Builders of Faith

Builders of Faith Explorer 2:  Exploring End-Time Prophecy

Lesson 2—Israel and the Church, Part I

1.    How do believers in the secret rapture view the relationship between Israel and the Church?

Answer:  Supporters of the secret rapture interpret the blessings promised to Israel in the Old Testament as unconditional, and thus they will be literally fulfilled someday.  But since God has given the Gospel Commission to the Christian Church, the Church Age must be a parenthesis lasting from the rejection of Jesus as the Messiah and the restoration of literal Israel to God’s instrument in spreading the gospel, based on the belief that God will not have two different groups with the same mission operating at the same time.  Because the New Testament clearly teaches a visible, audible, and glorious Second Coming of Jesus, the Church must be raptured in a secret coming of Jesus before literal Israel can resume its divine standing and mission.


2.    Where did the view of this relationship between Israel and the Church originate?

Answer:  Late in the sixteenth century, a Jesuit priest named Francisco Ribera responded to the Protestant Reformers’ charge that the Papal Church was the Antichrist by teaching that the Antichrist would not arise until near the end of the age in the far future.  He further taught that the Antichrist would be an evil person opposed to Christianity who would rebuild Jerusalem and persecute Christians as the world’s dictator for 3 ½ years.  Although Ribera did not teach the secret rapture, he did lay the foundation for the modern popular view of Israel and the Church.  The fact that Protestant Christians adapted this Roman Catholic teaching designed to take the heat off the Papal Church is a remarkable about-face!


3.    Where did the name “Israel” come from, and what does it mean?

“And He [God] said, ‘Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.’”  Genesis 32:28.

Answer:  Jacob was returning to his family after spending twenty years with his Uncle Laban.  In the middle of the night, Genesis 32 tells us that he began struggling in the dark with One he recognized at the end was the Lord Himself (in physical form obviously).  Jacob stopped fighting only when the Lord promised to bless him.  The name Israel means “he contends [prevails] with God”.  Therefore, the name Israel is primarily a spiritual name, the equivalent of saying someone is an overcomer through God’s blessing.


4.    Notice that both the nation of Israel and Jesus are called God’s “Son”:

Answer:

A.    Nation of Israel—Exodus 4:22:  “‘Thus says the Lord:  ‘Israel is My son, My firstborn.’”  Hosea 11:1:  “When Israel was a child, I loved him, And out of Egypt I called My son.”

B.    Jesus—Matthew 3:17:  “And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’”  Matthew 2:14-15:  “When he [Joseph] arose, he took the young Child [Jesus] and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, ‘Out of Egypt I called My Son.’”

This identification of the nation of Israel with Jesus as both being God’s “Son” strongly suggests that Jesus is the Ultimate Israel, and that anyone who belongs to Jesus is part of Israel.


5.    Is the conclusion that Jesus is the Ultimate Israel confirmed by the Bible?

A.    Galatians 3:16, 29:  “Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made.  He does not say, ‘And to seeds,’ as of many, but as of one, ‘And to your Seed,’ who is called Christ….  And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”—Paul makes a big point here that Jesus was Abraham’s “Seed”, and thus that anyone who belongs to Jesus is Israel also because they are recipients of the promises to Abraham’s seed.  That makes perfect sense in the context of Israel primarily being a spiritual name.

B.    Romans 2:28-29:  “For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart….”—This text makes plain that the only Jews who count as God’s people are spiritual Jews—those who have circumcised their hearts.  Of course, an ethnic Jew can also be a spiritual Jew as well.

C.    Romans 9:6-8:  “…For they are not all Israel who are of Israel, nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham….  That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed.”—Again, this passage is clear that the Israel that counts with God are those who are the spiritual children of God.


6.    What does the word “covenant” mean, and what kind of covenant did God enter into with the nation of Israel?

“So Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the judgments.  And all the people answered with one voice and said, ‘All the words which the Lord has said we will do.'”  Exodus 24:3.

Answer:  The essential meaning of the word “covenant” is that of a “promise”.  The promise may be a one-way promise (unconditional) or a two-way promise (conditional).  The Israelites’ response to what God said was the equivalent of a bride or groom saying, “I do” at a wedding.  Indeed, several Old Testament passages quote God as viewing His covenant with Israel like a marriage, with Him as the groom and Israel as the bride.  Thus, when Israel strayed far from God, He accused them of spiritual adultery—as in Isaiah 1:21; 49:18; 62:5; Jeremiah 2:32; 3:1-10; Ezekiel 16:15, 20-22, 27, 28, 32-34; Hosea 1:2; 3:1; 4:11-12; and 5:4.  Obviously, God’s covenant with Israel was a two-way covenant, even though both parties are not equal in this case.


