Bible Prophecy: The Essentials: Answers to Your Most Common Questions

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Not only did God bring Israel into being as a miracle nation, but God keeps Israel as a miracle nation. Psalm 89 shows God’s heart on this. Although not every evangelical adopts an uncritically pro-Israel position, the majority interpret developments on the ground through the grid of prophesy. As a result, every action of the Israeli settlers is idealised as they are pitted against a Palestinian people who are God’s adversaries according to the salvation history called dispensationalism. It was hyperbole, which I thought was obvious. There are a great many theological disagreements of which this one is rather minor in the grand scheme of things, and I don’t, sincerely, consider any of them worthy of litigation. Thank you. I accept that that was not your intent; but I hope you understand that given that Israel has, baselessly, been accused of genocide and such other slanders, it needlessly muddies the waters to use as your example a state which (almost certainly) is guilty of genocide; especially if, as you claim, there are many other examples you could have used.

When we grasp that the church is eschatological ‘Israel and the Gentiles’ then the absolute distinction between Israel and the church disappears. Further the church is then not Israel forsaken but Israel fulfilled. All of this is ‘in Christ.’ Christ is the Son of Abraham, of promise, in whom ultimately the salvation of all is found.

What Is the Difference Between the Rapture and the Second Coming?

The sentence beginning ” The covenant with Abraham —–will be brought to its consummation.” Really? Is that with or without,say, the promise of the land [Genesis 17:8] ? Reply Though the origins of Israelite prophecy have been much discussed, the textual evidence gives no information upon which to build a reconstruction. When the Israelites settled in Canaan, they became acquainted with Canaanite forms of prophecy. The structure of the prophetic and priestly function was very much the same in Israel and Canaan. Traditionally, the Israelite seer is considered to have originated in Israel’s nomadic roots, and the naviʾ is considered to have originated in Canaan, though such judgments are virtually impossible to substantiate. In early Israelite history, the seer usually appears alone, but the naviʾ appears in the context of a prophetic circle. According to the First Book of Samuel, there was no difference between the two categories in that early time; the terms naviʾ and roʾe seem to be synonymous. In Amos, ḥoze and naviʾ are used for one and the same person. In Israel, prophets were connected with the sanctuaries. Among the Temple prophets officiating in liturgies were the Levitical guilds and singers. Other prophetic guilds are also mentioned. Members of those guilds generally prophesied for money or gifts and were associated with such sanctuaries as Gibeah, Samaria, Bethel, Gilgal, Jericho, Jerusalem, and Ramah. Jeremiah mentions that the chief priest of Jerusalem was the supervisor of both priests and prophets and that those prophets had rooms in the Temple buildings. In pre-Exilic Israel (before 587/586 bce), prophetic guilds were a social group as important as the priests. Isaiah includes the naviʾ and the qosem (“diviner,” “soothsayer”) among the leaders of Israelite society. Divination in the pre-Exilic period was not considered to be foreign to Israelite religion. Muslims need to wake up to Israel’s plans for territorial expansion and urgently put in measures to stop it.

No political force has so aggressively championed the supremacy of the Jewish homeland more than Christian Zionism. Reformed theologians are not convinced the promises to Abraham can be used politically today. The work of Christ is definitive. There is one covenant, and it is with Christ. In the zeal to promote and protect modern Israel, has Jesus been demoted? My view that reading Ezekiel (as well as parts of Revelation/Daniel and the gospels) in this way is problematic and at at times illogical remains precisely that; the opinion of an internet commentator with no more authority than anyone else. For the purposes of brevity, both OT and NT participants in covenantal blessing are part of the covenant of grace.Or putting this another way, this type of Reformed theology views the Church as existing from the beginning of history and carrying through to the end of the age! In other words, Israel is ultimately subsumed in the Church! I certainly don’t think Christians should take a position that Israel is right, come what may. However, I am more concerned at the antisemitism that lies behind much hostility to Israel. Other countries do much worse and no eyebrow is raised. That Israel alone is treated with opprobrium suggests an anti-Semitic impulse.”In other words, the events of 70 may well portray in a localised way what will happen globally at or in some way associated with the second advent…. A dispensationalist looks at the sacrifice in the temple of Ezekiel and concludes that when the temple is built sacrifices will resume. I see it fulfilled already in every Christian coming to Christ. This raises questions of how to understand Rev 4-20. At the moment I tend to see John (or Jesus) as pulling together biblical prophecy into one final revelation. In his first advent the End had begun and since it has begun it cannot be long until it is completed. Ch 4-20 are the elements that have yet to play out as the Lamb brings history to a conclusion.