The entire Bible is about Jesus. I feel like this has to be said because so many Christians seem to think that it is about Israel. They have replaced Jesus with Israel.
The Old Testament is about the old covenant that God made with Israel at Mt.Sanai which has been made obsolete and replaced with a new and better covenant of which was established on better promises and of which Jesus is the Mediator of.
The New Testament is all about the new covenant, the covenant between God and His people through the blood of Jesus Christ.
The word “Testament” actually means “Covenant.” This is an important point because there are some who believe that the new covenant is yet to come, but this is not the case. We need to only read the titles of the two sections contained in our Bible to see that there were two covenants - The Old Testament (Covenant), and the New Testament (Covenant).
However God cannot have two covenants at the same time, otherwise He would be an unfaithful adulterer Himself, according to His own laws. God likened His covenant with His people to a marriage covenant, and therefore according to His own law, He can only have one covenant people at a time. Jesus laid out the “rules” of marriage and divorce when he was here, giving very limited but acceptable grounds for divorce if necessary, and most assuredly God follows His own rules. Just as God allows a husband to have one wife, He also only has one wife. If we trust God and believe that He is faithful, then there is no way that you can believe that He in covenant with two people at the same time. This would be like a man having two wives at the same time, which we know God forbids. Anyone who believes that God has two people have never thought it through and have also disregarded what the New Testament says about it, which is noted in the Scriptures below.
The old covenant is no longer in effect because Israel broke their end of the covenant. Jesus established the new covenant in the upper room with his disciples, aka the house of Israel and the house of Judah (Hebrews 8:8), when he gave them the cup saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the new covenant shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matthew 26:27-28). The new covenant has been in full effect for over two thousand years since Jesus was here, and it is the covenant that one enters into with God when they believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ. God writes His law in the minds and on the hearts of those who enter into covenant with Him through Jesus Christ. These are the people of God and He will remember their sin no more because they are forgiven through the shed blood of Jesus Christ (Hebrews 8:10, 12; 10:17-18).
The New Testament was written by apostles or someone closely associated with them. These were inspired men of God whose understanding of the Scriptures had been opened (Luke 24:45 NKJV), and along with the Holy Spirit, their doctrines serve as a guide for the people God on how to live for God.
The early church “continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine…” Acts 2:42 NKJV. This is because the apostles were given understanding of the Scriptures so they could accurately interpret them. Today’s church is also to continue steadfastly in the doctrine that the apostles taught, and not the doctrines of Jewish rabbis, church fathers, Bible scholars, seminary professors, pastors, or priests if they go against Jesus’s and the apostles’s teachings. We are to interpret the Old Testament from the New, and not the other way around as many Christians believe, because the apostles were given understanding of the Scriptures (the Old Testament) and they saw that they were all about Jesus (Luke 24:27, 44), unlike the church today that believes they are all about Israel.
In light of all that, below are just some of the teachings of Jesus and the apostles in the New Testament. Note that they don’t ever mention Israel being a superior race of people because of their “choseness ” nor do they ever mention returning to their land.
On the contrary, they taught that there are no ethnic or racial barriers for the people of God; that those who have faith in Christ are the one and only people of God; that the people of God will inherit the kingdom of God because it was taken from the Jews of Jesus’s generation and given to people who have faith in Christ; that the people of God are co-heirs with Christ who will inherit the earth and reign with him forever (Romans 8:17; Matthew 5:3, 5; 2 Timothy 2:12; Matthew 21:43).
Today, the Biblical teachings of Jesus and the apostles as recorded in the New Testament/New Covenant are considered antisemitic by many Christians and government leaders because they have been indoctrinated by the late teachings of John Nelson Darby and Cyrus Scofield, whose false teachings infiltrated the church through the Scofield Bible and Bible colleges beginning in the 1800’s. They teach that the modern nation of Israel is the same as the Israel of the Bible. It teaches that Judaism is the same thing as the old covenant laws and regulations that God gave to Old Testament Israel. It teaches that God has chosen the people of this modern, geopolitical, secular nation of Israel above all other people, despite their rejection of Jesus as the Son of God and as their King. It teaches that because of Israel’s chosenness as God’s elect people on the earth, and an “unconditional covenant” that He made with them, that He has future plans for them, including the reinstitution of the sacrificial system and temple worship, which God sent Jesus to abolish at the cross around 33 AD and to destroy in 70 AD.
