Discourse 121 – Christianity: an insertion in the history of God with Israel.

Has Jesus Christ not performed the sacrifice once and for all? / Anonymous 00, 2016-03-03

Has Jesus Christ not performed the sacrifice once and for all? / Anonymous 01, 2016-03-03

Who are the true Jews? / / Sermon, Pastor Steven L. Anderson, Baptist Church USA 00, 2015-10--30

Table – God’s plan of salvation and its effects on Creation.

Christianity: an insertion in the history of God with Israel

Who are the true Jews? / Sermon, Pastor Steven L. Anderson, Baptist Church USA 01, 2015-10-30

Amillennialism: is the Thousand Year Kingdom of Peace a fiction?    –    Discourse 66

(Texts in a black frame are quotations from visitors to this site or from other authors.)

Thank you for your visit to Immanuel.at and for your comments.

This inquiry of a lady visitor from Switzerland is extremely interesting, especially in its second part, and has helped make it possible for this old question of animal sacrifice in biblical Christianity to be viewed from a completely new angle. We have on the one hand, of course, the scriptural passage from the Letter to the Hebrews which our visitor refers to (Hbr 9.24-28), which states effectively that "Jesus Christ has performed the sacrifice once and for all", and from this the conclusion is drawn that no further sacrifice is required. And on the other hand we have a great many biblical statements which confirm that in the Millennium, the Thousand Years Kingdom of Peace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the temple in Jerusalem is to be rebuilt and animal sacrifices are to be performed in it once again.

But in order to answer the first question, let us just insert this biblical passage, with its context, for the benefit of those readers who may not be so familiar with Paul’s text.

Who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God..

2The 2,1 Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, 2,2 that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. 2,3 Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 2,4 who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. 2The 2,1-4;

With reference to the third temple: never mind who built this temple in the past or who will build it in future, and never mind who takes his seat in it and claims to be God, this temple in Jerusalem will always be the temple of God. Please let’s not forget two things: the Israelites, who will build this third temple in the Last Days, will build it in good faith for God. They will believe the Jewish Antichrist when he tells them he is the Messiah.

This too is the "veil" over their hearts, as Paul says in 2Cor 3:14-16, where incidentally we find right away, in the last verse, the first indication of the argument that follows below with reference to the conversion of Israel in the Millennium: "But whenever Israel turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away."

(See also Discourse 86: "The first and the second Antichrist.")

In the catastrophes of the Last Days, this third temple will be destroyed, and then in the Millennium the fourth temple will be rebuilt by the remaining Israelites and converts from the nations under the rule of the Son of God (Zech 6:12). Then the true and only God, the Almighty, will again dwell in the temple in Jerusalem. Only for us Christians, who will then already (following the Rapture) be with the Father in heaven (Rev 7.13-15), these events on earth are no longer that relevant.

The answer to the second question, with reference to the animal sacrifices of the Jews in this temple of God in the Millennium, is now somewhat more challenging. There are Christian denominations who call themselves "the new Israel" and consequently deny any kind of expectation of salvation to the actual Israel. Thus they also reject, for understandable reasons (this is known as Amillennialism), the biblical doctrine of the Millennium - not so the above commentator!, according to which in this future age the Israelites will again convert to their God, their sins will be forgiven and they will once more be the people of God.

(See also discourse 66: "Amillennialism: is the Thousand Year Kingdom of Peace a fiction?

They invoke here, for instance, the statement of Paul in Gal 3:16, where he points out that the promise made by God to Abraham in Gen 22:18 applies to Christ and so to the Christians, and not to the Israelites. So let us start with another statement of Paul’s, who writes in Rom 11,25:

For I do not want you, brethren, to be wise in your own estimation: all Israel will be saved.

Rom 11,25For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery – so that you will not be wise in your own estimation – that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; 11,26 and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, "The deliver will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob." 11,27 "This is my covenant with them, when I take away their sins." 11,28 From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God’s choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers; 11,29 for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. 11,30 For just as you once were disobedient to God, but now have been shown mercy because of their disobedience, 11,31 so these also now have been disobedient, that because of the mercy shown to you they also may now be shown mercy. 11,32 For God has shut up all in disobedience so that He may show mercy to all. Rom 11,25-32;

Their minds were hardened, but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.

