What about Israel?

If it’s difficult to read or acknowledge what is written in this paper, it might be because you have never heard this or considered it. As Christians we all want to please God, we don't want to be outside of his will. The Bible is our only source to understand these things of God, not traditions. This is the elephant in the room for much of the Christian faith; it is the subject of Israel. 

You will never fit the Bible together the way God wrote it, to understand him and give you hope, if you distort this subject, 5/6 of the Bible is about Israel. Yet in in the seminaries in their systematic theology books there isn't a chapter on Israelology. Anyone can read the book of Isaiah starting in chapter 40 to chapter 49, to find out what God thinks about Israel.

I think it’s best to start this off by putting things in perspective. As we all know, God has one perspective and man sometimes has another.

Genesis 12:1 The LORD had said to Abram… 

2 “I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others.

3 I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt.”

 Zechariah 2:8 For thus says the LORD of hosts: “He sent Me after glory, to the nations which plunder you; for he who touches you (Israel) touches the apple of His eye.

 Obadiah 1:15 “The day is near when I, the LORD, will judge all godless nations! As you have done to Israel, so it will be done to you. All your evil deeds will fall back on your own heads.

Isaiah 41:8 “But as for you, Israel my servant, Jacob my chosen one, descended from Abraham my friend, 9 I have called you back from the ends of the earth, saying, ‘You are my servant.’ For I have chosen you and will not throw you away.

11 “See, all your angry enemies lie there, confused and humiliated. Anyone who opposes you will die and come to nothing.

The early Church struggled with the prophecies about Israel and its future. This is understandable considering that the Jewish leaders had rejected Jesus, their Messiah, and the nation of Israel was no more after 135 AD. This evolved into the hatred of the Jewish people and it’s rearing its ugly head throughout the world as I speak.

Dr. David Regan- By 300AD allegorizing the Scripture had become widespread. There arose a teaching that is called Supersessionism which says in short, because of their rebellion against God in their rejection of Jesus, God has replaced Israel with the Church, transferring the blessings promised to Israel to the Church. This is also called “Replacement Theology,” and those who believe in it constitute the majority of professing Christians today. Accordingly, they consider modern day Israel to be an accident of history, with no spiritual significance whatsoever.

The roots of Replacement Theology and its fruit of anti-Semitism go back to the very beginning of Christianity. This is ironic when you consider the fact that the Church began as a Jewish institution.

Origen (185-254 AD) – He was responsible for much anti-Semitism. He was also the father of Bible allegory. He found as many as four meanings to any text; he considered the literal to be of lesser value.

John Chrysostom (349-407 AD) – Preached a series of sermons against the Jews. He claimed it was a Christian duty to hate Jews. He claimed that Jews worshiped Satan.

Jerome (ca 347-420 AD) – Described the Jews as “… serpents wearing the image of Judas. Their psalms and prayers are the braying of donkeys … They are incapable of understanding Scripture …”

St. Augustine (354-430 AD) – Asserted that the Jews deserved death but were destined to wander the earth to witness the victory of the Church over the synagogue.”

By the Middle Ages, two erroneous concepts had become established Church doctrine: 1) The Jews should be considered “Christ killers” and should be mistreated accordingly. 2) The Church has replaced Israel, and God has no future purpose for the Jews.    

Unfortunately, the Reformation produced no changes in attitude. In fact, the hatred of the Jews was reinforced and intensified by the writings of Martin Luther. In 1543 he wrote a pamphlet entitled “Concerning The Jews and Their Lies.” The document was an anti-Semitic diatribe. Dr. Regan goes on to say that Hitler quoted Luther and much more.

Jeremiah 33:23 The LORD gave another message to Jeremiah. He said, 24 “Have you noticed what people are saying?--‘The LORD chose Judah and Israel and then abandoned them!’ 

They are sneering and saying that Israel is not worthy to be counted as a nation. 

25 But this is what the LORD says: I would no more reject my people than I would change my laws that govern night and day, earth and sky. 