Their doctrine is not based upon accurate interpretation of the Bible, but rather it ignores the historical context in which the authors wrote, as well as many of the teachings of Jesus and the apostles as found in the New Testament, many of which are referenced below. Though its teachers insist on a “literal interpretation” of the Bible, it imports certain elements to accommodate their interpretation, such as a convenient two thousand year gap in Daniel’s 70 week prophecy in Daniel 9, and it attributes prophecies about Jesus to their so called “Antichrist” in this same chapter.
It relies heavily upon Jewish interpretation of the Scriptures, rather than Jesus’s and the apostles’s, whose understanding of the Scriptures had been opened by God. It conveniently removes any negative references in the Bible regarding Israel even though both the Old and New Testament writers had a lot of negative things to say about Israel. You’ll never hear one of these passages taught in a Dispensational or pro-zionist church, at least not in context or accurately.
Although the Bible teaches that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets (the old covenant), their doctrine is dependent upon claims that many of the Old Testament prophecies have yet to be fulfilled, especially regarding Israel’s return to their land, which is the primary focus of their doctrine. They must rely on the Old Testament prophecies because there is nothing in the New Testament that supports their doctrine. Their doctrine focuses on the world events that take place during the “end times” of which Israel is at the center, rather than Jesus. This is called “newspaper exegesis” because the newspaper headlines are used to exegete Scripture rather than Scripture itself. In their doctrine, Jesus, of whom both the Old and New Testaments are about, is replaced by Israel. Their doctrine teaches to keep your eyes on Israel, but the Bible teaches to keep your eyes on Jesus.
They claim that God’s covenant to Israel was unconditional and irrevocable, utterly disregarding what the Bible actually records God and Jesus as saying. God said that He would make Israel a holy people unto Himself “IF” they listened to His voice and observed His commands, but “IF” they didn’t, they would be cursed and would basically lose their inheritance that God had promised to them (Deuteronomy 28). To get around this, they ignore what the Bible actually says and create loop holes in God’s word to explain away passages that go against their doctrinal and eschatological beliefs regarding Israel. They reject the idea that God would hold His people accountable for their wicked behavior, so they disregard the Bible and come up with excuses to defend a position that fits their narrative. Though they claim that they are on the “high road” for taking the Bible literally, much of their doctrine is far from being a literal interpretation. Instead it is dependent on disregarding much of what both the Old & New Testaments, and history teaches.
We know from the Old Testament that Israel did not listen to God’s voice or observe His commands. On the contrary, they were wicked and disobedient for much of their history. And because of this, we are told in the Old Testament that they broke the covenant of which they agreed to, and therefore God issued the northern kingdom of Israel a certificate of divorce. And then in judgment of their wickedness, God caused the northern kingdom to cease to exist after Assyria conquered them.
Not many years later, in judgment of the southern kingdom of Judah, which God said committed more harlotry than Israel did, He destroyed Jerusalem and the temple by use of Babylon, and the people were taken into captivity. Destruction of the temple meant an end to offerings and sacrifice, and thus an end to the way in which their sins were forgiven. It also meant an end to their covenant obligations regarding sacrifice and offerings. Without a temple, they could not offer sacrifices which was a major part of the their covenant agreement with God.
Out of Babylonian captivity came the religion of Judaism, which contains some of the elements of the old covenant law, but has religion, tradition, and religious duty at its foundation, rather than a kingdom of people who are in relationship with God, as God intended old covenant Israel to be.
The religion of Judaism had evolved and was still being practiced in the holy land at the time when John the Baptist and Jesus appeared. God had intended Israel to be a light to the nations, bearing the fruits of justice, righteousness, mercy, and love. But instead they were an oppressor of Gentiles and a rejector of God, His Son, and His people, and therefore God sent John the Baptist and Jesus to them to give them one last opportunity to repent. However, they refused to repent so Jesus said that God was taking His kingdom from them and giving it to another nation who would bear the fruit of it (Matthew 21:43). God’s covenant with Israel was conditional indeed.
If that doesn’t persuade you, Jeremiah 18:7-10 reveals an important principle of God’s concerning covenants, in which He says that if He pronounces judgement on a nation but they repent (as in Nineveh’s case), then He will relent of the disaster that He promised to bring upon it. And if a kingdom that He promised to bless does evil and does not obey Him (as in Israel’s case), then He will relent concerning the blessings that He promised to give them. In other words, all of God’s covenants are conditional.
