PREMILLENNIALISM (8)

The church (2)

Victor M. Eskew

 

          Premillennialists do not see Israel as a people of the past.  Premillennialists do not see Christians as the only people of God today.  Premillennialists view the Jews as God’s chosen people.  They see Christians as God’s people as well.  However, we are told that God deals with each of these groups differently.  Let’s look at some of the contrasts between Jews and Christians as taught by those who embrace premillennialism.

          The following is a brief summary of the contrasts that exist.

 

1.    The Jews are God’s earthly people.                 1.  Christians are God’s heavenly people.

2.    The Jews were promised an earthly kingdom.  2.  Christians are citizens of a spiritual

     kingdom.

3.    The Jews are part of God’s eternal plan.          3.  Christians are part of the church

                                                                                  which is a temporary measure in

                                                                                  God’s plan.

4.    The Jews function under the Law of Moses.     4.  Christians are governed by the New

     Testament of Jesus Christ.

5.    The Jewish kingdom will be restored in the      5.  Christians will ultimately be in

millennium and remain forever.                          Heaven for eternity.

 

These contrasts raise many questions in one’s mind.  They raise questions due to the simple teachings found in the Scriptures.

          First, doesn’t the Bible teach us that the gospel is designed to save all men?  Jesus commissioned His twelve apostles with these words:  “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15).  When Paul wrote about the gospel in Romans 1:16, he noted that “it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also the Greek.”  When the twelve went forth with the gospel message, they always took it to the Jews first.  “And when they were at Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews:  and they had also John to their minister” (Acts 13:5).  And again:  “But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and when into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and sat down” (Acts 13:14). 

          Many of the Jews obeyed the gospel of Christ in the first century.  On the day of Pentecost some three thousand yielded in obedience to the gospel message (Acts 2:41).  In Acts 6:7, we learn that “a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.”  Paul was a dedicated Jew who also converted to Jesus Christ (Acts 9:1-18).  If the Jews are to be restored to their rightful position in the world as the people of God in the millennium, why did any Jew need to convert to Christ?  And, if a Jew has converted to Jesus Christ is he part of both the Jewish kingdom and the church?  If so, what will happen to him when the Lord returns?  Will he eventually live in the kingdom on earth?  or, will he be taken to heaven to live with those redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ?  The position that there are two people of God on earth today is extremely confusing at best.

          Second, the Bible teaches that the Jews are no longer the people of God.  Several passages make this very plain.  In Romans 2:28-29, Paul proclaimed this truth.  “For he is not a Jew which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh;  but he is a Jew which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.”  If an individual is a physical Jew, he is one outwardly.  Too, he has been circumcised to be in a covenant relationship with God.  Paul, however, reveals that this is no longer the case.  “…but he is a Jew which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter…”  Today, Christians are the Israel of God.  Each child of God is a Jew in a spiritual sense.

          Paul continues this line of thought in Romans 9:6-8.  “…For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:  neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children:  but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.  That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God:  but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.”  Go back and read those verses slowly once more.  Notice who Paul says are not the children of God and those who are the children of God.  It is clear that physical Israel is no longer the chosen of God.  The chosen are the children of the promise.  The chosen are Christians, the children of the promise.  Paul echoes this thought again in Galatians 3:29.  “And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

          Third, Peter teaches us that the day of the Lord will bring the destruction of this earth and all things that are in it.  “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.  Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat” (2 Pet. 3:10-12).  Notice the strong words that reveal what will happen to this environment in which we presently live:  “pass away,” “melt with fervent heat,” “burned up,” “dissolved,” “being on fire,” “dissolved,” and, again, “melt with fervent heat.”  If this is the end of this world, how will an earthly kingdom for the Jews be here? 

          Individuals need to realize that God had a plan to redeem fallen man before the fall occurred.  When men sinned, that plan was immediately put in place.  God told Satan:  “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (Gen. 3:15).  The seed about which God spoke, Jesus Christ (Gal. 3:16), was destined to bless all families of the earth.  God plainly revealed this to Abraham:  “…and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” (Gen. 12:3).  The key words are “all families.”  God never intended to bless just one family alone.  To carry out this plan, He separated out a people through which the redeemer would come. This family was never intended to be permanent.  It was intended to be a type of the spiritual family that would be brought into existence after the death of Jesus Christ (See 1 Cor. 10:1-11).  Jesus did away with that old system at the cross (Eph. 2:14-15; Col. 2:14).  The New Covenant made known “the mystery” concealed in the Old Testament.  That mystery involved the possibility of salvation for all men and the uniting of those who were saved in the church, the body of Christ.  “For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, if ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:  how that by revelation he made known unto the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words; whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ,) which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of man, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel” (Gal. 3:1-6).  Yes, the saved are united together in the church.  The church is the spiritual Israel of God.  Christians are the true Jews today.  One day, the Lord will come back for this glorious institution (Eph. 5:27).  In heaven, all of the redeemed of all the ages will live with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit forever and ever.