2Cor 3,14 But their minds were hardened; for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains unlifted, because it is removed in Christ. 3,15 But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart; 3,16 but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 2Cor 3,14-16;

As the basis of his argument in the above passage (Rom 11,26-27), Paul refers to the Old Testament – first of all Psalm 53,6, and then Amos 9,14-15:

When God restores His captive people, Let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

Ps 53,6 Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion! When God restores His captive people, Let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad. Ps 53, 6;

Also I will restore the captivity of My people Israel, and I will also plant them on their land.

Amos 9,14 "Also I will restore the captivity of My people Israel, And they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them; They will also plant vineyards and drink their wine, And make gardens and eat their fruit. 9,15 "I will also plant them on their land, And they will not again be rooted out from their land Which I have given them," Says the LORD your God. Amos 9,14-15;

Like many other scriptural passages to the same effect, these texts refer to that New Covenant which God will conclude with Israel:

Behold, days are coming, declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.

Jer 31,31 "Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 31,32 not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them," declares the LORD. 31,33 "But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD, "I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Jer 31,31-33;

Days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will restore the fortunes of My people Israel and Judah.

Jer 30,3 ‘For behold, days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will restore the fortunes of My people Israel and Judah.’ The LORD says, ‘I will also bring them back to the land that I gave to their forefathers and they shall possess it.’" Jer 30, 3;

On the other hand Paul likewise refers, in the above passage (Rom 11,27), to Old Testament statements about the forgiveness of sins which Israel will obtain from its God at this time:

You contended with them by banishing them, by driving them away.  And this will be the full price of the pardoning of his sin.

Isa 27,6 In the days to come Jacob will take root, Israel will blossom and sprout, And they will fill the whole world with fruit. 27,7 Like the striking of Him who has struck them, has He struck them? Or like the slaughter of His slain, have they been slain? 27,8 You contended with them by banishing them, by driving them away. With His fierce wind He has expelled them on the day of the east wind.

27,9 Therefore through this Jacob’s iniquity will be forgiven; And this will be the full price of the pardoning of his sin: When he makes all the altar stones like pulverized chalk stones; When Asherim and incense altars will not stand. Isa 27, 6- 9;

I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day

Zech 3,9 ‘For behold, the stone that I have set before Joshua; on one stone are seven eyes. Behold, I will engrave an inscription on it,’ declares the LORD of hosts, ‘and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day. 10 ‘In that day,’ declares the LORD of hosts, ‘every one of you will invite his neighbor to sit under his vine and under his fig tree.’"  Zech 3, 9-10;

And Ezekiel too prophesies about this day on which the sin of Israel will be taken away by God, and mentions in this connection an interesting detail:

On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities then the nations that are left round about you will know that I am the LORD.

Eze 36,33 ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, "On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places will be rebuilt. 36,34 "The desolate land will be cultivated instead of being a desolation in the sight of everyone who passes by. 36,35 "They will say, ‘This desolate land has become like the garden of Eden; and the waste, desolate and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited.’ 36,36 "Then the nations that are left round about you will know that I, the LORD, have rebuilt the ruined places and planted that which was desolate; I, the LORD, have spoken and will do it." Eze 36,33-36;

So we can see from this that Paul, in the above passages, in no way advocates the view that the congregation of Christ  is "the inheritor of the promises, prerogatives and hopes of the Israel of the Old Testament", and thus is the "true Israel", as the Amillennialists would like to think. Just a quick glance at the Letter to the Romans enables us conclude that for Paul the "mission of the Jewish nation" not only has not come to an end, but – quite on the contrary – only properly begins again when the fullness of the heathen have come to salvation (Rom 11,25-32).

