Posted on 03/04/2024 4:04:09 PM PST by grumpa
The biggest error of dispensationalists is the confusion over who is Israel. The New Testament uses the term “the Israel of God” (Galatians 6:16). How is this different from Old Covenant Israel? Answer: The Israel of God is no longer ethnic Israel. Believers in Christ, that is the church (including both Jewish and Gentile believers) are the new spiritual Israel through faith—the Israel of God.
Jesus told the Jewish leaders of his day that the blessings of the covenant kingdom were being taken from them and given to another group—obviously Christians (Matthew 21:33-45). The text says that the Jews knew he was talking about judgment against them. Jesus put an exclamation point on the coming wrath against the Jews in Matthew 23:29-39 in which He declared that ALL THE RIGHTEOUS BLOOD EVER SHED ON EARTH would be judged against THEM (Old Covenant Israel) in THEIR GENERATION.
The Old Testament, beginning with Deuteronomy 28-32, and reiterated numerous times by the prophets, foretold an END to Israel. “THE TIME OF THE END” (Deuteronomy 31:20, 29; Daniel 12:6, 9) would be when the Jews would become so unfaithful that God would take VENGEANCE (Deuteronomy 32:35, 43) and DESTRUCTION (Deuteronomy 28:61-64) on them. This would happen when the “power of the Holy people would come to an end” (Daniel 12:7 and the burnt offering ceased (Daniel 12:11). This was fulfilled in history in AD 70 when Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed.
Their rights to the kingdom of God were always conditional and would be forfeited for unfaithfulness (Deuteronomy 28:1, 9, 15, etc.) in the last days (Deuteronomy 32:29). In Luke 21:22, speaking of his generation, Jesus said that the DAYS OF VENGEANCE had arrived. In Luke 9:41 Jesus proclaimed his Jewish contemporaries to be the faithless and twisted generation prophesied in Deuteronomy 32:5. Paul, in Romans 11:11-13-26, emphasized the importance of this. The Gentiles were grafted into the line of God’s people, and the unfaithful were “broken off.” Only a remnant (Romans 11:5) who accepted Jesus maintained the covenant lineage through faith (Romans 4; Galatians 3:26-29). Thus, salvation is now open to all who believe (John 3:16; Romans 1:16). There is no longer a distinction between Jew and Gentile (Romans 10:12; Galatians 3:28; Colossians 3:11). This is not “replacement theology” but rather “inclusion theology.”
God’s people are now SPIRITUAL Israel and specifically not fleshly Israel of the Old Testament. “Not all Israel is Israel.” The New Testament reiterates this in different ways in numerous passages, which you can read for yourself: John 1:11-13; Romans 2:11-29; 9:6-8; Galatians 3:6-8, 29; 4:22-31; 6:14-16; Ephesians 2:11-3:13; Philippians 3:3; Colossians 2:11; 1 Peter 2:9-10 (ref. Exodus 19:5-6).
In Ephesians 2:14-18 we see this statement by Paul, “For He himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments and ordinances, that He might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. . . . For through Him we both have access to one Spirit to the Father.” Thus, the two covenants became ONE. As put by the Reformation Study Bible, “Christ offered in his own body the final sacrifice to which the temple’s sacrifices merely pointed. The ceremonial laws of the Old Testament that separated Jews and Gentiles are no longer appropriate after their fulfillment in Christ.”
Biblical Judaism ended in AD 70 when the temple was destroyed. At that time animal sacrifices for sin ended and the priesthood ended forever. The genealogical records were also destroyed. Interestingly, DNA testing shows that the genetic identity of modern Jewish populations is not the same as biblical Judaism.
The old covenant vanished away, replaced by the new covenant (Hebrews 8:1-13), through the perfect sacrifice of the Lamb at the end of the ages (Hebrews 9:1-28). The New Covenant in Christ is eternal (Isaiah 9:6-7; Hebrews 13:20; Revelation 5:13; 11:15; 14:6; etc.).
The land promises to Abraham were fulfilled in Joshua 21:43-45; 23:14-15 (cf. 1 Kings 8:56). The promise of a return to their homeland in Jeremiah 16:15 was fulfilled at their return from the Babylonian captivity in 539 BC. The promise of restoration for Israel in Ezekiel 37:26-27 was ultimately fulfilled in the first century with the everlasting New Covenant of Christ (Hebrews 13:20). The sanctuary of Ezekiel 37:26-27 was replaced by Jesus per Revelation 21:22. Similarly, the promise of restoration in Zechariah 8, 10 was fulfilled in Messiah: Zechariah 12:10; 13:7-9 (ref. Mark 14:27); Zechariah 14:8 (ref. John 4:17; John 7:38, and Revelation 21:6).
Dispensationalists, who teach that the land promises to ethnic Israel are forever, and that the temple will be rebuilt complete with animal sacrifices are reading something into the text that is not there. Worse, they are denigrating the finished work of Christ (Hebrews 10:10).
