Israel and the End of the World

December 8th 2024

Romans 11:25-36

The goal of today’s Sermon isn't going to be clear cut like it was last week. Last week, remember, we asked and answered two questions to prove the thesis statement: “What you believe about Eschatology is nothing less than what you believe about God.” The questions we asked and answered were, number one: “Does God ever abandon His people?” And number two: “Who is ruling this World, here and now?” We looked at a number of different verses to help us answer both of those questions, and we learned that throughout all of Scripture, God never abandons His people, which, because it is throughout all of Scripture, it must be present within our understanding of the end of the World. And we also looked through a number of verses that teach that, here and now, Jesus Christ is ruling the World. Which was also found throughout all of Scripture, and again, because it is everywhere in the Bible, it needs to be present in our Eschatology. One of the places we looked that answered both questions, was in John 16:7-11, where it said this:

“Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. [8] And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: [9] of sin, because they do not believe in Me; [10] of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; [11] of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.”

Even when Christ ascended into Heaven to take His rightful place at the right hand of the Father…God was not abandoning us. And when He did this, when Christ ascended into Heaven, the ruler of this World was cast out. Satan had ruled the World for Centuries, but he no longer does. Satan does not rule the World, Jesus does.

Now, as I said last week, these two truths will have ramifications, they will bring up other questions. About our Salvation, about Israel, about other Nations, and about the end of the World. Today, and next week, we will talk about some of those consequences. But before we get there, let's stand and read the Word of the Lord together. This Chapter, Romans 11 could be seen as a ‘conclusion’ of sorts, to an argument that Paul starts in Chapter 8, talking about the people of God. And depending on how our Sermon goes this morning, we may read the entire Chapter at the very end.

Now, before we get to the first point, the shortest of the three, there is an elephant in the Sanctuary that we need to discuss first. And that is this; for the better part of the current Century, and for some of us, for our whole life, we have had one main teaching about Israel. About their future role in the end of the World, and what it looks like. But as we have been discussing the past few Months, the Doctrine of Eschatology has a lot inside of it. There is so much to consider when talking about the end of the World, that I hope you all have learned something new along the way. That you have thought about these differing views of the End of the World, considered them against your own view, and have either made up your mind or started to explore other Schools. 

The elephant in the Sanctuary this morning is the Premillennial-Dispensational School of Eschatology (I know these are big words, and I'll clarify them all in a minute here) in regards to the role that Israel plays in the end of the World. This School - Premillennial Dispensationalism - says that Jesus Christ returns before the Millennium in Revelation 20, takes the Christians who are still alive into Heaven, and then everything on Earth goes South. And it is here where the future of Israel is discussed.

The Premill School of End Times, teaches that once the Church has been raptured into Heaven, the Antichrist takes power here on Earth, and uses that power to wage war against Israel. Then, through this tribulation, ethnic Israelites will come to see the error of their way, turn to Jesus Christ, fight against the Antichrist and evangelize the rest of the World. They will rebuild the Temple, and reinstitute sacrifices, not atoning for sin sacrifices, but “in memory of what Christ has already done” sacrifices. 

This is how we have come to a place where the phrase “I support Israel” has become commonplace in many many Christian circles. Where questioning the validity of the current Nation of Israel as God’s chosen people, has become equatable with questioning Christianity as a whole. If that sounds like a bold statement, then later on in this Sermon, please remember that I said it. We are at a place in time where Christians are becoming more and more concerned with what is going on in Israel, be it a full fledged War, or a building project, and everything in between. As a result, they are growing more and more unsettled with the state of the World. 

Before we get too far though, we need to be constantly reminded that we need to take our understanding about Eschatology from the Bible and not from the news. Exegesis not Eisegesis, remember. I need to focus on this for just a moment, because of how strong a temptation it can be to take World events and then claim “See…this is what the Bible is talking about!”

