Covenant Presbyterian Church
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Sunday morning Foundations Classes
Angels/Demons & the End Times -- Lesson #14
For Lesson #1 click on 5/31 at Blog Archive.
When studying the Tribulation, I don’t see how we can ignore the reality of Israel. Their relevance is questioned, even rejected, by those holding an Amillennial view, but God certainly has plans for Israel as we’ll see.
Without the restoration of the State of Israel, interpreting the End Times Bible-verses in Revelation and Daniel 9 becomes ambiguity wrapped in an enigma of symbolism.
Israel’s very existence and the odds against their survival as a nation is testimony that they are under God’s protection, and that He will redeem a remnant as He had promised Abraham (Gen, 13:14-15), next slide.
“forever”? Did God actually mean forever? What about the adjacent Arab states of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and even a portion of Egypt’s Sinai? But of course, only God can figure it out and He will in total fairness and perfect justice. Don’t forget this would be during the 1,000 year millennial reign of Jesus Christ.
In today’s Middle East, Israel is located in a sea of Muslim nations, with over 100 million Arabs on their borders, yet they exist, and even prosper. Coincidence or God’s Providence?
To help understand Israel’s place in the Tribulation, let’s step back to ancient Israel. Two key chapters in the book of Daniel, Ch. 2 and 9, outline the whole history of God’s dealings with His people Israel from hundreds of years BC, right through to the second coming of Christ and inauguration of His millennial kingdom at the end of the 7-year Tribulation. If none of this—regarding Israel—is relevant, why did God give us the Old Testament history and prophecies of Israel? Daniel’s 70-week prophecy focuses exclusively on Israel. The first 69 weeks addresses Israel up to the time of Christ; the 70th week is yet to be fulfilled. Will the Church suffer the full weigh of God's wrath as described in Revelation (Rev. 15-16) or raptured?
We viewed a lot of charts during our study, but one chart is worth a 1,000 words. We are in the “Church Age”. The Tribulation is the 70th week of Daniel's prophecy—each week is equivalent to 7 years. Premillennialist believe Christians will be raptured before the Tribulation (as shown). Amillennialist believe Israel was replaced by the Church, and the Tribulation is for the Church, and that Israel has no relevance. If Israel has no relevance, why then is there even an Israel, especially against such odds: having been murdered and scattered by the Romans in 70 AD; persecuted in every era and by many nations; survived the Nazi Holocaust; and now attacks by Arab neighbors…. Yet, there is an Israel.
This chart shows the Bible verses for each phase of the 7-year Tribulation going into the millennium. Something to look at in your spare time, which I haven’t done yet, but will.
Most theologians believe Israel was punished for their rejection of the Messiah with the Jews being driven out of their homeland and scattered across much of the known world. The Church fathers, even the Protestant Reformers, believed the Church replaced Israel, and that Israel was cursed by God. As such most believed Daniel’s 70-week prophecy applies to the Church, since there was no Israel, and as such, believed Christians go through the Tribulation.
Little did anyone know that God’s plan included the rebirth of Israel almost 1,900 years later in keeping with His promise to redeem Abraham’s descendants as stated in a number of places in the Old Testament (Ezekiel 11:13-25; Isaiah 11:11; Hosea 13-14).
All of the tribes and people that had previously occupied that land, have long since disappeared as a distinguishable group of people, but not Israel.
Without Israel, the 70th week of Daniel’s 70-week prophecy would be left open ended and unfulfilled. When it was written by Daniel (chap. 9), there was no Church, and it focused exclusively on Israel. Since there was no Israel between 70 AD and 1948, it was natural for the early church fathers and church historians to apply the 70th week to the Church; before 1947-48 no one could even anticipate there would be the reestablishment of Israel in a 99.9% Muslim region. Without an Israel, it would seem natural to apply Daniel’s 70th week to the Church, or disregard it or just lock it away as a mystery. The reality is, there is an Israel! And, yes, God did bring them back.
God keeps His promises. He will redeem a remnant of Israel (Jeremiah 31:1-5). Some will say those verses apply to ancient Israel, but they failed again and again, and consequently God is finished with them. V.3b “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love.” Since God is immutable, He doesn’t change His mind. God saw all their failures when He expressed His everlasting love for Israel, none of which caught Him by surprise.
God’s miracle…. restoring Israel to the land promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. When the Jewish State was born in May 1948, Egypt and four Arab armies (Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq) immediately invaded Israel. Leaders of the invading forces thought they were heading towards an easy victory; they had no difficulty obtaining all the arms they needed and even British RAF planes flew with Egyptian squadrons over the Israel-Egypt border. Israel was thought to be virtually defenseless. But they were wrong. The invading armies suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of a combination of Jewish militias (there was no formal Israel Defense Force or IDF at the time).
https://www.factsaboutisrael.uk/god-protects-israel/
The map shows just how little of the land was allocated for the Jews when they arrived as Holocaust refugees from Europe with no home to return to in their respective European countries. There is no way they could have survived on that sliver of land (shown in blue). In 1948 they only had that allocated area to call home. By 1949, while defending themselves, they acquired additional land as shown on the index. Acquiring additional land was literally a matter of life and death for Israel. Coincidence or Providence? My bet’s on Providence.