Then all Israel will be saved, enter into a new covenant with its God and perform its tasks in the Kingdom of Peace of the Messiah. All Old Testament promises to Israel will then find their final fulfillment – with Israel, and not with the congregation, as Paul indeed says in the above passage (Rom 11,29):

For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

What is prophesied to Israel will be fulfilled with Israel; what is prophesied to the congregation will find fulfillment in the congregation. 

This, along with the other relevant Old Testament texts cited above, shows the untenability of the Amillennialist statements and adds up to an irrefutable proof based on Scripture that the people of Israel will be gathered to its land for the Millennium – at the end of days, that is, and by its God, not in the year 1948 by Theodor Herzl’s Zionists, as these Zionists in Israel of our own day like to believe! And as Ezekiel says in the above passage (Eze 36,36), then the nations will recognize that God is the Lord.

So if the foundation of the state of Israel in the year 1948 had been this gathering promised by God, the entire world would already have had to recognize God and acknowledge the fact of his existence. But as we all know, we are a long way from that. Billions of people still continue to deny the God of the Bible and to worship idols, and the people of Israel has also been – and still is god-less for two thousand years.

(See also Discourse 08: "The gathering of Israel: already since 1948, or not to happen until the Last Days?")

(Texts in a black frame are quotations from visitors to this site or from other authors.)

Here now is the passage from Chapter 10: "The Millennium" at Immanuel.at , to which our commentator refers:

As we can see, the foundations were rightly laid at Immanuel.at in the past, as long as 20 years ago. What was not recognized was the consequences of all these connections, namely that

 o Christianity – salvation by grace through faith – has an expiry period, namely, when Christ returns visibly for all, faith in him is finished and reality dawns,

 o the Christian faith is thus an "insertion" in God’s dealings with his people of Israel,

 o but in this period every Jew as well who converts to Jesus Christ become Christian and is saved,

 o the hardened people of Israel, on the other hand, will remain god-less during the time of Christianity,

 o as a result Christians and Jews have two different paths of salvation,

 o this explains the prophecy of the Lord about those "who believe without having seen",

 o and it explains why the Bible speaks of two "new covenants".

With reference to the statements of our visitor, let us answer the question at once. She asks:

"Why should the Jews again bring sacrifices to the Lord Jesus in the Millennium?"

As we have seen above, these sacrifices are not brought to the Lord Jesus, but to God the Almighty, who in the Millennium will again be dwelling in the temple in Jerusalem. And these sacrifices are brought for the reason that the time of grace and salvation through faith has come to an end, and the original faith of Moses with all its commandments (including animal sacrifice) is again being practiced. This will be explained in greater detail below.

As for the observation of our visitor on Paul’s statement in Col 2,16-17, we need to consider the following: Paul writes in Col 2,17: "… things which are a {mere} shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ." The "things" he refers to are the Mosaic commandments relating to food and drink and certain festivals which are mentioned in the previous verse. So far we are in agreement. And as for the following indication, "the substance belongs to Christ", we both see the fact that all these commandments have been superseded because they have become "substance" in the Christian faith, have been internalized in other words.

But in order to understand the correct significance of the statement, we must look at this sentence in its entirety. When Paul writes here:

we have three kinds of time referred to in this one sentence. The "things" relate to the past, "belongs to Christ" is the present, and "what is to come" has to do with the future. So the future is something different from the present and goes beyond it. So Paul explains to us here that the old commandments of the past are a shadow of what will be lived again in the future, but at present the "substance", as he writes, belongs to Christ.

And thus Paul confirms the biblical fact that the Mosaic faith (shadow of the past) has been superseded with the coming of Christ (grace of the present)

The Law and the Prophets (the Mosaic religion) were proclaimed until John;

Lk 16,16 "The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John; since that time the gospel of the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it. Lk 16,16;

And only in the future Millennium (blessing of the future) will the worship and adoration of God in the Mosaic faith attain to its goal and its fulfillment, with God as the world ruler and the faithful as God’s people.

And just to anticipate the argument that in the past the present was the future, we must take note that Paul includes a "but" here ("but the substance belongs to Christ"), so putting this indication in contrast with the previous statement about "what is to come", and for that reason an identical significance of these two statements can be ruled out.