7.    Doesn’t God’s two-way covenant with the nation of Israel mean that Israel’s blessings were conditional upon her faithfulness to God?

A.    Exodus 19:5:  “…if you indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people….”

B.    Isaiah 1:19:  “If you are willing and obedient, You shall eat the good of the land….”

C.    Jeremiah 7:23:  “‘Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people.  And walk in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you.”

D.    Jeremiah 17:24-25:  “…if you heed Me carefully…this city [Jerusalem] shall remain forever.”

E.    Zechariah 1:3:  “…‘Return to Me,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘and I will return to you….”

F.    Zechariah 6:15:  “…And this [the glories of a restored Temple] shall come to pass if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God.”

Yes.  Israel’s blessings were always conditional upon her faithfulness to God.


8.    Do Deuteronomy 28’s blessings and curses of the covenant have anything to do with the conditional covenant with the nation of Israel?

“Then I saw that for all the causes for which backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a certificate of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but went and played the harlot also.”  Jeremiah 3:8.

Answer:  The book of Deuteronomy is mostly Moses’ farewell address to the nation of Israel.  In Chapter 28 of that book are the many blessings of the covenant (for her faithfulness) and the many curses of the covenant (for her unfaithfulness).  There are many times more curses than blessings, indicating that God was trying to warn Israel against disobedience.  Finally, Jeremiah 3:8 tells us that God finally divorced the northern kingdom of Israel, and that the southern kingdom of Judah was following Israel’s example.  Therefore, it was certainly possible that God would finally divorce Judah too if she did not change her spiritual direction.


9.    Does God deal differently with other nations from what He does with His professed people?

“The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it.  And the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it, if it does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it.”  Jeremiah 18:7-10.

Answer:  No, God deals with the people of all nations alike.  In other words, all of His pronouncements of blessings or of curses will not come to pass if they do not fulfill the spiritual conditions.  Thus, God is no respecter of persons; He doesn’t play favorites.


10.    Where do believers in the secret rapture theory say they find evidence for the seven years between the secret and public comings of Jesus?

“And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; And the people of the prince who is to come Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.  The end of it shall be with a flood, And till the end of the war desolations are determined.  Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; But in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering.  And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, Even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate.”  Daniel 9:26-27.

Answer:  This passage is the last half of the 70 Weeks’ Prophecy, which all conservative Bible scholars agree deals (at least partly) with the first coming of Jesus, the Messiah.  But then the secret rapturists teach that the 70th week of the prophecy concerns mostly about the Antichrist.  Therefore, the Church Age is declared to exist between the end of the 69th week until the beginning of the 70th week, when the Antichrist comes, makes and then breaks a covenant (treaty) with the Jews, and puts an end to the Temple services—implying that a Third Temple will be built in Jerusalem.  This view is partly based on the pronouns “he” in verse 27 as referring to the Antichrist and on the reference to a covenant as meaning that he makes a covenant with the Jews.


11.    But does the 70 Weeks’ Prophecy really refer to the Antichrist at all?

Answer:  Note the back-and-forth parallelism between the city (Jerusalem) and the Messiah in Daniel 9:25-27 below:

A    to restore and build Jerusalem
B    until Messiah the Prince
A    shall be 7 weeks
B    and 62 weeks
A    the street shall be built again…
B    and after 62 weeks Messiah shall be cut off
A    the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary
B    he shall confirm a covenant with many for 1 week

The parallelism above tells us that the pronoun he in verse 27 refers to the Messiah, not an alleged Antichrist.


12.    Did anyone (Jesus or Antichrist) make a covenant with anyone in verse 27, or was an existing covenant confirmed?

“Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; But in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering.  And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, Even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate.”

Answer:  The Hebrew verb for “shall confirm” literally means “shall make strong”.  Some modern translators, those who believe in the secret rapture theory, render the clause as, “Then he shall make a strong covenant….”  But in Hebrew the words for “he shall confirm” is one word.  You cannot break up that word and make part of it an adjective to modify the noun covenant, as in “he shall make a strong covenant”.  Instead, a literal translation would be, “he shall make strong a covenant….”  To make strong an existing covenant means to confirm it.  Therefore, the New King James’ Version (KNJV) translation above is correct, and it means that Jesus would confirm the covenant with Judah for the last (70th) week of the prophecy.  Again, this is more evidence that there is no reference to the Antichrist in this prophecy.


