Download - 1992 Issue 6 - Cross-Examination: The Place of the Jews in Prophecy - Counsel of Chalcedon
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Eachmonththe Cross-Exarnination
column presents a summary statement
of a Reformed and
Reconstructionist
conviction in theology or ethics, and
then offer.s brief answer.s to common
questions,objectionsorconfusionswhich
people have about
that belief. Send
issues or questions you would like ad
dressed by Dr. Bahnsen to the editor.
We Believe
n
Scripture, is there a distinctive
, futurepromlsedfortheJewsasanethnic
, group or nation? With respect to the
question of the relationship of the ·
Christian gospel to the Jews, as well as
their place in Biblical
prophecy, we
be
lieve the following truths
to
be based on
God's word:
The Old Testament promises to
Abraham and
to
the nation of
Israel,
when properly interpreted in light of the
whole
Bible,
were
all
pledged in and
through Christ for
God's
rtue people in
all ages.
The greater attention andcare which
God gave to the nation ofJsraeI through
out the period of the Old Covenant
increased Israel'sculpability forbreaking
the covenant and rejectingthe promised
Messiah
.
Israel as
a
nation
- and the
ethnic
Jews as a ace -- have
been
rej Cted
by
God, so that they no longer constitute
His
kingdom orHischosen people among
all the nations on earth.
The
kingdom of
God
is now in
the
days of the New
Covenant
identified
with the international church
of
Jesus
Christ (Gentile andJewlsh); this
is
the
"peopleforGod'sownpossession"which,
as
such, inherits the
blessings
promised
toAbraham and to
lsrael.
TheJews
do
not have any
guarantee
or hope ofblessing from God
apart from
submission
to
the SonofGod
as Messiah,
faith
in the
gospel, and
incorporation
into
the
church.
God's transfer of the kingdom away
from
Israel
to the church indicates
that
there
will
beglorious days
for
the
gospel
throughout New Covenant history; the
seed of
Abraham --
true believers
-- will
grow to an overwhelmingnumericalsize
and bless
all
nations.
The
progressing mass conversion-of
GentileS
in the world
will
eventually
provoke the Jews
to jealousy
and bring
them
to
a
mass
conversion of their
own
to
Jesus
Christ.
, TIlE COUNSEL of Chalcedon June, 1992
Commitment to the realization of'
this spiritual
blessing
for the
Jews does
'not in itself necessarily commit the
Christian one
way
or the other, to a
restoration
of
the
ews to
the land of
Palestine
or
their
(alleged)
moral right to
that
land.
When the world sees "all Israel" be
come
saved
(througl:iJewish longing
for
the saving blessing experienced by the
Gentiles), there will
be
yet
further and
greater
blessings from God upon the
whole population of the world because
Christwill then be internationaJlyrecog
nized and exalted among
men.
The
Biblical
teaching regarding the '
Jews and the
future of
Israelis, therefore,
'one more
line
of Scriptural support
for
the optimism and confidence of the
postmil1enniali
regarding the
5UCOess ,
of the Great Commission
before
Christ
returns in judgment on the world.
Examination
Question: Iswhathas beensaidabove
thestandardpostmillermial view regard
ing
"the
Jewish
question"?
Answer
No;
there is no universally
accepted or "standard" position
among
pClStmillenni.aJ
commentators
regard
ingtheplaceoftheJewsinprophecy. The
above view
cannot
claitn to
be-
the
"offi- '
cial"postmilletmialstatement,butnever- '
theless many, many well respected
poscmillemria1 scholars
have
interpreted
the Bible,
particularly
Romans 9-11, in
the fashion suggested.
A
orceful
presen
tation
of
this
view
can
be
found
inJolm
Murray's
commentary
on
Romans (in
the
New
International
Commentary
series).
The
writers of the Westminster Confes
sion ofFaith adhered to this perspective,
as
we
see
in
the
Larger
Catechism #191
and its proof exts. What do we pray for
whenwepray"Thykingdomcome"? The
Westminster
Assembly answered: ''we
pray that
the
kingdom
of
sin and Satan
rnay be
destroyed, the gospel r o p ~ t e d
throughout the
world,
the Jews called,
,he fulness of the Gentiles brought
in"
(titing
Romans 10:1;
11:25-26).
8/12/2019 1992 Issue 6 - Cross-Examination: The Place of the Jews in Prophecy - Counsel of Chalcedon
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Otherposttnillennialists
would not
interpret Paul's words as indicating a
distinctive and blessed
furure
for ethnic
Israel, but rather
for Israel
in thespirirual
sense as all the
elect
.
Some have
even
taken the radical-and historically dubi
ous -
po,sition
that ethnic jews
are
not
even
to
be
found, or
can no
longer
be
identified, on the eanh.
But Paul's
ex
plicit concern
was for
his kinsmen
after
the
flesh [Rom. 9:3], not just spiritual
Israel. Moreover, God's assurances con
cerning these kinsmen
would
not
be
thwaned by the loss to humanhistory of
those who are
jews
after
the flesh,
con
cerning
whom e
had made promise.)