Many thanks also for the link. I have listened to one of the sermons: "Who are the true Jews?"

(Texts in a black frame are quotations from visitors to this site or from other authors.)

In the first part of his observations I am altogether in agreement with this Baptist preacher, although of course Amillennialism – the denial of the Millennium – is very widespread in the USA (but not with the above Pastor!), because people like to see themselves as the "real Israel" and this leaves no room for the revival of the Jewish Israel. Likewise his statement with reference to "Abraham’s children = the Christians" (Gal 4:29-31), as well as his conclusion that 90% of Baptists and Evangelicals cannot believe that the Jews should be excluded and that now the Christians are the "true Jews", is something I can well understand.

The fact is, you see, that both are right. Before Christ came, Israel was the people of God and all other nations were excluded. Since the life and death of our Lord, it has been the Jews who are excluded, because by rejecting their Messiah they broke their covenant with God (Jer 31:32) and God has abandoned them (leaving the temple – Mt 27:51). From that time on Israel has been – and still is god-less, but on the other hand all people of all nations are invited to come to faith in the Son of God, and to be justified and saved by grace as a result of his redeeming sacrifice on the cross for the sins of us all.

God’s plan of salvation and its effects on Creation.(LANDSCAPE)

But this Christian era of salvation through grace applies only for a limited period of time, namely to the "time of grace". In the time after that, in the Millennium, God’s world order returns to its original structures, and from being the "shadow of the past" the Mosaic faith finally finds its fulfillment with God, the Almighty and Eternal, in the temple in Jerusalem (Zech 8:10-12).

People have felt the power of God in the Last Days, and now they can experience his blessing. The Israelites who have survived the worldwide catastrophes of the Last Days – the "remnant of Israel" – will return to their God and repent, and their sins will be forgiven in one single day.

I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.

Zech 3,9 ‘For behold, the stone that I have set before Joshua; on one stone are seven eyes. Behold, I will engrave an inscription on it,’ declares the LORD of hosts, ‘and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day. 3,10 ‘In that day,’ declares the LORD of hosts, ‘every one of you will invite his neighbor to sit under his vine and under his fig tree.’" Zech 3, 9-10;

God the Almighty will gather them from the extreme ends of the earth and they will come back to their land. God will conclude a new covenant with Israel, and the Israelites who have returned to their God, as well as all survivors from the nations who have turned to the God of Israel, become the new people of God in the Millennium. In addition, Israel will then also be the "chief of nations", in other words a world power. God will again dwell in the temple in Zion/Jerusalem, and has again raised up to the people of Israel its king David, who will rule as a prince in Israel (all this may be found in the following biblical passages).

Behold, I will restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob and have compassion on his dwelling places.

Jer 30,18 "Thus says the LORD, ‘Behold, I will restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob And have compassion on his dwelling places; And the city will be rebuilt on its ruin, And the palace will stand on its rightful place. 30,19 ‘From them will proceed thanksgiving And the voice of those who celebrate; And I will multiply them and they will not be diminished; I will also honor them and they will not be insignificant. 30,20 ‘Their children also will be as formerly, And their congregation shall be established before Me; And I will punish all their oppressors. Jer 30,18-20;

You shall be My people, And I will be your God. In the latter days you will understand this.

Jer 30,22 ‘You shall be My people, And I will be your God.’" 30,23 Behold, the tempest of the LORD! Wrath has gone forth, A sweeping tempest; It will burst on the head of the wicked. 30,24 The fierce anger of the LORD will not turn back Until He has performed and until He has accomplished The intent of His heart; In the latter days you will understand this. Jer 30,22-24;

For thus says the LORD, "Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations.

