Sunday 6 November 2016

Israel in Covenant Theology

Here is the question which stumps strict adherents to Covenant Theology:

"What verse of Old Testament Prophecy is the best verse you know which meant Messiah would minister in the land of ethnic Israel?"

They can't answer it, because as soon as they do, they would have committed that dreaded action of assigning a physical, natural, ethnic or geographical meaning to Israel rather than a strictly spiritual (or 'covenantal') meaning.

Ask the same question of Dispensationalists, and you could immediately be deluged with any number of Old Testament references. Not that Dispensationalism is correct.

That Messiah would be born in and minister in Israel, is one of the most obvious facts of Scripture and history. It's essential to the claim that the historical Jesus of Nazareth fulfilled Bible-Prophecy and is therefore both Lord and Messiah.

If someone's theological system blinds him to one of the most obvious facts written all over Scripture, then his system has put some serious blinkers (blinders) on him!

And therefore any other theological systems he builds on that system, also become suspect. Utopian Post-Millennialism could be one such structure.

Israel in prophecy meant Israel in fulfilment - because Gentiles in fulfilment had said Gentiles in Prophecy.

That doesn't imply Dispensationalism though. Gentiles indeed came to partake of the same spiritual blessings - but only after Jews in Israel had first. Then together they formed one new body, the Church.

The Church doesn't experience Israel's spiritual blessings instead of Israel ever experiencing it in any way - rather, Gentiles came to experience it after Jews who believed experience it first.

Ethnic Jews. On the ground. In Israel. They experienced it first, fulfilling Prophecies about Israel; then afterwards Gentiles experienced the same blessings, fulfilling Prophecies mentioning Gentiles - and together they formed the Church - the very scenario foreseen by the Prophets, the Apostles claimed. 

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