Another heinous teaching of this doctrine is that when all of the scattered Jews finally return to Israel in the end times, two thirds of them will be killed by the Antichrist. It’s ironic that so many Christians are working towards the goal of bringing all of the Jews to Israel and rebuilding a third Jewish temple, while holding such a heinous belief as this. And they call those of us who don’t hold their belief, “antisemitic?”
Furthermore, the rebuilding of the temple is only further rejection of Jesus by the Jews which diminishes the sacrifice of Jesus and is an abomination to God. Jews who reject Jesus fit the apostle John’s definition of “antichrist” because they deny that Jesus is the Christ, and rebuilding the temple is only further evidence of their rejection of him as the perfect, sacrificial Lamb. Their doctrine replaces the Biblical definition of “antichrist” with a fictional character of the future, in order to do away with any negative connotations towards Israel, as previously discussed.
Because of its emphasis on Israel and the Jews’s return to the land located within the borders prescribed by God in the Old Testament, this doctrine promotes war and violence, and encourages the genocide of non-Jews who reside there. The ideology is that the land was given to the people of Israel by God forever, and therefore they have the sole right to it, so they have God’s permission to take it back by any means necessary, all with the support of the church. They use God’s promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:3 as the basis for this belief, saying that it applies to Israel, and that if we as Christians do not bless Israel by supporting them and their heinous acts, that we will be cursed by God. Though they are once again wrong in their Biblical interpretation, because the promise was made to Abraham and not to Israel, most modern American evangelical Christians believe this to be true, and therefore, out of fear of being cursed by God for not supporting Israel, and thinking that they are on God’s side, they are largely supportive of Israel despite what Israel really is, as well as the “end times” wars regarding it.
They view war as a sign of the “end times” because they incorrectly interpret Jesus’s statement, “There will be wars and rumors of war” (Matthew 24:6), as being events to look for in the “end times”, rather than a prophetic sign that Jesus made of God’s coming judgement on Jerusalem in 70 AD, which it really is. Therefore, whenever a new war begins, they get excited and the false prophets emerge spouting how the war is a sign of the end, especially when it involves Israel and the Middle East. War is essential to suit their eschatological belief that God is using it to bring Israel back to their land, even through the use of force and human extinction is necessary. War means they are going to be raptured to heaven soon, escaping both the Antichrist and God’s judgment of the earth because He will not allow His secondary people, the church, to suffer. But wait, isn’t Jesus called the Prince of Peace in the Bible, not the god of war? And hasn’t the church always suffered, especially in other countries? And God will not allow for His secondary people the church to suffer, but He will allow two thirds of His primary chosen people the Jews to be killed by the Antichrist? This is the nonsensical doctrine of Darby and Scofield that has banboozled the church for over a century.
Because this ideology is so pervasive in the American church, it has boiled over into the political realm, causing much of the American government to believe it as well. This may not seem like a big deal to American Christians who believe they are going to be raptured away to safety from tribulation, but for the church who resides in and around Israel and the Middle East, the threat is real. Presidents and government officials who hold this belief also hold the fate of these Christians in their hands by believing they are ushering in the end times by their wars, when in fact they are only doing Israel’s bidding by fighting her battles and killing innocent people. Fair questions: Should the lives of Christians and other innocent peoples in Israel and the Middle East be threatened by the United States which has been indoctrinated by a warmongering spirit? Should American soldiers die for Israel? The answers to both of these questions should be, “no”, for both Christians and Americans. But unfortunately, America is controlled by Israel because of the superstitious belief that if it supports Israel, it will be blessed, but if it doesn’t, it will be cursed. This is nothing more than a superstitious belief, but it has a harsh and dangerous reality.
So why a Christian who’s Lord is Jesus Christ, would be supportive of a heinous belief system that replaces their Lord with an antichrist people and secular nation which they exalt above all other peoples and nations in the world, that diminishes Jesus’s sacrifice at the cross, and that promotes violence and war, is very ironic. In fact, it is not at all Christian. This doctrine does not portray the true character of Jesus or what he defined his people to believe, or how to behave and live.
The fact of the matter is that most Christians who hold to this doctrine have not thought it through or studied it for themselves. Unfortunately, many Christians do not read or study the Bible for themselves, asking for the Holy Spirit to guide them into all truth and to give them understanding of it, so like Isaiah said of mankind, “all like sheep have gone astray” (53:6).