In Matthew 21:18-22 Jesus curses the fig tree. The Old Testament metaphorically identifies the Israel with a fig tree (Jeremiah 24; Hosea 9:10). Matthew 21:12-17 confirms this metaphor by linking the curse on the fig tree with the cleansing of the temple. This was a PERMANENT CURSE against Old Covenant Judaism (“may no fruit ever come from you again” per Matthew 21:19).
Old Covenant Judaism is not a “branch.” Rather, it is a DEAD TREE: “The axe is already laid at the root of the tree; therefore, every tree that does not bear fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. “ (Matthew 3:10)
The modern state of Israel is not biblical Judaism and has nothing to do with the promises to Israel. Israel today is not even a religious state. So, 1948 has nothing to do with Bible prophecy. That date was supposed to mark the beginning of the end of all things, and in one generation (40 years, thus by 1988) the culmination of all “end-times” things would happen. But 1988 has come and gone. The tribulation/rapture/end-of-the-world theology has proven to be a cruel hoax. Dispensationalism, however, has reached its own end time. Having been born in 1830 with John Nelson Darby, dispensationalism died in 1988. Like my father used to tell me about a dead snake that is still writhing—it’s dead but it just doesn’t know it yet.
And this is an argument? Tell me what counterfeits are not constructed from the genuine article?
Instead, let us look at 4 Biblical Proofs for Prayers to Saints and for the Dead. (https://www.ncregister.com/blog/4-biblical-proofs-for-prayers-to-saints-and-for-the-dead) Which desperate extrapolative attempts which RCs must resort to are themselves an argument against the very invention that they can only wish was in Scripture, that of prayer to created beings in Heaven (PTCBIH).
) Praying to Saints (i.e., Asking Them to Intercede): Rich Man and Lazarus
Zero "proof," let alone any support despite egregious extrapolation. No one here is on earth praying to someone in Heaven to intercede for them to God. Rather, both are in the same realm, as is the case with all two-way communication btwn created beings and those of Heaven, except God, and the rich man is asking Abraham to send Laz with water. And Abraham is not in Heaven anyway, yet.
2) Praying to Saints: Saul Petitions the Prophet Samuel After the Latter’s Death
Ditto. No one here is on earth praying to someone in Heaven to intercede for them to God. Rather, Samuel - if indeed it is him - is summoned into the earth realm by a witch, acting contrary to the word of God, and which is in order to get advice. The fact that Saul is so desperate that he must resort to a witch to engage in what is forbidden, and PTCBIH are so desperate that they must resort to this for support (and forget about "proof") leaves them both desperate in teaching contrary to the word of God!
The Apostle Paul Prayed for the Dead 2 Timothy 1:16-18 May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me
Desperation in deception #3. Paul is simply not praying to any created being in Heaven, and what he does express is more that of a desire, for Paul is not reticent to tell us when he prays, while it can only be presumed that Onesiphorus had died. Nor is this even support for RC Purgatory.
Jesus and Peter Simultaneously Prayed to Saints and for the Dead Tabitha was a disciple in Joppa who died. Peter prayed to her when he said “Tabitha, rise.” See Acts 9:36-41.Tabitha was a disciple in Joppa who died. Peter prayed to her when he said “Tabitha, rise.” See Acts 9:36-41. She was dead, and he was addressing her. There is no impenetrable wall between heaven and earth. This is not only praying to the dead, but for the dead, since the passage says that Peter “prayed” before addressing Tabitha first person. And he was praying for her to come back to life.
Which last ditch effort also fails, for once again, there simply is no praying to anyone in Heaven to intercede for them to God, or even to help the supplicant, for instead, as every believer did in prayers in Scripture, Peter prayed to God, and then commanded her to arise.
And no such desperation should be necessary for such a common Catholic practice, seeing there have always been plenty of created beings to pray to, and needful opportunities to do so or to give thanks to such, Yet there are ZERO examples of PTCBIH in Scripture, and despite there being over 200 prayers by believers in the Bible.
Yet Catholicism teaches their tradition (of men) of prayer to created beings in Heaven despite,
"Prayer to Saints" is not restricted to just them, but angels as well, and basically boils down to (based on what we do read in the Bible),
In context, this as regards prayer by those on earth to those in Heaven, versus both being in the same realm including via a vision.
Step one, study the OT prophets in detail.
Step two, understand new dispensationalism.
This article skips these first two steps.
You’re wrong.
Read the book of Revelations and the book of Maccabees.
Read Church history.
Then convert.
well, I don’t quite agree with the article.
Present day Jews are genetically descended from the pre-70 AD population. The same markers are also found amongst other peoples as well as Judeans have intermarried with other peoples through the millenia.
God’s chosen people expanded from 1 man (Abraham), to his family, to his clan, to his tribe, to his nation, to all nations.
So, the tree is Abrahams genetic children to which we have all been grafted. Jesus fulfilled and did not cancel the old covenant.
The modern country of Israel is not a “fulfilment of prophecy” - as the regathering of his people was fulfilled at the end of the Babylonian exile. Jews have never NOT lived in what is once again Israel - in 70 AD it was the devastation of Jerusalem, while other Jewish communities in Israel remained. In 132 AD after the 3rd Jewish-Roman war, most Judeans were exiled, but not all. There are Jews reported in Roman and later Byzantine chronicles. And, when the Arabs invaded in 637, they opened the gates of Jerusalem to Jews.