In this instance, many Christians, Christians, those who I have no doubt I will see in Heaven, regardless of our disagreement…(remember the Adiaphora Sermon) …many Christians will claim that the re-formation of Israel as a Nation in 1948, was in fulfillment of prophecies from Daniel 9, speaking of Daniel’s 70th week. Remember, from 70ad when Rome destroyed the Temple and sacked Jerusalem, until the formation of the United Nations after WW2… “Israel” was not a Nation. They were a people group displaced from their ancestral home, some still living in that place, some living in this Country or that Country. They were spread out all over the World, and starting around the late 1800s, Jews from all over the World began to migrate back to the land of “Palestine”. After WW1 and the fall of the Ottoman Empire, this migration increased even more, and then after WW2, when they were declared an official Nation in 1948, their population exploded.

This could be a solid argument in favor of viewing the current Israelites as continuing to be the “people of God.” But before we get that far, let's get some solid definitions of what each Millennial School of thought (when Jesus returns in relation to the Millennium) teaches, in terms of Israel’s future role in the end of the World. Which is Point #1 this Morning.

Premillennialism:

As we just discussed, the Premill School teaches that Israel has always remained the people of God, from the very beginning and even here and now today; that we as the Church are seen as a separate people from Israel, and God is going to deal differently with each of these 2 groups; Israel and the Church. The Church will be raptured into Heaven, and then God will again begin dealing with His chosen people, the Jews.

Amillennialism:

The Amill School teaches that, yes, Israel is the chosen people of God, however, when Jesus came to Earth, proved Himself to be God, and the New Covenant started, the Church then fulfilled the promises to Israel. However, most Amillennialists will say that at the end of time, around the same time that the Antichrist rises to power, (either before or after), there will be a “mass conversion” of ethnic Israelites to Christ.

Postmillennialism:

Lastly, the Postmillennial School teaches the same thing as the Amill School, that the Church has fulfilled the promises of the Old Testament that were given to Israel, however, because they also teach that the Gospel will go unhindered across the Globe Christianizing the world…they will say that as the Nations become Christian, this will continue with every Nation…until the last one left that isn’t Christian, is Israel. Then Israel will become a Christian Nation as the “last domino” so to speak, and then the end will come.

A 4th option:

There is a fourth understanding of Israel, that “overlaps” the Amillennial and Postmillennial School, that teaches that all the future promises to Israel are fulfilled in the Church…but they will go a step further and claim that they were all fulfilled in 70ad with the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem. So that now the Nation of Israel is nothing but one Nation amongst all the rest on the Earth, with no future end-times role to play.

Now, each of these is a Summary, with many in each School having different variations on what I said. They would tweak my words in this direction or that, but for the most part, this is what each School teaches.

But before I send you guys home this morning, I want to discuss 2 truths that will help guide us forward as we try and understand the role, if any, Israel will play at the end of the World. Each of these might touch a nerve in your understanding of Israel, and…I hope that it does. I hope that these two guardrails will provoke you to read the Bible, to dive into Scripture, to ask questions, questions the answers you find, and ultimately settle somewhere inside of the 66 books, and nowhere else. 

Point #2) - The first guardrail:

Turn with me to Romans 11:1-6.

“I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. [2 ] God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying, [3] “Lord, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life”? [4] But what does the divine response say to him? “I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” [5] Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace. [6] And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.”

Paul is living proof that God has not “shut the door” on ethnic Israelites. I used this word earlier, I hope you caught it, and I’m putting emphasis on it now…because that is what Paul is saying here. He is ethnically Jewish. He is from the tribe of Benjamin. He is in the direct bloodline of Abraham, in the same way that each of us are in the direct bloodline of our great grandparents. Our ethnicity. And Paul is saying, “Look at me! I am ethnically Jewish, and this is proof that God has not “shut the door” on ethnic Jews.

And this is the First Guardrail. God does not shut the door of Heaven because of someone’s ethnicity. We read these words in Revelation 7:9&10: “After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, [10] and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

God did not “shut the door” on any ethnicity. There are going to be people from every Nation, Tribe, People, and Tongue, in Heaven. There will be African, French, Spanish, Jewish, Palestinian, Egyptian, Chinese, Myan, Mongol, Italian, Norwegian, Aztec, English, American, German, Japanese, Jewish…and people from every ethnicity in Heaven. In fact, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the single, only, antidote to racism. It is the one unifying truth regardless of one's sins and one’s ancestors.