We looked at the 1967 Six Day War in the last lesson, but it’s an important biblical milestone for Israel and worth repeating. I’ll let the headline speak for itself: “Total Israel Victory” against overwhelming military forces of several nations, who were determined to not only defeat Israel but exterminate them as a people. Why all this emphasis on Israel? The Amilllennial view is based on two factors: 1. That Israel was cursed by God for rejecting the Messiah, the proof being Israel’s destruction as a nation by the Romans. 2. That the Church replaced Israel, because they killed Christ, and therefore Daniel’s 70 week applies to the Church as God's people, not Israel.
From man’s perspective there is no such thing as miracles, only the unexplainable and circumstantial. The newspaper headline shown is an excerpt from Messiah Magazine #16, Spring 2017, on the 50th anniversary of the 1967 Six Day War. As stated, it was every bit a miracle that clearly shows God doesn’t consider Israel irrelevant. Also stated in the same article was how Israel defeated its enemies and redeemed Jerusalem and in doing so, tripled the size of its territory. All of which shows the relevance of the 70th week of Daniel’s prophecy being related to Israel and not the Church.
Israel troops at the Temple “Wailing Wall” after driving the Jordanian forces out and reclaiming all of Jerusalem placing it under Israel control after almost 1,900 years after it was destroyed by the Romans.
I’ll let the slide speak for itself. 
Those six days were a major turning point for Israel’s survival as a nation. How does the world see it? …
Some, perhaps even a large part of the world, blame a perpetual state of conflict in the Middle East on Israel’s taking of territory in the 1967 Six Day War.
1967 wasn’t Israel’s last war for survival, there were more to come. In 1973, 1100 Syria tanks launched an attack against Israeli in the North, called the Yom Kippur War. After two days, Israel turned the tide and drove them back. It was also attacked by Egypt in the south by 2,000 tanks, but Israel stopped their advance to a standstill.
The early Church didn’t need the O.T. to tell them that Jesus was the promised Messiah as stated in Matthew 1:16. In fact, every time someone says, “Jesus Christ,” he is referring to Jesus as the Messiah, since Christ means “Messiah” or “Anointed One” translated from Hebrew. Nevertheless, God gave us the Old Testament history and prophecies of Israel as God’s chosen people, and that there would be a Messiah, not just for Israel or the Jewish people but as Savior for Jews and gentiles (1 Cor. 1:22-24).
Israel is still facing a constant series of conflicts for its very survival.
Let those 2014 headline—spoken by a terrorist—give us a hint of Israel’s relevance. Another example of God’s protective hand, which has been referred to as Israel’s “Iron Dome”—the name of their missile defense system.
Israel’s future? Israel will experience a time of trial like never before. A tribulation that born-again Christians will be spared. Following the Tribulation is Jesus’ Second Coming and His 1,000 reign on earth (the Millennium). What exactly takes place during the Millennium? Perhaps a future study?
Will the Antichrist be responsible for rebuilding of the temple? Will he negotiate a peace treaty that convinces the Muslims to allow rebuilding of the temple? Either way, it will get built.
There are indications that within Israel, rebuilding of the temple is more than just some far fetched, abstract idea, as we’ll see in the next lesson.
What the temple construction could look like.
Is our study of the Rapture church doctrine? The Second Coming of Jesus Christ is doctrine. The Rapture is yet unfulfilled prophecy and as such is a matter of interpretation and not doctrine. Opinions differ, even between respected Bible scholars and teachers, based on a variety of factors. Dr. Godfrey is a church historian and his opinion rest on church history, that Israel was cursed by God and as such is no longer relevant. And Israel was not mentioned in church history. When Israel ceased to exist as a nation, church fathers concluded that the Tribulation was for the Church, since there was no Israel, and believed the Church was the new Israel, a belief that was held even during the Protestant Reformation. Much of the Church, including Martin Luther were anti-Semitic, considered Jews Christ-killers …. but things have changed in 1948.
Both men profess the Reformed faith. Dr. Godfrey, a church historian was President of Westminster Seminary California, and is currently Chairman of Ligonier Ministries after the passing of R.C. Sproul. He holds the Amillennial view. Dr. MacArthur is Pastor of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, CA. He holds the Premillennial view.
Bible study is more than reading your Bible, it is also a matter of study notes, a concordance, and in today’s world, even searching the world wide web. And of course, blogs like this help.
Dr. Godfrey’s 46 minute lecture (2015) highlights 5 errors in studying God’s Word. What does that have to do with our study? As he states, we can’t do it alone, in addition to the Bible, he recommends input from others and commentaries to avoid concluding by personal opinion alone. Which is exactly the path we have been on throughout this study. He opens his message with ancient Israel history, seeing it fulfilled in Jesus. So it is. But, I believe automatic rejection of the pre-tribulation Rapture because it hasn’t been part of church history falls into that category—but things change. History often evolves over time, and opinions need to consider those changes. One such change is the rebirth of Israel in 1948 and their very survival as a nation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dl-J9Fh5-28
John MacArthur’s 21-minute sermon begins with the Pre-tribulation Rapture (2018). Again, the basis of his conclusion is predicated on what I believe the Bible clearly states, when viewed within light of the history of Israel. John MacArthur holds the Premillennial view and is every bit Reformed as anyone professing the Reformed faith including Dr. Godfrey, whom I also have the greatest respect for.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCt3LbINLs0
I had previously stated this would be out last lesson, BUT, I need to stretch it out to another lesson as a better option than overloading this lesson, including videos from Israel on the rebuilding of the temple.
END OF LESSON #14