26 I will never abandon the descendants of Jacob or David, my servant, or change the plan that David’s descendants will rule the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Instead, I will restore them to their land and have mercy on them.” NLT

In the first eight chapters of book of Romans the apostle Paul gives us the structure for the doctrine for our faith. He ends chapter eight with, “nothing can separate us from the love of God.” Then he begins chapter nine answering the question, so what about Israel, how did God fail so miserably with them? (See David Guzik’s commentary for Romans chapter nine.) Then Paul spends three chapters and ends that in chapter 11, which clearly explains that God is not through with Israel. There is a future for Israel even though they are now in unbelief, but somehow in the end, they will repent and "all of Israel will be saved," 11:26. Also see these verses, Psalm 105, 89, Jeremiah 31:31-37, 32:36-42, Genesis 12:1-7, 15:1-18.

Romans 11:1 I ask, then, has God rejected his own people, the nation of Israel? Of course not!  

2 No, God has not rejected his own people, whom he chose from the very beginning. 

25 I want you to understand this mystery, dear brothers and sisters, so that you will not feel proud about yourselves. Some of the people of Israel have hard hearts, but this will last only until the full number of Gentiles comes to Christ. 

26 And so all Israel will be saved. 

As the Scriptures say, “The one who rescues will come from Jerusalem, and he will turn Israel away from ungodliness. 

27 And this is my covenant with them, that I will take away their sins.” 

28 Many of the people of Israel are now enemies of the Good News, and this benefits you Gentiles. 

Yet they are still the people he loves because he chose their ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 

29 For God’s gifts and his call can never be withdrawn.

The Bible says that all of Israel will be saved, how does that work? That can only happen after they realize that Jesus is their Messiah and then, in their repentance, they mourn for him as if they lost their only child. Unfortunately, for them, this happens during the last half of the Tribulation, see Hosea 5:14-6:1.

Zechariah 12:9 For on that day I will begin to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. 

10 “Then I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the family of David and on the people of Jerusalem. 

They will look on me whom they have pierced (Jesus) and mourn for him as for an only son. 

They will grieve bitterly for him as for a firstborn son who has died. 

11 The sorrow and mourning in Jerusalem on that day will be like the great mourning…

Jesus stated that there is a requirement for his future return. The requirement for the Second Coming of Christ is that Israel receives him as the Messiah, Luke 13:35.

Matthew 23:37 Jesus said, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! 

How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me. 

38 And now, look, your house is abandoned and desolate. 

39 For I tell you this, you will never see me again until you say, ‘Blessings on the one (Jesus) who comes in the name of the LORD!’”

Yes, Israel will repent at the end of things during the last half of the final seven years of judgment. In Matthew 24 Jesus tells the Jews about this time, and he is the one who labels the last half of those seven years as the “Great Tribulation.”

 Matthew 24:21 Jesus said, “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. 

22 “And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.”

Daniel 12:1 “At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people (Israel), will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people--everyone whose name is found written in the book--will be delivered (escape, rescued, slip away). 

2 Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.

Jeremiah 30:7 In all history there has never been such a time of terror. It will be a time of trouble for my people Israel (Not the Church). Yet in the end they will be saved, (like Romans 11:26).

 Here is how the very early Church fathers, the disciples of the Apostles, wrote about end times, by Dr. Ken Johnson.

For the first 200 years the disciples of the Apostles all taught the same doctrine. They all taught         Premillennialism, which means that Jesus will return to earth in the future, and set up a Kingdom that will last for a literal 1000 years (Millennium) as prophesied in the Scripture. Jesus will reign from the city of Jerusalem. Prior to this, there will be a seven-year period during which the Antichrist will rule the Earth. During the last days, the Jews will return and rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. In the years, A.D. 200–300, a movement arose teaching that these doctrines were symbolic of historical events.

Polycarp traveled with the Apostle John for 20 years. Polycarp had a disciple named Irenaeus. Irenaeus wrote a five volume set of books covering much of Church doctrine in 170 AD, titled Against Heresies. In it he said that those Premillennial events above must be fulfilled. Against Heresies 5.35 “these are literal things, and Christians who allegorize them are immature.” 

