Alan:
Well, I certainly seem to have stirred the pot. Thank you for your reasoned response to Emile. As clarification, I never said that secular jews were heirs of the kingdom. Only those jews who 1) have received Yeshua as their messiah, or 2) lived during the temple period and received the sacrificial covering of their sins through the exercise of the levitical priesthood. This latter jew is just as saved as anyone today because this was a foreshadowing of the sacrifice of Christ. As far as the future of Israel is concerned, there remains the final week of the Jewish dispensation spoken of by the Prophet Daniel. Jewish believers will bring to a close the dispensatsion of grace. We read in the revelation of the 144,000 witnesses, 12,000 from each tribe. These are Messianic Jews (broad term). And Jesus will descend at the Second Coming to reign on the sat of David in Jerusalem during the millenium. People of every nation will worship Him there, in Israel! We as gentiles, are 'grafted in' as Paul describes it. As far as Emiles' interpretation of the 'Israel of God', there has been much controversy over that phrase through the years. It appears one time in Scripture. Hardly enough to base a position on. I would prefer to lay it aside. I do not share the view that the Christian Church is the Israel of God. It is controversial.
I appologize, but I have not had time to review in detail all of these posts. In light of the time of year, I will give you all an interesting questionaire to ponder in my next post.
God Bless you all,
Lee |