13.    Who are the “people of the prince” who would destroy Jerusalem?

“And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; And the people of the prince who is to come Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.  The end of it shall be with a flood, And till the end of the war desolations are determined.”  Daniel 9:26.

Answer:  The only prince referred to in this entire prophecy is Messiah the Prince (Jesus).  Therefore, verse 26 is saying that the Jewish people (for whom the Messiah came) were actually responsible for the Roman destruction of Jerusalem because they not only rejected Jesus as the Messiah, but also never repented from that rejection even through the entire last week of the prophecy.


14.    How did Jesus’ death bring an end to the Temple sacrifices?

“The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, ‘Behold!  The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!’”  John 1:29.  “And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit [breath].  Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom….”  Matthew 27:50-51.

Answer:  All of the animal sacrifices of the Temple services had pointed toward Jesus as the real Sacrifice for sins.  When He died as our sacrificial Lamb, God made it clear by tearing the veil in the Temple that animal sacrifices would no longer have any meaning—that access to God was now available to all through Jesus!


15.    Can the 70th week be separated from the 69 weeks by the Church Age?

Answer:  Of course, none of the conservative Bible scholars view this 70 Weeks’ Prophecy as a period of literal 70 weeks.  We shall deal with the time element in greater detail in a future lesson.  However, we can agree for now that it is 70 times 7, or 490 years.  You can no more separate the 70th week from the other 69 than you can separate the 62 weeks from the 7 weeks.  Moreover, the verb “are determined” in Daniel 9:24 is singular, meaning that the entire 70 weeks is a single unit of time.  Therefore, the attempt to split the last week off from the other 69 weeks in this prophecy is a purely arbitrary act without any support.

 

Quiz for Lesson 2—Israel and the Church, Part I

 

1.  Where did the idea that the Antichrist would play a prominent role with Israel come from? (3)

  It was developed inside the Roman Catholic Church to take the heat off the Protestant teaching that the Papal Church was the Antichrist.

  A Jesuit priest developed this idea in the 16th century and taught that the Antichrist would be a charismatic individual and thus could not be the Papal Church.

  The idea included the concept that the Antichrist would be openly hostile to all of Christianity.

  The idea included the concept that the Antichrist would be a Muslim.

 

2.  Which of the following statements about the name "Israel" are taught by the Bible? (1)

  Isaac’s name was changed to Israel.

  The name Israel is primarily a spiritual name that refers to one who overcomes.

  The name Israel first appears in the book of Exodus.

 

3.  Which of the following statements about Israel and the Jewish people are taught in Scripture? (4)

  The apostle Paul emphasizes that the blessings from Abraham would be through his Seed, singular.

  An ethnic Jewish person will always be among God’s chosen people.

  Jesus is called the Seed of Abraham.

  Only those who belong to Jesus are the real Israelites that count with God.

  Jesus is the Ultimate Israel.

  Although Christians are currently called spiritual Israelites or Jews, in the last days God’s ethnic Jewish people will once again be the chosen people of God.

 

4.  Which of the following statements about the word "covenant" and the covenant with Israel are true? (4)

  The word covenant essentially means a promise.

  A covenant is always a two-way covenant between two parties.

  A one-way covenant is unconditional, that is, not dependent upon human reaction.

  A two-way covenant is conditional, that is, dependent upon human reaction.

  God’s covenant with the nation of Israel was a conditional two-way covenant.

 

5.  Israel’s blessings from God were conditional upon their faithfulness to Him. (1)

  True

  False

 

6.  What book and chapter proclaim the blessings to Israel for following God and the curses for going away from God? (1)

  Jeremiah 18

  Deuteronomy 28

  Exodus 20

  Numbers 13

 

7.  Which of the following statements about the 70 Weeks’ Prophecy are true? (2)

  All conservative Bible scholars agree that at least the first part of this prophecy concerns the first coming of Jesus as the Messiah.

  This prophecy is found in Revelation 13.

  The secret rapture supporters declare that the Church Age lies between the 69th and 70th week of this prophecy.

 

8.  The parallels in the 70 Weeks’ Prophecy show what 2 things are parallel? (2)

  Messiah and the Antichrist

  Making a covenant and breaking a covenant

  Jerusalem and Messiah

  Sanctuary and Jesus

 

9.  Which of the following statements about a covenant are true? (2)

  Jesus confirmed His covenant with Jerusalem and His people.

  Antichrist made, and then broke, a covenant with Israel.

  Antichrist confirmed a covenant with Israel and later broke it.

  The Hebrew word translated as confirmed literally reads, “shall make strong”.

 

10.  Is there any justification for separating the 70th week of this prophecy from the other 69 weeks? (1)

  Yes

  No