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O Jerusalem

Member
Israel is the major topic of the Bible, occupying most of its pages. The many prophecies concerning its past, present, and future are vital in understanding God’s Word.
Sadly, they are ignored, explained away, or simply rejected by the vast majority of professing Christians, a growing number of whom insist that Israel has been replaced by the church.

Yet Jeremiah declares that Israel will never “cease from being a nation” (Jer 31:35-37); in just one sermon Paul refers to Israel as an ongoing entity three times (Acts 13:17, 23, 24); and on the twelve gates of heavenly Jerusalem are written the names of “the twelve tribes of the children of Israel” (Rev 21:12)—so ten tribes were not lost after all!—along with the names of “the twelve apostles of the Lamb” in the foundations (21:14).

Unaware that “replacement theology” is one of several Roman Catholic doctrines that clung to Luther, Calvin, and other leading reformers, it is accepted by many as Reformation theology.

Jesus Christ, the Savior and Redeemer of all who believe on Him, is, of course, the most important subject in Scripture—yet without Israel, there would be no Savior.
Jesus is a Jew, descended from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob through King David, giving Him the right to rule Israel and the world. He was born in Israel, lived there all of His days on earth, and (with few exceptions) ministered solely to Jews: “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Mat 15:24).

He commanded His disciples, “Go not into the way of the Gentiles...but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Mat 10:5,6). After the Cross and Resurrection, however, He commanded them to take the gospel “into all the world” (Mat 28:19; Mk 16:15)—but the gospel remains “to the Jew first, and also to the Greek” (Rom 1:16).

We see that the incredible vastness of space makes it impossible for mankind to penetrate even the fringes of the cosmos, either by vehicle or radio. How staggering, then, that the Creator has selected this tiny planet and one small city on it to be eternally the center of the universe.
Bypassing thousands of larger cities with greater beauty and natural resources, God chose Jerusalem, saying, “I will put my name [there] for ever” (2 Kings 21:7; 2 Chr 33:7).

God declared that in the last days He would cause Jerusalem to be “a burdensome stone for all people” (Zec 12:3). For that to become true, there had to be a worldwide organization. The United Nations was formed in 1945 in time to vote Israel back into existence after 1,800 years of destruction and dispersion.

And Jerusalem has become such a burden that the UN has spent one-third of its time debating and condemning Israel, a miniscule nation that represents merely one one-thousandth of earth’s population.

Finally, World War III will be fought over Jerusalem as Antichrist’s armies seek to frustrate God’s plans for her and to accomplish at last Hitler’s “final solution to the Jewish problem” with the destruction of Israel and all Jews worldwide.

Twice in the Bible Jerusalem is called “the city of our God” (Ps 48:1, 8), twice the “city of God” (Ps 46:4; 87:3), eight times “the holy city” (Neh 11:1; Isa 48:2; 52:1; Mat 4:5, etc.), and once “the city of the LORD of hosts” (Ps 48:8).

God has decreed that never will there be a city to rival Jerusalem! It is mentioned 811 times in the Bible but not once in the Qur’an, showing the lie, that it ever was sacred to Muslims.
Only after Israel’s rebirth was this bogus claim invented to justify Muslim attacks against Israel as an “occupying power.” The USA, UN, EU, etc., accept this lie as the basis of a “peace” they intend to force upon Israel with Muslim neighbors determined to destroy her.

Jerusalem’s entire history, including its destruction and ultimate restoration in the “last days,” was pronounced by ancient Hebrew prophets and by Jesus Christ (“There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down”–Mat 24:2; “the city shall be built...it shall not be...thrown down any more for ever”–Jer 31:38-40).

Still in process, in the face of fierce opposition from the world and Satan, the ongoing fulfillment of these prophecies (none of which could possibly apply to the church) is the greatest proof God gives of His existence and that the Bible is His infallible Word—a vital proof that replacement theology rejects.

from: O, Jerusalem!
 
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WOW!! What a fantastic study you have made here!!MOST informative! 811 times!! WOW!! thanks for all your hard work on this,I have found it most intersting!!Besing bro!
 
Member
Zec 2:8 NKJV For thus says the LORD of hosts: "He sent Me after glory, to the nations which plunder you; for he who touches you touches the apple of His eye.
 
Member
Hi Stephen. I agree with you that the church has not replaced Israel. But there is another perspective I would like you to consider. I wrote this on my blog a few years ago, and reprint it here for your consideration. Blessings.