Jer 31,6 "For there will be a day when watchmen On the hills of Ephraim call out, ‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion, To the LORD our God.’" 31,7 For thus says the LORD, "Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, And shout among the chief of the nations; Proclaim, give praise and say, ‘O LORD, save Your people, The remnant of Israel.’ 31,8 "Behold, I am bringing them from the north country, And I will gather them from the remote parts of the earth, Among them the blind and the lame, The woman with child and she who is in labor with child, together; A great company, they will return here. 31,9 "With weeping they will come, And by supplication I will lead them; I will make them walk by streams of waters, On a straight path in which they will not stumble; For I am a father to Israel, And Ephraim is My firstborn." Jer 31, 6- 9;

And I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them. And I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh.

Eze 11,17 "Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, "I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries among which you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel."‘ 11,18 "When they come there, they will remove all its detestable things and all its abominations from it.  11,19 "And I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them. And I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, 11,20 that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and do them. Then they will be My people, and I shall be their God. Eze 11,17 – 20;

(See also Chapter 02: "The conquest of Jerusalem in the last days.")

Now it will come about that in the last days the mountain of the house of the LORD will be established as the chief of the mountains, and will be raised above the hills.

Isa 2,1 The word which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. 2,2 Now it will come about that In the last days the mountain of the house of the LORD Will be established as the chief of the mountains, And will be raised above the hills; And all the nations will stream to it. 2,3 And many peoples will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; That He may teach us concerning His ways And that we may walk in His paths." For the law will go forth from Zion And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 2,4 And He will judge between the nations, And will render decisions for many peoples; And they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, And never again will they learn war. 2,5 Come, house of Jacob, and let us walk in the light of the LORD. Isa 2, 1- 5;

They shall serve the LORD their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.

Jer 30,7 ‘Alas! for that day is great, There is none like it; And it is the time of Jacob’s distress, But he will be saved from it. 30,8 ‘It shall come about on that day,’ declares the LORD of hosts, ‘that I will break his yoke from off their neck and will tear off their bonds; and strangers will no longer make them their slaves. 30,9 ‘But they shall serve the LORD their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them. Jer 30,7-9;

Behold, days are coming, declares the LORD, When I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.

Jer 31,31 "Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 31,32 not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them," declares the LORD.
31,33 "But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD, "I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Jer 31,31-33;

(See also Chapter 09: "The return home of the redeemed.")

Now when we see, on the one hand, the statement of our Lord Jesus Christ to his apostles at the Last Supper, when he proclaimed the foundation of Christianity: "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood" (Lk 22:19-20), and then look at the promise of God in the above passage (Jer 31,31): "Behold, days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah", many commentators – myself included – would in the past have assumed that the same "new covenant" is meant in both passages.

One reason for this was that statement in the Letter to the Hebrews (Hbr 9,27-28), which the lady from Switzerland refers to earlier, and which makes it seem altogether convincing that this sacrifice offered by Christ – the new covenant – must be a covenant for all human beings and for all eternity. In this connection it is then also stated in Hbr 9:12-14 that no animal sacrifices are any longer required (as might be the case in the Millennium, say).

However, when we take a closer look at the above passages from the Old Testament, we realize that these promises cannot on any account apply to Christianity. And this, of course, is just what our visitor complains of in her first e-mail. These texts, again, refer specifically to that Mosaic faith with which we are familiar from the Old Testament, and which is still practiced in Israel today only by the few remaining ultra-Orthodox Israelites – though in vain, because they have all been without God for the last two thousand years.

The supposition that we might here have to do with texts which have long since been fulfilled, and so too would have to be interpreted with reference to the Old Testament, is however once again proved wrong because in each of these texts we find prophecies which in actual fact have not yet reached fulfillment. Thus we are told repeatedly, "Behold, I will restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob" (Jer 30,8.18; etc.).

The fortunes of Israel will be restored when they again dwell in their land in "peace and safety" (Jer 32,37; 30,10; Eze 28,26; Hos 2,20; etc.). But in all the 3000 years of Israel’s existence, there has not been such an era of "peace and safety". And today likewise there are many things that may be said about Israel – but surely not, that it dwells in its land in peace and safety.

And when it is written in Jer 30,24: "In the latter days you will understand this", that cannot be just transposed into the past, any more than the statement in Jer 31,7: "Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations". Today Israel is an independent state, certainly, but it is far from being a world power – which would undoubtedly be implied by "chief of the nations".