This doctrine is the primary belief system that is parroted throughout the modern day American evangelical church, and therefore most Christians just go along with it because it’s the common, popular view. It’s what their pastor and tv and radio evangelists teach, and therefore it’s the only view that they know. They don’t check to make sure that what their teachers are teaching them is Biblically true and accurate. Therefore, when they hear from their pastors, and favorite tv & radio evangelists that Christians who do not hold to their Israel-based belief system are deceived by “new, end times teachings”, and are antisemitic for not exalting a geopolitical secular nation, they naturally believe it as the truth because it is the only voice they are hearing or opting to listen to.
To those who have not heard of an alternative view to Darby and Scofield, I give the benefit of the doubt. But to those who have, and fiercely oppose it, they are typically unwilling to learn in order to gain an understanding, and they generally lack a teachable spirit because in their minds, they have the truth, therefore they are right, and most of the church going all the way back to Acts is wrong. They have very little knowledge or understanding of the Assyrian conquest of the northern kingdom of Israel. Little to no knowledge or understanding of the Babylonian captivity of the southern kingdom of Judah and the destruction of Jerusalem and the first temple at that time. Little to no knowledge of the destruction of Jerusalem and the second temple in 70 AD. All of these events are very relevant to our understanding of both the old and new covenants.
They literally have no idea that before Darby and Scofield, most of the church believed such as I do and am referencing in this article. They truly believe that it is an “end times deception” because they do not know or understand Israel’s history, church history, or that their doctrine did not originate until the 1800’s, or that their doctrine is prevalent within the United States, but is not held in most other countries of the world, with the exception of those who have been evangelized by Americans.
No matter which category we fall into, we each bear the responsibility of knowing God, and this comes by way of the Holy Spirit’s guidance as we study the Bible, pray, and fellowship with one another. We cannot depend solely upon our pastors and their teachings. We need to seek to know God for ourselves as well.
Because of the church’s indoctrination by Darby and Scofield, antisemitism laws are being legislated in the United States as we speak under the guise of "freedom of religion." Soon Christians who teach the sound Biblical doctrines of Jesus and the apostles will face harsh penalties and persecution for teaching the true and accurate word of God that is void of man made doctrines that contain future prophecies about the secular nation of Israel, promote racism, war and violence, which are very sensational and sell great books, but are taken way out of context and are not at all Biblically accurate.
Though the Biblical teachings that I have come to believe may be regarded by many as being antisemitic, I would rather be falsely labeled as antisemitic by people, than hold to an antichrist view that supports an antichrist people, such as the one described above. I have been told that it’s very dangerous that I don’t subscribe to their Israel-based doctrine, I’m assuming because they believe that I’ll be cursed for cursing Israel. But I think it’s more dangerous to align with a doctrine that has replaced Jesus with Israel, an antichrist people. An important question to ask is do the writers of the Bible treat Israel like they are going to be cursed if they speak against Israel? I would say not, based on many of the things said about it, even by Jesus, who was very harsh and stern towards them.
What many of these people who say these things don’t know, or if they do know they disregard it because it doesn’t align with their doctrine, is what Israeli Christians believe about their zionist doctrine and about Israel. Christians comprise a small percentage in Israel, many of them being Palestinians. They suffer persecution from Muslims and Jews, but maintain that Christians, Muslims, and Jews all lived together without many issues until 1948, when Israel was given parts of Palestine. Today, Israeli Christians call the war that they are witnessing in Israel, “genocide”, because Israel is extinguishing the non-Jewish people from the land by use of force. They adamantly oppose Christian zionism because of its negative witness of Christ due to the warmongering spirit it contains. And ironically, many Orthodox Jews do not even condone Zionism. It is primarily led by American Christians who hold this "Left Behind" doctrine.
And though American Christians call anyone who opposes Israel an “antisemite”, Israeli and Palestinian Christians who believe what the Bible really teaches and who oppose Israel because of its behavior, are actually authentic Semitic people, therefore how can they be “antisemitic”? The fact is, they are ignorant of: 1) what Israeli and Palestinian Christians say about Zionism, and 2) of what a Semite really is:
- If an Israeli or Palestinian Christian says that they are witnessing mass genocide by Israel in Gaza, they will reject the claim because it does not fit with their doctrinal belief. They would rather believe the secular news, the U.S. and Israeli governments, and their American Christian pastors and false prophets who aren’t there, than believe what their Christian brothers and sisters who are there on the ground are saying.
- They have redefined a Semite to mean a Jew exclusively. However, a Semite is a descendant of Noah’s son, Shem, which includes ancient groups like the Akkadians, Phoenicians, Hebrews, and Arabs, as well as modern populations such as Jews, Arabs, and Ethiopians. There is actually question on whether the "Jews" who live in Israel can actually trace their bloodlines back to Abraham. However, according to the Bible this is irrelevant because a true Jew is defined as someone who has faith in Jesus Christ.