However, and I'm going to be careful here, that does not mean ethnicities are inconsequential. We don't lose or ethnic identity once we become Christians…because God made us to be part of the ethnic group that we are in. Him making us on purpose, means He made white people white and black people black…on purpose. Which means that if we ignore our ethnicities, then we are ignoring the deliberate and intentionally sewing together that God performed in our mother’s womb.  It's not a sin to be thankful that God made you the ethnicity that He made you. The white man can say “Thank you God for making me white” just as biblically as the black man can say “Thank you God for making me black.” To not enjoy and be thankful of the differing cultural and biological variations that God intentionally designed our ethnicity to have, would be presuming that we know better than God. It would be a sin to not enjoy and be thankful for your ethnicity. This is a sticky subject, I understand, but it needs to be discussed. 

It is not a sin to be White, Black, Jewish, Japanese or German.

The sin comes in when you assert one ethnicity over others.

Ethnic sin happens when you say that “this” ethnicity, or “that” ethnicity is better or worse;

more Godly or less Godly, than all the others. 

And here is where the “poking” of your Eschatology might come in with this first guard rail. There will be some poking with the second guard rail, but we're not there yet.

If we are going to agree that no Ethnicity is anymore special or better or Godly than any others…that includes ethnic Jews. We can’t, with one side of our mouth say: “In God’s eyes all ethnicities are equal”, and then out of the other side say: “Well…you know, except for the Jews.”

There is no one being excluded from eternity based on their ethnicity…and there is no one being included in eternity based on their ethnicity. Our salvation is not based on anything within us…be it the color of our skin, who our grandparents were, or how many laws we follow. Salvation is by the grace of God, through the gift of faith that He and He alone gives, which causes us to repent and believe in Him. However we view the end of the world…we can not say to the Jews… “oh, don’t worry, you're good to go. God has a different plan for you.” We can not treat any ethnicity like they are worse or better than any other. Period.

Now…this has the potential to get incredibly complex, because there are people who are Jews by ethnicity and there are people who are Jews by choice. However, regardless of if they are Jewish by choice, or Jewish by blood…the truth doesn't change. 1st John 2:22 & 23 say this: “Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. [23] Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.” 

If anyone denies Jesus Christ, they are “antichrist”

regardless of their ethnicity or religion.

A quick Time-Out before the next Guard Rail:

There are people who are Jewish by blood, there are people who are Jewish by choice, but there is a third group of people who call themselves Jewish as well. These are people who mingle together Christian teaching with Jewish traditions. This group is complicated, because the Jewish traditions they are mingling with Christian teaching…used to be commanded by God. They will say things like: “Of course Jesus is the only way into heaven, yes, but we still need to keep all the Feasts that God commanded in the Old Testament, we still need to keep all the Laws and Regulations He gave…because God doesn't change.” However, while it may sound convincing, what we need to understand is that, yes, God doesn't change, all of the Laws are still “on the books” so to speak, but what they're missing is that Jesus said in Matthew 5:17: “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.” Jesus fulfilled the Law and Prophets on our behalf when we repented of our sins and believed in Him. We can not take behaviors that were commanded to us by God, and staple them on to Christ as if His life and death were insufficient to save us. This is why Paul said in Galatians 2:16 that the works of the law cannot justify us. These people are wolves in Jewish clothing that ought be opposed.

Ok, Time-In.

Now let’s remember where we are:

Point #1) How you understand the Millennium will determine what role the Jews will play in the end of the World. 

Point #2) The first guardrail --  Heaven will be populated with people from every single Ethnicity that has ever and will ever exist, because our Ethnicity neither bars us from heaven or grants us entrance there. Salvation is not based upon who our ancestors were, but it is based on God and Him alone.

Now, if you're still with me, as I just said, it can be a convoluted topic when discussing what role Israel plays in Eschatology, because of the differences of what we mean when we say “Israel”. Do we mean people who practice Judaism? Do we mean people in the literal physical bloodline of Abraham, people who are ethnic Israelites? Or do we mean the geo-political Nation of current Israel, with Benjamin Natenyahu as their Prime Minister?

