By Steven J. Hogan
~ A Saturday Morning Post #260 ~
The Old Testament talks extensively about the Jewish people – and it’s both historical and prophetical. But some say His promises and plans for them are null and void, that God cancelled them, and that because of the Jew’s rejection of Christ, God rejected them. But that’s not true! Here are three reasons why God’s plans for the Jews are still valid. First, God keeps His promises, He doesn’t go back on His word. “Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, surely I will do it” (Is. 46:11). Second, the Jewish people have regathered to Israel just as God predicted, which means He still has plans for them. (Ezek. 36-37). Third, 20 different passages in the New Testament directly and indirectly refer to the Jews. The mere fact that there are all these passages in the New Testament about the Jews must mean something – and they need to be examined and understood. My purpose in this post and the next one is to look at all these verses.
* Matthew 5:17-19 – “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill… not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished…” The Law and the Prophets are primarily about Jesus and the Jewish people. Jesus wants us to know that all that is said about Himself will come true, and that He will accomplish all His promises to the Jews. And some of these have been fulfilled in the past and the rest will be fulfilled in the future.
* Luke 1:31-33 – “You shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High… He will reign over the house of Jacob forever and His kingdom will have no end.” The angel is referring to and reminding Mary of the Davidic Covenant (2 Sam. 7:12-13, 16), and telling her that God’s Son will be her Son, One who will rule forever over the Jewish people, His chosen ones, and as we know now, over all believers in Christ. Psalm 89:1-4, 19-29, 34-37
* Luke 1:54-55 – “He (God) has given help to Israel His servant, in remembrance of His mercy, as He spoke to our Fathers, to Abraham and His descendants forever.” God tells Mary, and us too, that He will fulfill His promises to Abraham and to Israel, some of which have already come to pass, and others which will be carried out in the future, ones that will affect all His descendants, both Jewish people and Gentiles. And you see that these promises are eternal, that they will last forever, which means they cannot and will not be revoked. Gen. 12:1-3, Gen. 13:14-17, Gen. 15:4, and Gen. 17:1-8
* Acts 3:20-21 – “… that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.” The prophets made many predictions about the Jewish people, which have been and will be coming true. One in particular is the “restoration of all things”, which will be an incredible blessing to both Jews and Gentiles who are living on this earth during the millennial kingdom. Psalm 98, Isaiah 65:17-23, Matthew 19:28, Romans 8:21
* Luke 24:25-27 – “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken… Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.” Luke 24:44 – “All things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Jesus used the Old Testament Scriptures to prove to His Jewish disciples that He was the Messiah, both Savior and King. But note that it says, “All things which are written about Me.” Christ wanted them to know that all the prophecies about Himself were valid, some of which they had already seen come true. The rest will be fulfilled in the future, many of which speak of Christ’s reign over the Jewish people, and over the entire world. Look at Psalms 22:27-31, 47, 48, 67, 72 and 102:18-28.
* 2 Thess. 2:3-4, 8-9 – “The man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God… that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming.” This prophecy predicted that the Jewish people would be in Jerusalem, which has now come true, and that they need to build a temple, which will happen soon. Not long after the Jews begin to offer sacrifices, this man of lawlessness, the Antichrist, will desolate their temple. Then that most devilish man will meet his Maker and be thrown into the lake of fire. Rev. 19:20
* Acts 28:17, 20, 23, 30-31 – “Paul called together… the leading men of the Jews… for the sake of the hope of Israel… He was explaining to them by solemnly testifying about the kingdom of God and trying to persuade them concerning Jesus, from both the Law of Moses and from the Prophets… he stayed two full years… preaching the kingdom of God and teaching concerning the Lord Jesus Christ.” Paul was in Rome talking to the Jewish leaders about Jesus, the Kingdom of God, and the hope, the future of Israel. He explained that Jesus was Lord and Savior of all who believed in Him, both Jewish people and Gentiles, and that in the future, He would be King over the whole world. (Is. 2:1-4, 9:6-7; Ezek. 40-48; Zech. 14:9). Paul’s time in Rome occurred about 10 years after he had written his prophecy-laden letters to the Thessalonian church, where He spoke of the Antichrist, the desolation of the temple, Christ’s coming, the rapture and the day of the Lord. I’m sure he explained to them how this related to the salvation of a remnant of Jews, and Jesus Christ ruling from the city of Jerusalem and establishing His kingdom on this earth.
* Matthew 23:37-39 – “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets… Behold, your house is being left to you desolate. For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord.’” Jesus tells the Jewish people the bad news, that their city is being destroyed and left desolate, which happened in 70 AD. Then He tells them the good news, that in the future they will recognize Him as their Lord and Savior, which occurs at Christ’s 2nd coming, at the end of Daniel’s 70th week. Psalm 118:22-29, Daniel 9:24-27
* Matthew 24:15-26 – “When you see the abomination of desolation… standing in the holy place… then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains… pray that your flight will not be in the winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be a great tribulation… just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be.” This too tells us that the Antichrist will desolate the temple, the holy place. That most evil man will then go after the Jewish people and bring great tribulation but, mercifully for them, Christ will cut it short. Then everyone on earth will see Christ coming in the clouds, at which time He will rapture the Christians, and a short while later, redeem a remnant of Jews. Matt. 24:27, 30-31
* Revelation 12:5-6, 13-17 – “She gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, and her child was caught up to God and to His throne. Then the woman fled into the wilderness …” Rev. 12:13-17 – “The dragon… persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child. But the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, so that she could fly into the wilderness to her place, where she was nourished for a time and times and half a time (3½ years), away from the presence of the serpent… the dragon was enraged with the woman…”
The woman is referring to the Jewish people, who brought Jesus into the world (vs. 5). You realize that there’s close to a 2000-year gap between vs. 5 and vs. 6, and now we’re in the end-times, the last years of the church age. Not long from now, the Jews will be fleeing into the wilderness (vs. 6). As 2 Thess. 2 and Matt. 24 tell us, the Jews will be persecuted by the Antichrist. But she will miraculously escape, be physically saved by the power of God. Shortly after her escape, she will be spiritually saved by Christ and, in fulfillment of God’s promise to David, He will become their King and rule over them and all the nations. “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever.” Revelation 11:15
Think about all these verses, all these prophecies and promises, and they all relate to the Jewish people. You can’t just skip over and ignore these verses, or take them allegorically – they are true, and are relevant to the present day, to the 21st century, and to both Jewish people and Christians. Next week, we’ll look at ten more passages. Surely, the Jews have not been forsaken and forgotten, for God has a future for them, a future that relates directly to His plans for the church. “None of them (Old Testament believers) had received what was promised. God had planned something better for us (Christians) so that only together with us (Christians) would they (Old Testament believers) be made perfect.” Hebrews 11:39-40
P.S. There is a lot of confusion and misunderstanding about the Jewish people and prophecy, and it’s vitally important for you, the Christian, to know what God has clearly told us in His Word. I strongly encourage you to read these previous posts about the Jewish people – “A Short Summary of God’s Working With the Jews”, “A Jewish Reading Lesson”, and “Clear New Testament Confirmation of God’s Plans for the Jews.”