concerning the nation. In fact, over 100 years ago, Robert B. Girdlestone noted the following about prophecies concerning Israel:

That Israel has a great future is clear from Scripture as a whole. There is a large unfulfilled element in the Old Testament which demands it unless we spiritualize it away or relinquish it as Oriental hyperbole. This scattered nation of ten million people has yet its part to play in the history of the world. There is to be a re-betrothal, a reunion, a liberation, a conversion, a restoration, which shall be like a resurrection, or life from the dead. There will be a time of prosperity, as entrance into the New Covenant, with new responsibilities and enlarged influence. All this may be preceded by worse troubles than any which have befallen Israel hitherto; but the texts which are supposed to imply this may have been already fulfilled since they were uttered.

Robert B. Girdlestone, The Grammar of Prophecy (1871 reprint, Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 1955), 138-139.

Any way you look at it, God is not finished with Israel yet. When they were in the Babylonian captivity, God had promised them they would be there only for a limited time. In fact He told them through the prophet Jeremiah that that limitation would be for seventy years (See Jeremiah 25:11-12; 26:10). Then, in a letter to the exiles penned by Jeremiah, the Lord explained to them His purpose. He said, "For I know the plans that I have for you..., plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope." (Jeremiah 29:11, italics are mine). The promises the Lord made with Israel were everlasting promises. Each one of them includes a clause of this nature; therefore, He cannot give them up forever. If He were to quit the nation, it would result in a blot on His integrity. Further, if He were to renege on His promises to Israel, what confidence would we Christians have that He will keep any of His promises to us?

One of the Lord's final promises to Israel should encourage us all. Through the prophet Malachi, the Lord said, "For I, the LORD, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed." (Malachi 3:6) The Apostle Paul notes also, "from the standpoint of God's choice they [Israel] are beloved for the sake of the fathers...." (Romans 11:28b) We may not understand all of God's ways, we may not understand all of God's thoughts, we may not understand all of God's actions, but...we can depend on Him to keep His word to His people Israel; and, therefore, to keep His word to His church. His hand has not been removed from either, and He has prepared a glorious future for both. Soli Deo Gloria!