Many American Christians are unaware of the fact that there are even Christians in Israel and Palestine, and most people who hold to Dispensationalism or Zionist doctrines support Israel and Jews more-so than their Christian brothers and sisters who live in Israel and Palestine, despite their persecution and genocide of them. They once again disregard Jesus’s and the apostles' teachings to help the body of Christ first and foremost, and they replace their teachings with the teachings of false teachers who say that the Bible says that Christians are required to support Israel. Some may say that God supports Christians helping the Jews because Jesus is Jewish, but speaking of those whom he regards as family, Jesus said that his brothers, sisters and mothers are those who do his will, which Jews do not. Ethnic bloodlines mean nothing. The church is the body and bride of Christ, and the body and bride of Christ are those who have faith in Christ. They are his priority, not the people who reject him. Not that Christians should not help and love everyone, but they should not prioritize an antichrist people over their own spiritual family members. They especially should not be funding the rebuilding of their temple because it is an abomination to God!
Furthermore, Jesus came as a Jewish man at a specific time for a specific purpose, which he accomplished, but he is God, and therefore he has no race or ethnicity. He has always been with God, even before people were created, and he has been given all authority and reigns over all peoples of the earth, not as an ethnic Jew, but as the Son of God, King of kings and Lord of lords.
If I’m wrong about what I believe, I’ll have to answer to God for it someday. But so will those who believe that we have to support a secular, geopolitical nation, which consists of people who largely reject Jesus Christ as their king and who also believes that it’s God’s plan for a global war and to reinstitute the sacrificial system. Thanks, but no thanks. I’ll take my chances and stick with what the Bible says.
Below is just a sampling of some of the New Testament authors' teachings regarding Israel. Without further ado, please enjoy 😊
- Jesus is Israel (John 15:1);
- Jesus is the Seed of Abraham to whom the promises were made to (Galatians 3:16).
- Those who are “in Christ”, aka Christians, are the descendants of Abraham and will inherit the promises (Galatians 3:29).
- A Jew is one who is one inwardly because his heart is circumcised, not his penis (Romans 2:28-29 NKJV).
- Jesus said that the Jews were not the children of Abraham or the children of God, because if they were, they would do the works of Abraham and they would love him. Instead they were trying to kill him and they could not hear God because they were not of God, but of the devil (John 8:39-8:47).
- Jesus said that the kingdom of God was going to be taken from them and given to a nation who will bear the fruit of it (Matthew 21:43).
- Peter said that those who were once not a people, (the Gentiles), but are now the people of God and have now obtained mercy, are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own special people (1 Peter 2:9-10). This is what God had said about Old Testament Israel.
- The natural branches of Israel (Jews) are cut off from Israel for their unbelief in Jesus, and wild branches (Gentiles) are grafted into Israel for their belief in Jesus (Romans 11).
- “In this way all Israel will be saved” - God turned away all ungodliness from Israel and made a new covenant through the blood of Jesus to take away our sins (Romans 11:26-27).
- The writer of Hebrews said that Jesus is the Mediator of a better covenant and that the old covenant is obsolete (Hebrews 8:6-13).
- Jesus said that he is the temple (John 2:19) and Paul said that Christians are the temple (1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19) therefore there is no need for a third Jewish temple.
- God destroyed the temple in 70 AD because there is a new covenant now, and no need for it because of Jesus, who fulfilled the sacrificial system of the old covenant- Sacrificial Lamb, Temple, High Priest, Mediator. To reestablish the sacrificial system is an insult and mockery of Jesus’s sacrifice and is an abomination to God.
- God destroyed Jerusalem and doesn’t intend to return to establish His kingdom there. There is a new heavenly Jerusalem - the bride of Christ, the church. The tabernacle of God will be with them. He will dwell with them, and they will be His people and He will be their God (Revelation 21:3). The New Jerusalem is built on the foundation of the twelve apostles of Jesus. There is no temple there because the Lord God Almighty and Jesus are the temple. And only the nations who are saved and those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life are there (Revelation 21:22-27).
- Those who have faith in Christ are the sons of God (Galatians 3:26).
- There is neither Jew nor Greek (Gentile) for those who are in Christ Jesus because we are all one in Christ (Galatians 3:28).