God Jesus saves us through grace. By His grace, Mary was created without the stain of original sin and by His grace alone, Mary was kept, by God, to be sinless.
Not through any action of hers beyond accepting God’s will
Which has the same fallacious weight as your other charges:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/3846989/posts?page=68#68 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/3846989/posts?page=67#67 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/3868037/posts?page=23#23 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/3867413/posts?page=78#78 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/3870363/posts?page=50#50 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/3870363/posts?page=49#49 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/3870363/posts?page=48#48 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/3870363/posts?page=47#47 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/3870363/posts?page=60#60 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/3872796/posts?page=46#46 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/3873326/posts?page=97#97 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/3873326/posts?page=93#93 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/3873326/posts?page=92#92 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/3872796/posts?page=506#506 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/3877970/posts?page=138#138 https://freerepublic.com/focus/religion/4011052/posts?page=89#89 https://freerepublic.com/focus/religion/4011052/posts?page=88#88 https://freerepublic.com/focus/religion/4011052/posts?page=87#87 https://freerepublic.com/focus/religion/4011052/posts?page=86#86 https://freerepublic.com/focus/religion/4044225/posts?page=29#29 https://freerepublic.com/focus/religion/4064985/posts?page=35#35 https://freerepublic.com/focus/religion/4074989/posts?page=22#22 https://freerepublic.com/focus/religion/4074989/posts?page=24#24 https://freerepublic.com/focus/religion/4099941/posts?page=70#70 https://freerepublic.com/focus/religion/4102860/posts?page=142#142 https://freerepublic.com/focus/religion/4074989/posts?page=24#24 https://freerepublic.com/focus/religion/4099941/posts?page=70#70
and https://freerepublic.com/focus/religion/4162325/posts?page=95#95 and add
https://freerepublic.com/focus/religion/4119008/posts?page=51#51 https://freerepublic.com/focus/religion/4138561/posts?page=28#28 https://freerepublic.com/focus/religion/4138561/posts?page=31#31
0NLY JESUS is sinless
There are points I agree with you on here.
Unfortunately traveling today.
Best.
“ if being “out of God’s will” is not referring to salvation then it is a meaningless platitude.”
Nonsense! Are you always in God’s will? I am not. But I do not lose my salvation when I deviate.
Sure I am. God is imminent as well as transcendent. But what does it even mean? As long as we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit he is with us.
LOL
LOL 2x
Yeah!
The church is makin’ really good history these days!
And, apparently, without a scintilla of proof of any of these assertions, too.
Well said, Brother.
No need to cancel a covenant that had already been broken.
31 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“when I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel
and with the people of Judah.
32 It will not be like the covenant
I made with their ancestors
when I took them by the hand
to lead them out of Egypt,
because they broke my covenant,
though I was a husband to[a] them,[b]”
declares the Lord.
33 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel
after that time,” declares the Lord.
Good points.
It seems that very often, people have too much confidence in their personal views on spiritual matters, or any other matter. They don’t consider how objective, or not, those views are. Then they latch on to them, and don’t seek out or hear the views of others, or to have their views developed or corrected.
In spiritual matters, especially, people should be “swift to hear, slow to speak,” (James 1:19).
I’ve been letting the Lord lead me for a long time on all these questions about the Old Covenant and Israel, etc. There is so much to them, so much to consider, and if we don’t have definite answers, we shouldn’t be in a rush to declare just what we think, our opinion, as “the truth”.
For myself, I’ve not ever been able to put Israel in the same place as other nations. And I often come back to what Paul wrote in Romans 11:25:
“For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.”
While Christ did break down the wall of separation, and make a new man, that work was not finished in some senses — similar to how Jesus’ death on the cross is a finished work, and yet there was still and still is much Kingdom work to do. Romans 11:25 supports that.
Then, we can and should ask, how were the Old Testament saints saved?
We see that they had faith. We’re often inspired by their faith.
Then, too, 2,000 years have transpired. That doesn’t mean truth changes, but God does new things continually, and He is accomplishing things continually.
We often say, too, that the New Testament is the Old revealed, and the Old is the New concealed.
I take comfort ultimately in that I’m not God, He knows what He’s doing, I need to remember I’m just a creature, and He knows those who are His.
You can consider, too, what it took for Paul and Peter, for example, to change their views: the divine intervention of God. Paul needed to be knocked off his horse and have Jesus appear to him. Peter needed a vision to accept Gentile believers.
It would be hard for me to not see the reestablishment of Israel as part of God’s divine plan.
And His ways and thoughts are higher than ours, as it says in Isaiah. It’s not even easy to try to put these issues into words.
It seems that, until the fullness of the Gentiles come in, and God completes all His work of reconciling people to Himself, that all these questions won’t be reconciled either. Gentile believers really should consider, too, that the Gospel, under present conditions, is likely harder for faithful Jewish people to accept. And again, God shows us faithful believers in the Old Testament.
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