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What does the Bible predict will happen in the future? How will God fulfill His promises to His people? Are the promises that God made to Abraham still being fulfilled? Does Israel have a special place in the coming of Christ? Will the temple be rebuilt and all Israel be saved? 2

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The most popular religious teaching concerning these questions is given by the premillennial dispensationalists. They teach that Jesus is returning to rule over a physical kingdom on earth for 1,000 years. Israel will be restored as a nation and return to God corporately through a national conversion to Christ. The temple in Jerusalem will be rebuilt, along with the worship of the Temple. 3

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The Biblical teaching concerning the place of the nation of Israel includes at least four elements. Selection Testing Rejection Replacement 4

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Selection: Almost two thousand years before the birth of Christ, Jehovah selected Abraham to be the founder of a new nation. Genesis 12:2 5

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Abrahams offspring were given a special law and system of worship designed to separate them from the other nations of the world. Exodus 19:5-6 6

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Gods selection of Abraham, and thus Israel, was not due to any holy character, or just for their benefit, but as a means whereby He would bring Christ, as the coming Messiah of the Jews, and the Savior of the world. Galatians 3:24-25 7

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Testing: For some fifteen hundred years the Lord God attempted to cultivate the nation of Israel to be a people that reflected His character and purpose. Jeremiah 32:23 Luke 13:34 8

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Rejection: The rebellion of the nation consummated with the murder of Jesus Christ. 9

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Israels unique status with God was conditional. Deuteronomy 28:1 10

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Jesus foretold this Divine judgment in several of his later parables, including The Parable of the Wicked Tenants Matthew 21:33-44 11

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This parable came to fulfillment when the Roman armies came against Palestine in A.D. 70, and Judaism was destroyed. 12

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With the coming of Christ, there was also an end to the law of Moses, and thus the separateness of Israel as Gods covenant people. Ephesians 2:14-16 13

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The writer of Hebrews points out that the law of Moses was inherently weak in several ways and that God had promised a new covenant based upon better promises. Hebrews 10:9-10 1 Peter 1:18-21 14

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Replacement: As a consequence of Israels rejection of the Messiah, God has replaced physical Israel with a new nation, spiritual Israel. Romans 2:28-29 15

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Those who submit to the gospel plan of redemptionwhether Jew or Gentile become children of God, and thus are constituted as the true seed of Abraham Galatians 3:7-9 Galatians 3:26-29 1 Peter 2:9 16

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Although, in fulfillment of the promises to Abraham, physical Israel WAS a special people to God, with the coming of the Gospel, there was no intrinsic value in being a physical descendant of Abraham. Matthew 3:8-10 17

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In several of Jesus later parables He depicts Israel as those who reject 1)the royal invitation to the marriage,( Matt. 22:1-8) ; 2) the reign of the Nobleman over his household (Luke 19:14) ; 3) or the invitation to a great supper (Luke 14). 18

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Although Israel, as a nation, lost its land and its status as a favored nation in the eyes of God, the spiritual blessing of salvation remained. Romans 10:12-15 19

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Paul goes on to say that God has not cast off His people, but rather provided a remnant, according to the election (choosing) of grace (11:5). Rom 11:26-27 20

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Paul anguished over his brethren in the flesh: Romans 9:1-5 Romans 10:1 21

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Israel fulfilled its purpose in the Devine plan. Selection Testing Rejection Replacement Israel can be saved just as we can be saved only through Jesus Christ. 22

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