8/12/2019 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,

CA

95603.

To receive

Dr. Bahnsen's freemonthly

newsletter, Prnpoint write to Southern

California Center for Christian

Studies,

P. O. Box

18021,

Irvine, CA

92713.

June, 1992 TIlE COUNSEL

of

Chalcedon

5