- Paul quoted and interpreted Isaiah 10:21-22, saying that though Israel contains a countless number of people, only a remnant of them will be saved, not by returning to the land, but by returning to the Mighty God, Jesus Christ (Romans 9:27-28; Isaiah 10:21-22; Isaiah 9:6).
- John is the only person in the entire Bible who mentioned the antichrist, and he defined the term as a liar who denies that Jesus is the Christ, as anyone who denies the Father and the Son, and as anyone who says that Jesus did not come in the flesh (1 John 1:22; 1 John 4:3; 2 John 1:7). The teaching of a future “Antichrist” who is going to come and wreak havoc during “the end times” is not only unbiblical, but John’s definition of antichrist is applicable to the Jews.
- John goes on to say that whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either, but whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also (1 John 1:23). Also applicable to the Jews who deny the Son, and therefore do not have the Father either.
- John said that whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God and that whoever loves God also loves Jesus (1 John 5:1). Also applicable to the Jews who do not believe that Jesus is the Christ, and therefore they are not born of God, nor do they love Him because they do not love Jesus.
- John says that whoever has the Son has life, and whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life (1 John 5:12). Also applicable to the Jews who do not have the Son because they reject him, and therefore do not have life.
- God has one people, not two, consisting of both believing Jews and Gentiles (Ephesians 2:11-22; 3:6; 4:4-6; Romans 12:5; 1 Corinthians 12:12-14).
- Paul said not to let anyone judge you in food or drink, or regarding a festival, new moon, or sabbaths, for they were a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ (Colossians 2:16).
- God does not esteem one day above another, He esteems everyday alike for everyday belongs to the Lord (Romans 14:5-6), making the arguments of what day the Sabbath is, what day we are supposed to go to church on, and “the Lord’s day” irrelevant.
- Jesus did not esteem the Sabbath above any other day because God His Father didn’t, so when he broke the Sabbath and said that God was His Father, the Jews persecuted him and sought to kill him (John 5:18).
- Jesus said that he is Lord of the Sabbath, that the Sabbath was made for man, and not the other way around (Mark 2:28).
- Galatians 4:21-31 - Two covenants-
- Paul said that Hagar, the bondwoman of Abraham and mother of his son Ishmael, are symbolic of the old covenant and earthly Jerusalem, which enslaves those who are under it.
- He said that Abraham’s wife Sarah, the mother of Isaac, the son of promise, is the freewoman who symbolizes the new covenant and the heavenly Jerusalem (the church) which brings freedom.
- He said that just as Isaac was the child of the promise who would inherit the promises of God to Abraham, those who have faith in Christ are the children of promise who will inherit the promises of God to Abraham.
- Paul reminded the Galatian church that the Scriptures say in Genesis 21:10 and 12 to cast out the bondwoman and her son (the old covenant), because the sons of the flesh will not be heir with the sons of promise (Galatians 4:30).
- Jesus said the same thing to the Jews in a different way. He said that a slave will not stay in His house forever; a slave does not inherit the promises of God. But His children inherit the promises and stay in His house forever because He sets them free from bondage (John 8:35-36).
- Paul tells the Galatian church that because of Jesus Christ and the new covenant that he made with his people, they were not children of the old covenant which placed them in bondage, but are children of the new covenant which set them free (Galatians 4:31).
- Because the new covenant sets them free from bondage of the old covenant, Paul instructed the church to stand fast in the freedom of Christ which comes through faith, and not the old covenant or its law (Galatians 5:1).
- He explained that being circumcised is of no benefit to Christians, and anyone who does get circumcised will be indebted to keep the whole law and that Christ will be of no profit to them. He said that those who attempt to be justified by the law have been estranged from Christ and have fallen from grace. This is a harsh rebuke by Paul! He explained to them that through the Spirit, Christians eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness through faith, because in Christ, faith working through love is the only thing that matters; circumcision or uncircumcision means absolutely nothing because Christ has set us free (Galatians 5:1-6).
- When Paul and Barnabas were invited to preach in the synagogue for a second time in Antioch, the Jews were filled with envy, and contradicting and blaspheming, they opposed the things spoken of by Paul. Therefore Paul and Barnabas said that it was necessary that the word of God be spoken to them first (to the Jew first), but since they rejected it and judged themselves unworthy of everlasting life, “we turn to the Gentiles” (then to the Gentiles). The Gentiles were glad and glorified Jesus and many believed when they heard this. But the Jews stirred up the devout and prominent women and leaders of the city, and they persecuted Paul and Barnabas and had them expelled from the region (Acts 13:44-50).
