Everywhere we turn, it seems that Israel is in the news—often in a negative light.
Some celebrated commentators have come nefariously close to laying all the world’s problems at the feet of Israel and the Jewish people. This is becoming a common allegation in our day.
Others take a contradictory approach and question whether there are any true Israelites left, promoting the fantasy that charlatans have replaced them in an endeavor to execute one of the greatest frauds in history.
Then there are those who maintain that the real problem is our concern for what they believe to be the imaginary issue of antisemitism. The actual Jewish people, they assure us, do not deserve our sympathy.
Many within these groups naturally subscribe to Replacement Theology—the ancient teaching, prominent in Roman Catholicism as well as large swaths of Protestantism and evangelicalism, that the church has replaced Israel in God’s plan.
Christian nationalism promotes a different version of Replacement Theology. It envisions a brilliant future for America under an authoritarian leader who will make fundamental changes to the country, in essence allowing the United States to fulfill the Old Testament mission given to Israel, along with its promises. The modern State of Israel is an irrelevant foil in this plot and is often seen, once again, as the wellspring of evil.
Those who hold these varying opinions have one thing in common: They cannot fathom a future for Israel of any spiritual significance. For proof, they point to the fact that the people of Israel today are largely in unbelief and are even capable of committing egregious sins. The expectation appears to be that if Israel were still God’s Chosen People, it would already be living as “a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people” (1 Peter 2:9).
I am frustrated by that response and even more so when it comes from within our dispensational camp. Modern Israel, some tell us, may or may not possess any prophetic importance. They say that the Jewish people might survive or they might be dispersed again. Perhaps, they suppose, Israel’s presence in the Holy Land today is really of no consequence. Such voices are content with the fact that the Messiah will perform a spiritual work in Jewish hearts one day. But, for now, they remind us, the people of Israel are mostly in unbelief.
Israel’s Unbelief Is Prophesied, Not a Surprise
And that is exactly what everyone is missing about Israel! The solution to the problem is embedded in their objections. Yes, the Jewish people have returned to form the modern State of Israel, predominantly in unbelief—which is exactly the condition in which we should expect to find them when we study the Hebrew prophets.
Scripture teaches that the final return of the Jewish people to faith in their Messiah—and to their land as a nation—will be complete and permanent.
Ezekiel 36 and 37 make it clear that there would be two phases of Israel’s return to the land. In both chapters, we see the people returning first in unbelief (Ezekiel 36:24; 37:1–3) and only then, finally, returning in faith and coming to spiritual life within the land (36:25–28; 37:4–6). Indeed, the people of Israel must be regathered as a nation, in their land—in unbelief—for the Tribulation to commence (Daniel 9:27).
The apostle John unambiguously revealed that even at the midpoint of the Tribulation, Jerusalem will still be “spiritually … called Sodom and Egypt” (Revelation 11:8). This is following the ministry of the two witnesses (vv. 1–12), the ministry of the 144,000 witnesses (7:1–8; such “being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb” of redeemed Israel, 14:4) and the conversion of “a great multitude which no one could number” (7:9–17).
Dr. James Fazio, dean of Southern California Seminary, summarized the development of the understanding of a future for Israel in the centuries that followed the Reformation:
1. A great number of Jewish converts would be brought into the church.
2. Israel would be saved as a nation.
3. Israel would not only be saved as a nation, but also restored to its land.
The noble scholars that produced the 1599 edition of the Geneva Bible advanced such teachings when they included the following study note at Romans 11:25:
The blindness of the Jews is neither so universal that the Lord hath no elect in that nation, neither shall it be continual: for there shall be a time wherein they also (as the Prophets have forewarned) shall effectually embrace that which they do now so stubbornly for the most part reject and refuse.
These three points reference doctrinal progress within church history. Today, we must not regress backward toward the Dark Ages, but rather “[build] on this foundation” (1 Corinthians 3:12). The Jewish people have been making aliyah to their ancient, promised homeland for more than a century, and we have a front-row seat to one of the greatest events in prophetic history. May we never discount that privilege.
In his book How Should Christians Think About Israel?, Dr. Michael Rydelnik wrote, “The best explanation is that the modern State of Israel seems to be a dramatic work of God in fulfillment of the Bible’s predictions of a Jewish return to the land of Israel” (43). I agree!
Israel’s Spiritual Revival Is Still to Come
Scripture teaches that the final return of the Jewish people to faith in their Messiah—and to their land as a nation—will be complete and permanent (see Zechariah 12:10; 13:9; Romans 11:26–27). In order to facilitate that spiritual rebirth, God will use the events of the coming Tribulation, the purpose of which is to bring Israel (not the church) to repentance and to receive its King and His Kingdom. As in centuries past, He will receive them back from their state of unbelief (see Romans 11:29–31).
The prophet Zechariah warned of a day in the future Tribulation when there would be global opposition to Israel (Zechariah 12:3; 14:2). Since its founding, our beloved United States of America has been a glaring exception to that rule. But trends suggest that future generations will abandon this posture and that current events may accelerate American hostility toward Israel and the Jewish people.
In recent days, thinkers from all perspectives have undertaken the task of addressing these highly complex and contentious issues. For further study, I highly recommend Dr. Michael Vlach’s excellent and thorough article “Modern Israel and Israel in the Bible: Clarifying the Relationship.”
While the stage is being set for the Tribulation, we have the opportunity even now to imitate the courageous acts of those who will display God’s lovingkindness to His Chosen People at a most critical time in the future (Matthew 25:31–46). May God help us to live in such a way that our examples will support our witness of the Good News about the Messiah—“for the Jew first” (Romans 1:16).
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