And when it comes to the prophecy in Isa 2,4: "Nation will not lift up sword against nation, and never again will they learn war" – today we are further away, sadly, from that eventuality than ever, and likewise the prophecy in Jer 31,31: "Behold, days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah" cannot be placed in the past, if only for the reason that we are told immediately in the following verse, "Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant which they broke (…)"

To this day the Israelites have not admitted that they broke the covenant with their God two thousand years ago, by condemning his Son to death on the cross. And because they still do not have any feelings of guilt, neither can they experience remorse (Mt 33:38-39). But this remorse is a precondition for God’s being able to forgive them their sins and conclude a new covenant with them.

All this confirms, on the one hand, the view of those commentators who advocate the biblical doctrine of the Thousand Years Kingdom of Peace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in the light of these and many other biblical passages see Israel in the Millennium as being once more the people of God. But on the other it likewise documents – and this is a new realization – the fact that Christianity (that is, salvation by grace through belief in the Son of God) has an expiry date assigned to it.

(See also Chapter 10: "The Millennium")

The time of grace and of salvation through the faith of those who "did not see, and yet believed" lasts from the death of the Lord until his return, to take up world dominion in his Thousand Year Kingdom of Peace.

Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.

Jn 20,26 After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, "Peace be with you." 20,27 Then He said to Thomas, "Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing." 20,28 Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!" 28,29 Jesus said to him, "Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed." Jn 20,26-29;

When in the Millennium the Son of God is again living on earth, and people can see him, "belief" in him is no longer possible. Everything is revealed. The temple will be rebuilt (Ezekiel, chapters 40-46), God will again dwell in the temple in Jerusalem, the Son is ruler of the whole world, Israel serves its God in the temple and the converted heathen nations come to Jerusalem to worship (Zech 14:15-17). – And sacrifices will again be performed in the temple.

So many peoples and mighty nations will come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of the LORD.

Zech 8,22 ‘So many peoples and mighty nations will come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of the LORD.’
23 "Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘In those days ten men from all the nations will grasp the garment of a Jew, saying, "Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you."‘" Zech 8,22,23;

(See also Discourse 95: "Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.")

From now on people have only two possibilities: either they confess this God and his Son, or they let themselves be led astray at the end of these thousand years by Satan, the antagonist of God, and will be killed in the Last Fight (Rev 20:7-9).

(See also Chapter 11: "The end of the world – The Last Fight.")

The people of the land shall also worship before the LORD on the sabbaths and on the new moons.

Eze 46,3 "The people of the land shall also worship at the doorway of that gate before the LORD on the sabbaths and on the new moons. 46,4 "The burnt offering which the prince shall offer to the LORD on the sabbath day shall be six lambs without blemish and a ram without blemish; 46,5 and the grain offering shall be an ephah with the ram, and the grain offering with the lambs as much as he is able to give, and a hin of oil with an ephah. 46,6 "On the day of the new moon he shall offer a young bull without blemish, also six lambs and a ram, which shall be without blemish. Eze 46, 3 – 6;

Christianity: an insertion in the history of God with Israel

So we can see that Christianity – salvation by grace through faith – is a kind of "insertion" in the history of God with Israel. And just as before this time God dwelt in the Holy of Holies of the temple in Jerusalem, so too after this time, in the Thousand Year Kingdom of Peace of his Son, he will again make his dwelling in this temple. Israel will again be the people of God, and animal sacrifices will again be offered in the temple (Eze 46,13-15).

And this also explains a few misunderstandings. Like Amillennialism for instance: if you – like our commentator above – quote the Letter to the Hebrews (Hbr 9,28) and conclude on this basis that "Jesus Christ has performed the sacrifice once and for all", the implicit assumption behind it is that Christians and Jews have the same path of salvation. And then this would indeed be an irreconcilable picture.