- When Timothy and Silas joined Paul in Corinth, Paul was compelled by the Spirit to testify to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ. But when they opposed him and blasphemed, he shook off his garments and said to them, “your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles”, and he departed from there (Acts 18:4-7).
- While preaching the word of the Lord to the Corinthians, and being persecuted by the Jews for it, Jesus spoke to Paul in the night by a vision, “Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent; for I am with you, and no one will attack you to hurt you; for I have many people in this city.” And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them” (Acts 18:9-11 ). God was on Paul’s side, not the unbelieving Jews’s who rejected Christ and were persecuting him.
- When a Gentile prayed to God, He revealed to His Jewish apostle Peter, that He had cleansed Gentiles and sent him to one’s house, where Peter said, “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.” (Acts 10:34-35 NKJV).
- As Peter was telling the Gentile household of Cornelius about Jesus, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and the Jews who had come with Peter were astonished because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also (Acts 10:44-45). The God of Israel had made a way through Jesus Christ for the “unclean” Gentiles to also enter into Israel as His beloved people.
- Gentle, all loving Jesus spoke vehemently against Judaism and it’s leaders, saying that they were hypocrites who were transgressing the commandment of God because of their tradition; drawing near to them with their mouths and honoring them with their lips, but having a heart that is far from Him; worshipping Him in vain and teaching as doctrines the commandments of men (Matthew 15).
- Jesus pronounced judgement upon the Jews who had rejected him and were not practicing what they were preaching, thereby not entering the kingdom of God themselves, as well as shutting up the kingdom to those who wanted to enter; for teaching their disciples to be greater “sons of hell” than they were; for being blind guides who neglected the “weightier matters” of justice, mercy, and faith; for being whitewashed tombs who look good and righteous on the outside but are dead and unrighteous on the inside, filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness; for being witnesses against themselves that they are the children of those who murdered the prophets and whom God had considered guilty and holding accountable for their blood (Matthew 23:13-32).
- Jesus taught his disciples that the Jews whom he had pronounced judgment against were a brood of vipers- children of the devil. Both Matthew and John who were disciples, apostles and witnesses of Jesus, record Jesus as saying this to the Jews. John the Baptist also called them a brood of vipers (Matthew 3:7, 12:34, 23:15; John 8:44; Luke 3:7).
- The false teacher and sorcerer, Bar-Jesus, aka Elymas, was a Jew who withstood Barnabas and Saul by trying to keep Sergius Paulus, the proconsul on Paphos, from hearing the word of God with hopes of turning him from the faith. Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, said that Elymas was a son of the devil who was filled with all fraud and all deceit, an enemy of all righteousness who would not stop perverting the straight ways of the Lord (Acts 13:6-10).
- After calling the Pharisees and Sadducees a brood of vipers (children of the devil), John the Baptist asked them who had warned them of the coming wrath. Then he said to them to bear fruit worthy of repentance and to not think that they do not need to repent because they had Abraham as their father. He said that God could raise up children of Abraham from the stones if he wanted to (Matthew 3:7-9).
- The primary opposition that Jesus faced during his ministry was from the Jews (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John).
- Jesus was killed by the Jews. They conspired to kill him, falsely accused him of blasphemy calling for his death, and convinced Pontius Pilate to kill him (Matthew 26:3, 65-66; 27:22-25; John 11:53; Acts 2:23, 36; 3:12-15; 4;9; 5:30; 7:51-53).
- Revelation has some elements of an epistle, as Jesus instructed John to write to the seven churches in Asia. Twice in these letters Jesus referred to Jews who claimed to be Jews but were not, as “the synagogue of Satan” (Revelation 2:9, 3:9). The first was to the church in Smyrna who was suffering from persecution, and persecution of the early church came primarily from the Jews. “Jews who claimed to be Jews but are not” - Keep in mind that a Jew is not one who is one outwardly by circumcision of the penis, but one who is one inwardly by circumcision of the heart (Romans 2:29).
- The primary persecution of the early church came from the Jews (Acts).
- When Jesus came to Jerusalem for the last time, he lamented over it because he had tried to gather the lost sheep of Israel to him, but they were not willing, and therefore God had left their temple and destroyed it (Luke 13:34-35).
- The destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD was God’s judgement against the Jews for killing the prophets, rejecting and killing His Son, and for ignoring the plea of the prophets, John the Baptist, and Jesus, to repent (turn back to God).