I’ve heard it said that Israel‘s future kingdom has been alluded to or clearly spoken about 1,800 times in the Old Testament and 300 in the New. Yet many church organizations also believe in a theology called Amillennialism. Basically it denies this future Kingdom and the one thousand year reign of Christ. Yet this is clearly stated in Revelation chapter 20, and referred to throughout the Word of God, you know the lion will lie down with the lamb stuff.

The angel tells Mary, Luke 1:31 “You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High... 33 And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!” See Psalm 2.

Matthew 24:3 Later, Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives. His disciples came to him privately and said, “Tell us, when will all this happen? What sign will signal your return and the end of the Age?” --They were asking Jesus when are you going to set up the promised Jewish Kingdom?

Luke 19:11 The crowd was listening to everything Jesus said. And because he was nearing Jerusalem, he told them a story to correct the impression that the Kingdom of God would begin right away.

The beginning of the book of Acts tells us that Jesus spent 40 days after his resurrection teaching the disciples about the Kingdom. So after all of that, the last question that the disciples had for him was, “Is it time for you to restore or begin our Jewish kingdom?” His answer was basically I can’t give you that information right now, not that there wasn’t going to be a Jewish kingdom.

Acts 1:3 During the forty days after his crucifixion, he appeared to the apostles from time to time, and he proved to them in many ways that he was actually alive. And he talked to them about the Kingdom of God.

6 So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, “Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?”

7 He replied, “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know.

During the future kingdom we, the Church, will be in our eternal state and will rule with Jesus, with a rod of iron, over the nations, as stated in the book of Revelation 2:26-27. Also, as rewards, we will be given cities to rule over, Luke 19:17. Surely, we will not be ruling over others in their eternal state, with a rod of iron. There will be mortals, Jews and non-Jews, who enter into that Age after the “sheep and goat judgments” in Matthew 25. These are those who live through and come to faith in Christ during the Tribulation. Isaiah tells us this will be a time when the lion will lay down with the lamb, men will live as long as trees, also there will be death.

 Matthew 25:31 “But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. 

32 All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 

33 He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left. 

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world.

 Isaiah 65:17 “Look! I am creating new heavens and a new earth, and no one will even think about the old ones anymore.  

18 Be glad; rejoice forever in my creation! And look! I will create Jerusalem as a place of happiness. Her people will be a source of joy. 

19 I will rejoice over Jerusalem and delight in my people. And the sound of weeping and crying will be heard in it no more. 

20 “No longer will babies die when only a few days old. No longer will adults die before they have lived a full life. No longer will people be considered old at one hundred! Only the cursed will die that young! 

22 …For my people will live as long as trees, and my chosen ones will have time to enjoy their hard-won gains. 

25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together. The lion will eat hay like a cow. But the snakes will eat dust. In those days no one will be hurt or destroyed on my holy mountain. I, the LORD, have spoken!”

Zechariah 8:22 Many peoples and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to seek the LORD of Heaven’s Armies and to ask for his blessing. 

23 “This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies says: In those days ten men from different nations and languages of the world will clutch at the sleeve of one Jew. And they will say, ‘Please let us walk with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’”

We as Christians will be in our eternal state and ruling with Christ with a rod of iron, with cities given as rewards.

Revelation 2:26 Jesus said to the Church, "To all who are victorious, who obey me to the very end, To them I will give authority over all the nations. 

27 They will rule the nations with an iron rod and smash them like clay pots. 

29 “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches."

 Luke 19:17 ‘Well done!’ the king exclaimed. ‘You are a good servant. 

You have been faithful with the little I entrusted to you, so you will be governor of ten cities as your reward.’

It will be a time of refining for Israel, so that God can receive a faithful remnant back to him. There is always a remnant! Even during the Dark Ages, there was a remnant of the true Church. Many times in the Old Testament a future remnant of the Jewish people are seen, Isaiah 10:20-21. This group is revealed during the last half of the seven years called the Tribulation. Those years are described in Daniel and Revelation as 3½ years, 1260 days, 42 months, or time, times and half a time.  At that time 2/3 of the nation of Israel will die. 1/3 will come through refined as the remnant, that the Bible promises, when it says that “all Israel will be saved” in Romans 11. 