The second Time-Out. It will be a short one, I promise.

Israel as a Nation has a right to defend herself under the same Biblical principles of “Just War” that every Nation has. I hope the Jews follow the principles of Just War, and annihilate those who invade their home, rape their women, and kill their children. However, if we are more concerned with the atrocities in a city 6,000 miles away…than we are the atrocities in a city 25 miles away…we need to rethink our priorities.

Time-In, I told you it would be short.

Who are we talking about, when we say that Israel is the people of God? This Guard Rail will close our Sermon this morning, and to answer it, we need to go to the text.

First - we need to understand that Israel in the Old Testament, (by every definition of “Israel”) were the chosen people of God. Deut. 7:6; Psalm 135:4; Zech 2:8; Isaiah 44:1; along with many others all speak of this truth. Jesus Himself said so in John 4:22 when He said this: “You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews.” And, just like last week, because “Israel being the people of God” is all through Scripture, it needs to be in our Eschatology as well.

But the question remains, what do we mean by “Israel”

when we say: “Israel is the people of God”?

What could bind a people together as the people of God, that

transcends our ancestry, biology, blood, and soil?

We read this in Ephesians 2:11-13: “Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands— [12] that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. [13] But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”

Non-ethnic Jews, were strangers to the covenants of promise with no hope

…but Jesus Christ changed that.

Galatians 3:28 & 29 says it this way: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. [29] And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

If you are a Christian this morning…if you have repented of your sins and believed in Jesus Christ…if the blood debt to God that your own choices earned you, was paid for by Christ on the Cross…if you're dead heart has been replaced, not because of your actions or ethnicity…but because God called you like Lazarus from the grave…if that is you, then you are Abraham’s seed. You are heirs to the promise.

As Paul also said in Galatians 6:15-16: “ [15] For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation. [16] And as many as walk according to this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.

You, fellow Christian, are the Israel of God.

You are Jewish. Shalom.

This is why the Judiazers I mentioned earlier, reject the words of Paul. Because he not only says that Christians are the true Israel of God, he also says this, in 1st Corinthians 10:1-4: “Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, [2] all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, [3] all ate the same spiritual food, [4] and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.” Did you hear that? He says that the Israelite Patriarchs are our fathers. We the Church, are Israel.

Philippians 3:3:

“ For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh,”

1st Peter 2:9 & 10:

“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; [10] who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.”

We the Church are a royal priesthood.

We the Church are a holy Nation.

We the Church are His own special people.

We the Church are Israel, to such an extent, that the promises of God to Israel in the Old Testament, are applied to us in  Romans 9:25-33:

“As He says also in Hosea: “I will call them My people, who were not My people, And her beloved, who was not beloved.” [26] “And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ There they shall be called sons of the living God.” [27] Isaiah also cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, The remnant will be saved. [28] For He will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness, Because the Lord will make a short work upon the earth.” [29] And as Isaiah said before: “Unless the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, We would have become like Sodom, And we would have been made like Gomorrah.” [30] What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith; [31] but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness. [32] Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone. [33] As it is written: “Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense, And whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”

It says this in that same Chapter, Romans 9, in verses 1-8:

“I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, [2]that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. [3] For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh, [4] who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises; [5] of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen. [6] But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel, [7] nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, “In Isaac your seed shall be called.” [8] 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.”

The Church as the true Israel of God is everywhere in Scripture,

which means it needs to be in our Eschatology as well.

However, lest we think that we as Christians, because of ourselves are somehow better than the Jews…like God “lost His temper” with them, and “shut the door” I am going to read all of Romans chapter 11. I know this is a lot of information, and I’m hoping that it leaves you with a hunger to know God more deeply. As we read it and then stand for the Doxology, please keep these two Guard Rails up. Our ethnicity doesn't make us special in the eyes of God…Jesus does. And, we the Church are the Israel of God. 

What role ethnic or national Israel plays in the end of the World…be they the ones who will fight the antichrist, be they nothing more than one nation among many, or be they the final domino of Nations that come to Christ…will depend on how you understand the Millennium Kingdom of God. 

Romans 11