- Jesus prophesied of the destruction of the temple and of Jerusalem that took place in 70 AD when his disciples showed him the buildings of the temple. When they asked him when it would take place, he gave them several signs to look for and warned them that they were going to face many tribulations and be killed for his name’s sake (Matthew 24:1-9).
- The “abomination of desolation” standing in the holy place, as prophesied by Daniel, would be the sign for Christians to flee from Jerusalem to the mountains because there was going to be “great tribulation” (Matthew 24:15).
- The “abomination of desolation” as prophesied by Daniel is interpreted by Jesus as Jerusalem being surrounded by the Roman armies in 70 AD (Luke 21:20).
- Jesus described the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD as “the days of vengeance” (Luke 21:22), and as a time when there would be “great tribulation” because “there has never been or will never be such tribulation as this”(Matthew 24:21).
- When the tribes of Israel saw the destruction of Jerusalem, they mourned because they knew that it was the Lord coming in judgment against them (Matthew 24:30).
- Jesus predicted with pinpoint accuracy that “the coming of the Son of Man on the clouds” (the judgement of God), and the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, would occur in that generation (Matthew 24:34). It’s a historical fact that it happened less than 40 years later (a generation is about 40 years).
- The destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD was orchestrated by God and was led by Jesus himself. Jesus opened the scroll and loosed the seven seals of God’s wrath upon them. Some believe that he is the rider on the white horse who went out conquering and to conquer in the first seal of judgment in Revelation 6:2. He is the only horseman who is said to be given a crown, which may indicate that he is in fact King Jesus. This idea also corresponds with the rider on the white horse who is identified as Jesus in Revelation 19. This is an image of Jesus leading the armies when he returns to conquer the earth. He is described as judging and making war in righteousness, and is said to “tread the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.” Because Jesus will be leading the charges of God’s wrath on the Last Day, it is certainly possible that he also led the charges of God’s wrath against Jerusalem on the Day of the Lord in 70 AD.
- The destruction of Jerusalem signified to the Jews of that generation that the old covenant was over. No more temple meant no more sacrifices. Even if the temple wasn’t destroyed, Jesus said that God had left it, therefore their offerings would have been useless because God would not be there to accept them. The city where God dwelt no longer existed. It was over.
- Though the old covenant is over, Jesus is the surety of a better covenant because he is the High Priest who offered himself as the sacrifice once for all (Hebrews 7:22-28).
- Jerusalem which represents Israel is “Mystery Babylon, the mother of harlots” in Revelation 17 -
- Israel is frequently called a harlot and an adulterer in the Old Testament because she continuously committed idolatry with the other nations while she was in a marriage covenant with God (Ex: Ezekiel 16:28, Exodus 34:16, Psalm 106:39; Jeremiah 3:14).
- God is a jealous God who commanded Israel in the covenant that He made with them to worship only Him (Exodus 20:3-5). Therefore, He considers idolatry as fornication, adultery, and harlotry.
- Because Israel continuously committed these against God, they broke God’s covenant which they agreed to keep (Jeremiah 10:32; Exodus 24:3-8).
- With all this in mind, the woman on the scarlet beast in Revelation 17 who is called, “Mystery Babylon, the mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth”, is Jerusalem, which represents Israel.
- Revelation 17:18 reveals who “Mystery Babylon” is - “The great city which reigns over the kings of the earth.”
- “The great city” is used of Jerusalem ten times in Revelation, and “is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt” because of her fornications with the nations (11:8; 14:8; 16:19; 17:18; 18:10, 16, 18, 19, 21; 21:10).
- Other passages that point to Old Testament Israel as being “Mystery Babylon” because they persecuted and killed the faithful and the prophets that God had sent to them, and therefore God was avenging their deaths-
- “I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus” (17:6);
- “in her was found the blood of the prophets and the saints” (18:24);
- “Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets, for God has avenged you on her!”” (18:20);
- “For true and righteous are His judgments, because He has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication; and He has avenged on her the blood of His servants shed by her.”” (19:2).
- The seal, trumpet and bowl judgements in Revelation chapters 6 through 16 are about God’s judgement against “Mystery Babylon”/“Babylon the Great”, aka Jerusalem, in 70 AD;
- Revelation 18 through 19:10 is about the fall of “Mystery Babylon”/“Babylon the Great”, aka Jerusalem, in AD 70;
- The woman in Revelation 12 is Israel. Through her came the child who Satan tried to destroy, and since he couldn’t, he made war with the rest of her offspring - the faithful remnant of Israel.