Zechariah 13:8 Two-thirds of the people in the land will be cut off and die,” says the LORD. “But one-third will be left in the land. 

9 I will bring that group through the fire and make them pure. I will refine them like silver and purify them like gold. 

Micah 7:18 Where is another God like you, who pardons the guilt of the remnant, overlooking the sins of his special people? 20 You will show us your faithfulness and unfailing love as you promised to our ancestors Abraham and Jacob long ago.

Daniel nine is a study by itself; here is a part of it. The major prophecy that cements most of the end time prophecy’s together is in Daniel. It’s called the "70 weeks of Daniel" prophecy, Daniel 9:24-27. It clearly states that the 70 weeks of years are concerning Israel, 9:24. Do not miss verse 27, it is what we call the "70th week of Daniel.” It is the stuff of the book of Revelation, Matthew 24, and Isaiah 24. There is a gap in history and we are waiting for this “70th week of Daniel” or the last seven years of this Age to be fulfilled, see verse 27.

Daniel 9:24 “A period of seventy sets of seven has been decreed for your people (Israel) and your holy city (Jerusalem), to finish their rebellion, to put an end to their sin, to atone for their guilt, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to confirm the prophetic vision, and to anoint the Most Holy Place. (Has that happened? No, the end of sin is at the end of things, after verse 27.)

27 The ruler (The Antichrist) will make a treaty with the people (Israel) for a period of one set of seven (7 years), but after half this time (3 1/2 years), he will put an end to the sacrifices and offerings. And as a climax to all his terrible deeds, he will set up a sacrilegious object that causes desecration, until the fate decreed for this defiler is finally poured out on him.”

This event described in verse 27 is the same event that Jesus quotes Daniel in Matthew 24, it’s when the Antichrist desecrates the Temple; it’s called the “abomination of desolation.”

Matthew 24:15 Speaking to the Jewish people Jesus said, “The day is coming when you will see what Daniel the prophet spoke about--the sacrilegious object that causes desecration standing in the Holy Place (The “abomination of desolation.”). ” Reader, pay attention!

16 “Then those in Judea (Not New York) must flee to the hills. 21 For there will be greater anguish than at any time since the world began. And it will never be so great again.

The Antichrist will allow the Jews to rebuild their temple and start sacrifices, Rev. 11:1-12. When a second century writer was asked whose temple this will be, he answered, “Christians don’t sacrifice.” Yes it will be a Jewish temple. It looks as if the Jewish leaders believe that the Antichrist is their Messiah because he allows them to build their Temple. Their hope in him will end 3½ years later, after he persecutes them, Daniel 9:27. This happens after the Anitchrist walks into the Temple and declares himself God (abomination of desolation) as Paul tells us below.

John 5:43 Jesus said, “For I have come to you in my Father’s name, and you have rejected me. Yet if others come in their own name, you gladly welcome them.”

2 Thessalonians 2:3 Don’t be fooled by what they say. For that day will not come until there is a great rebellion against God and the man of lawlessness (Antichrist) is revealed--the one who brings destruction. 

4 He will exalt himself and defy everything that people call god and every object of worship. 

He will even sit in the (future) temple of God, claiming that he himself is God.

The last seven years of this Age, is called the Tribulation. It is a time to judge the world of its sin and to bring Israel back to God through Christ. We, the Church, are the Bride of Christ, and our Groom, Christ Jesus, will come for us, John 14:1-3, before and “keep us FROM the great time of testing that will come upon the whole earth,” Rev. 4:10. That story is told in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, 5:1-9, and 1 Corinthians 15:50-53. But that’s another subject.

Jesus gives a warning is to those who say they are Jews but are not Jews. There’s no group in human history, before now, to have said that they are now the true or new Israel or Jews.

Revelation 3:9 Jesus said, “Look, I will force those who belong to Satan’s synagogue (assembly) --those liars who say they are Jews but are not--to come and bow down at your feet.”

The Church is not Israel and Israel is not the Church! Alan Clark August 2025