Who is true Israel? Is it the physical nation fighting for its existence in the Middle East, or is it the spiritual entity we know as the church. And if its the church, which one?

The name "Israel" first appears in the Bible in Genesis 32:28 After a night of wrestling with the heavenly visitor (who I personally believe to be Christ Himself) Jacob prevails in his efforts and his name is changed from Jacob, the deceiver or supplanter, to Israel, meaning he will rule. Jacob has prevailed with God and overcome.

At the time of this event, Jacob was reluctant to face Esau after 20 years of exile and was quite simply terrified of him. His former deception of his father and claim to be Esau was now playing on his conscience and he desired God's blessing and forgiveness before proceeding. So the 'Angel' asks Jacob his name, to which he truthfully replies 'my name is Jacob'. In this he was confessing his guilt, and God then knew he was a changed man, so gave him a new name that celebrated so to speak his victory over sin, self and his night of wrestling in prayer, the 'Angel' saying "for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed."
Israel, as a name therefore represents spiritual victory over sin.

This is significant as it tells us God's purpose for His people. That is, to live in victory over sin, to show forth God's true character to the world.

In Exod 4:22,23 Moses is instructed on how he is to speak to Pharaoh in order that Israel's descendants may be freed from slavery. God says to Moses "and thou shalt say unto Pharaoh 'Thus saith the Lord,Israel is My son, my firstborn and I say unto thee let My son go to serve me..."
This is the first time Israel is used in a corporate sense for the entire nation. Before it applied only to an individual, but here we see it being applied to his descendants. First to a victorious man, then to his people.
Did Israel live up to that name? What was God trying to accomplish in establishing Israel in the first place? Was it not that He would have a people to represent Him on the earth? Before God had His champions, but all failed. Sin interposed and no longer was any of God's chosen able to fulfill the true destiny that God intended for them. Adam failed over appetite. So did Noah. Abraham also, but God was determined to establish a people after His own heart and show the gentiles His law, His mercy and grace and power. Interesting that Adam, Noah, and Israel all failed on points of appetite. (Gen 9:20,21; Exodus 16:27-29.)

It wasn't until Jesus came on the scene in person that the title "Israel" in it's truest spiritual sense and power could be rightly bestowed. And Mathew in particular showed this time and time again how Jesus was the fulfillment of the OT prophecies which may have originally applied to the nation, but now, according to Mathew's inspired writings, applied in fact to Jesus. Examples are Hosea 11:1 ; Isaiah 41:8,42:1-3 .

Paul followed the same idea and reasoning by paralleling Col 1:15 with Ex 4:22, Gal 3:16 with Isaiah 41:8 and elsewhere.

Jesus Himself proclaimed Himself as the true vine, in fulfilment of Ps 80:8 which applied to the nation.
So now the mantle and authority once bestowed upon the nation has been given to Jesus. Jesus is the essence of true Israel. He only has the right to bear the name for He only has prevailed with sin and overcome. Jesus walked over the same ground that Israel walked, but came through victorious. In His temptations in the wilderness, it was appetite that came under particular scrutiny.

What Paul does in Romans and other writers in the NT however is extend that idea and show how the name Israel also now applies to Jesus' descendants, just as it did to Jacob's descendants. Peter also showed this when he compared the church to Exodus 19:6.(1 Peter 2:9).
So as Paul says, immediately after saying that Jesus is the 'seed' of Abraham, Gentile converts in Galatia were now also Abraham's seed because they are Christ's. They are also heirs according to the promise.
This is not 'replacement ' theology. It is merely a revelation of who true Israel always was and who Israel is now. It is those people, of whatever nation kindred tongue and people, who by faith in the mercy grace and power of God overcome sin and receive Christ's righteousness and forgiveness as a gift and are willing to share that gift with the lost. True Israel was always exclusively those who "as princes had power with God and men and prevailed".

Thus the unfulfilled covenant that Jeremiah speaks of and repeated in hebrews, "I will place My laws in their hearts and in their minds I will write them" applies to the church, not a resurgent nation. All Israel will be saved, but the descendants of Jesus, not flesh and blood descendants of Jacob.
And the prophecies that most believe apply to the nation, apply to the church. For example, Armageddon is not the world arrayed against the nation of Israel, but the unsaved world (those who have accepted the mark) arrayed against the remnant who have refused the mark, and are under the sentence of death. Those who keep the commandments of God, (and thus have gained that victory over sin) and have the faith of Jesus. Rev.12:17; 14:12.
 
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