In our new understanding, however, it is true on the one hand that all human beings, including Jews, have been able for two thousand years to claim forgiveness of their sins through the redeeming sacrifice of our Lord on the cross – the new covenant in his blood for the time of grace – and this Christian path of salvation then issues in the faithful’s being raptured to the Father in the heavens.

The path of salvation of the Jews, on the other hand, has been interrupted for two thousand years, and will only be resumed in the Millennium, when God makes a new covenant with Israel – where it will then be continued and fulfilled at the place where the Israelites broke their old covenant with God by crucifying the Son of God.

This shows that while Christians and Israelites do have different paths of salvation, they will nonetheless in the end all be brought together in eternity, in the New Jerusalem – they will become one flock with one shepherd (Rev 21:3).

And they will become one flock with one shepherd.

Jn 10,14 "I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, 10,15 even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. 10,16 "I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring thi also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd. Jn 10,14-16;

At the death of his Son, God abandoned the temple (Mt 27:51) and the people of Israel. As a punishment for this despicable deed, 40 years later the Almighty brought about the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple by the Romans. Since then – and up to the present day, and right until the Millennium – the Jews have been and remain a god-less people in both senses of the word.    

By the murder of the Son of God they broke the covenant, and God dissolved this covenant. Since then they have not had any possibility left them of communicating with God, either by prayer or through the liturgy (no temple) or through sacrifice (no altar of burnt offerings).

But in the Millennium the remnant of Israel will recognize its great sin and experience remorse, and God will forgive their sins on one day. Then Israel will again become the people of God, the temple will be rebuilt and God will again dwell in the Holy of Holies of the temple. They will again worship God in the temple as in the past, offer animal sacrifices on the altar of burnt offerings and live in accordance with the ancient Mosaic faith.

This, in this dimension, is a new view of things which is absolutely in conformity with scripture and which explains a question that is centuries old – one that has divided the beliefs of Christian brethren hitherto: is there a thousand-year kingdom of peace of the Son of God on earth or does it not exist according to the Bible, as the Amillennialists claim?

And now we can also correctly explain the story of the fig tree which this Baptist preacher refers to above. Here now is the biblical text:

"No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you." And at once the fig tree withered

Mt 21,18 Now in the morning, when He was returning to the city, He became hungry. 21,19 Seeing a lone fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it except leaves only; and He said to it, "No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you." And at once the fig tree withered. Mt 24,18-19;

The preacher from the USA comments above as follows:

"Take a look at (Mt 21) verse 43. "Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it." He said, "Look here, every tree that does not bring forth good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire." And he said it was not important when they say, "Oh, Abraham is our father." MEANINGLESS! CUT IT DOWN! LET IT WITHER! No fruit, you are withered. And he says here that the kingdom of God will be taken from them and given to a nation producing the fruit of it."

Without the above analysis, probably every one of us would draw the same symbolic conclusion from the Lord’s story of the fig tree: every tree (Israel) that does not bear fruit (acceptance of the Messiah) will wither (be thrown into the eternal fire). But then again we would be on that same track which denies any expectation of salvation to Israel and which (as is the case with the preacher here) results in Amillennialism.

But if we apply the insights we have elaborated above, we can recognize that the Lord does indeed mean Israel by this parable, but it is those Israelites who rejected him and handed him over to the cross. As a result they not only brought disaster on themselves, they also condemned their descendants to damnation:

And all the people said, "His blood shall be on us and on our children!"

Mt 27,24 When Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but rather that a riot was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd, saying, "I am innocent of this Man’s blood; see to that yourselves." 27,25 And all the people said, "His blood shall be on us and on our children!" 27,26 Then he released Barabbas for them; but after having Jesus scourged, he handed Him over to be crucified. Mt 27,24-26;

At the start of his ministry, the Lord addressed himself to Israel exclusively (Mt 15:24), in order to show the Israelites, by sermons and discussions, as well as the miracles that he worked, that he was the long-expected Messiah who had come to save Israel. But they did not believe him, instead putting their faith in their deceitful scribes, who only had an eye to their own advantage. And only when it was clear that they had rejected him did he send out his disciples to preach the gospel to the whole world (Mk 16:15). But Israel has lost everything.