Question: By saying that in the
days
of the New Covenant God has rejected
ethnic
Israel as His
spedal
people, have
you
made
God
a
covenant-breaker?
Answer:
Not at all. God
is
the One
who kept covenant, and then evenrually
visitedcovenant-breaking
Israel
with the
sanctions of
His covenant.
Rejection
of
Israel was
not contrary to the covenant,
but
precisely in
fulfillment
of the terms
of
that
covenant.
And
all these curses shall
come upon
you, and shall
pursue and
over
take
you, until
you are
destroyed,
because
you did not hearken tn the
voice
of ehovah
your
God. and
they
shall
be
upon
you
for
a sign and a wonder, and upon
your
seed
forever (Deuteronomy 28:45-46). God
threatened to reverse the promise made
to
Abraham: -You
shall
be
leftfew in
num
ber, whereas
you
had been
as
the
stars
of
heavenfor
multitude
v.
62)
. Andprom
ised land will
be
forfeited,
said
Moses:
'You shall be plucked from
off
the land that
yougo
in
to
possess,
andjehovah
will
scatter
you
among
all thepeoples rom one end of
the
earth
tn
the
other
w.
63-64).
Moses
sang that there should be
no
doubtabout
God's
threatened rejection
of Israel: For
jehovah
will
judge His
people,
and repent
Himself or His servants
(32:36).
Question: What right
do
we
have
to
think that
God has rejected Israel
as
His
spedal people once and
for all, actually
transferring its
privileges to
another?
Answer:
Our
convictions
here
are
based
on
the words of
Christ,
the
Lord of
the
covenant.
He said that
the
manyred
blood of all the
previous
saints of God
would
be
required
now
of
His
own gen
eration
(Luke
11:51). The capital city
and God's own temple would
be
deso
lated (13:35)
as
jerusalem is trodden
downbytheGentiles 21:24). WhatwiU
God do to
those
who have killed the
prophets and finally murder
His
Son?
Hewilldestroythehusbandmen
andgive
the
vineyard tn others (20:9-16). The
Jewish leaders perceived vety clearly that
''HespohedlisparableagaJnstthem''(v.19).
As Matthew's
gospel
puts it: Jesus
declared Therefore I
say
untn
you,
the
htngdom of God shall
be
taken
awcryJrom
you [thejewsl and
shall
begiven to a
nation
brtngingforth the fruits thereof 21:43).
Paul brings out the meaning of this
judgment from
God
whenhe writes,
by
theirunbeli
eJtheywe
rebrokenoJj CRomans
11 :20).
Afterthispoint
those
who
claim
to
be
the Jews are nothing more than a
synagogue of
Satan (Revelation 2:9).
Question: What then
becomes of
God'spromisestothepeopleofAbraham?
Answer:
Abraham
actually
rejoiced
and looked ahead to Christ's
day Oohn
8:56), and
as
Paul teaches us, all the
promises of God are
affirmed
and con
finned in Chlist (2 Corinthians 1:20).
Indeed, the promises spokenby God to
Abraham
were
intended
for his
seed
-
hissingularseed, that s Christ (Galatians
3:16).
Believers
in Christ are
made
'JOint-heirs
with
Christ as God's Son
(Romans
8:15-17).
Accordingly, the church now stands
in the place of
prtvilege
which once
belonged
to
ethnic
Israel.
The church
is
the
Israel
oj God (Galatians 6:16); it
is
conceived of as the commonwealth of
Israel (Ephesians
2:12, 19) . What God
once
said of the nation Israel, He now
declares about the church of Christ (1
Peter
2:9).
Those
who are of faith
are,
therefore,hereafterdeemedthetruesons
ofAbrallam
(Galatians
3:7, 29). He is a
jewwho
is
oneinwardly,
anddrcunu:ision s
that
of
the
heart (Romans 2 :28-29). The
promises which God made to
Abraham
and
to
His
people,
Israel,
will
thus
be
fulfilled in those
whoare joined to
Christ
for salvation.
Question: So then,
can
there be no
special future for ethnic Israel in God's
redemptive
plan?
Answer: If
Israel
will be joined
to
Christ
for
salvation, then itwillenjoy the
blessing
of God
again -- not apart
from
the Gentiles,but in the same way as the
Genu1es d Acts 10:35; 15:9). Paul
assures us:
if
hey do
not continue in unbe
lief, they shall be grafted
in
[tn
the
olive tree
representingGod'speopleJ,forGodis
able
tn
graft them
inagaJll
(Romans 11:23). The
partialhardenlngoflsraelhas taken place,
says
Paul, until the fulness of the
Gentiles
comes into
the
kingdom 11:25).
Israel
will be provoked
to
jealousy (11:
11;
d.
Deut.
32:211).
And
in
this wlo/
aU
Israel
shall
be
saved
1l :26).
Further Investigation
For funher srudies ofeschatology on
tape, write for a catalogue from Cov-
enant
Tape Ministry,
24198
Ash
Court,
Auburn,
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95603.
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Dr. Bahnsen's freemonthly
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California Center for Christian
Studies,
P. O. Box
18021,
Irvine, CA
92713.
June, 1992 TIlE COUNSEL
of
Chalcedon
5