Unless you believe that I am He (the Messiah), you will die in your sins.

Jn 8,22 So the Jews were saying, "Surely He will not kill Himself, will He, since He says, ’Where I am going, you cannot come’?" 8,23 And He was saying to them, "You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. 8,24 "Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins." Jn 8,22-24;

They will die in their sins because 40 years later Titus will destroy the temple and the altar, and the Israelites will no longer have any possibility of performing the daily sacrifice (tamid) for the forgiveness of their sins. And without forgiveness of their sins every human being is condemned to damnation, never mind what kind of merits they may have acquired otherwise.

And the people of Israel of that time brought yet another fate on themselves and their children and their children’s children: with the condemnation of the Son of God to death on the cross, they broke the covenant with God, and God abandoned them (Lk 23:44-46). 

Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father.

1Jn 2,23 Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also. 1Jn 2,23;

Jn 15,23 "He who hates Me hates My Father also. Jn 15,23;

No one comes to the Father but through Me.

Jn 14,6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. Jn 14, 6;

Behold, your house is being left to you desolate until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’

Mt 23,32 "Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers. 23,33 "You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell? 23,34 "Therefore, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city, 23,35 so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.

23,36 "Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation. 23,37 "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. 23,38 "Behold, your house is being left to you desolate! 23,39 "For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’" Mt 23,32-39;

And so for the last two thousand years – and right into the Last Days – every Jew who does not convert to Jesus Christ, and so become a Christian, is condemned to eternal damnation. And precisely this is the Israel that is symbolized by the "withered fig tree". And everything that the Baptist preacher preaches about Israel above applies to this Israel. But only to this Israel!

For as we have seen above, God will leave a surviving remnant of Israel from the catastrophes of the Last Days (Zech 8:11-12). They will then do what their forefathers refused to do for thousands of years. They will welcome the Son of God when he comes to them, as he prophesies to them above in Mt 23,39: "Blessed be he who comes in the name of the Lord!"

(Texts in a black frame are quotations from visitors to this site or from other authors.)

In considering these statements by the Baptist preacher, we need to take into account that the USA has been dominated for decades by a veritable Israel hype – not just in terms of politics (the current Israeli Prime Minister Nethanjahu is always a welcome guest at the House of Representatives), but also economically speaking, seeing that Israel can count on several billion dollars of "support funds" coming from the USA every year. But above all in Free Church Christian congregations, Israel is sometimes accorded even more reverence than our Lord Jesus Christ.

For 70 years Israel has been regarded by the USA as a "little brother", and it has been able to count on its loyalty in the UNO and on the Security Council, and also on military support of all kinds. Thus Israel – in common with India, Pakistan and North Korea – refused to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, without the USA doing anything to prevent it. What is more, Israel has made 400 atom bombs and has them stockpiled and ready for action, without the UNO engaging in any kind of economic sanctions – as was the case against North Korea, which probably has just one atom bomb.

This is also the reason why this American Baptist laments in his sermons that 90% of his fellow believers are unable to follow his interpretation of an Israel with no expectation of salvation. But the reason – as we have seen in this discourse – is that the scriptures have been inadequately analyzed on both sides, and as a result, hasty and incorrect conclusions have been drawn.

The interpretation of today’s Israel as a godless nation, as postulated both by this American preacher and also by me in my observations above, could not be presented and substantiated here in the necessary detail for reasons of space. But since these connections have already been elucidated in a number of other documents at Immanuel.at, I would just like to add the relevant links below, with a view to enabling the interested reader to trace the logical development of thought whereby we have arrived at these conclusions.

(See also Discourse 111: "The pseudo-Christian betrayal of the Israelites – The destruction of the Temple.")

(See also Discourse 1114: "The teaching of the Messianic Jews – the Analysis. – For two thousand years Israel has been God-less – and still is..")

(See also Discourse 38: "What awaits Christians and Jews on the Second Coming of the Lord? – The rejection of Israel: the reconciliation of the world.")