Dispensationalism: God Has Not Rejected His People Israel - Genesis Part 33

I want to begin today with a call in here it is first. Their synagogues should be set on fire and spread over with dirt.

Second, their homes, that should be broken down and destroy. Further, they should be deprived of their prayer books and tall modes which teach idolatry lies cursing and blasphemy their rabbis should be forbidden to teach under threat of death passport and traveling privileges should be forbidden to all Jews.

Let them stay at home. If we are afraid that they might harm us personally, then let us do what other countries have gone and drive them out of our country. For all time."

So Mark cannot expect the shocking quote. Who in the world would say something like that. I mean, Adolf Hitler, Stalin, dinner jab, who would say something like that will actually none of the above men said it.

The man who actually said that was Martin Luther, the hero of the Protestant Reformation and so you might ask my gosh how could a Christian, much less a Christian leader of that stature how the world could they make a statement like this will focus as we return to our verse by verse study of the book of Genesis this is what we want to talk about today.

But before we do that, let's do a tiny bit of review. If you remember in our last message we saw in Genesis chapter 15 that God made an unconditional covenant with Abraham, in which God promised that he would give Abraham's descendents the land of Canaan as a permanent eternal possession from the Nile River any job to the Euphrates River in modern day Iraq and remember what an unconditional covenant means. It means that Abraham didn't have to do anything to make God's promise come through Abraham's descendents didn't have to do anything to make God's promise come through the fulfillment of this covenant was all on God which means that the birth of the modern state of Israel in 1948. My friends was not a coincidence and it means that it was not an accident and it means that it was not just a lucky break for the Jewish people rather it was the fulfillment of God's unconditional eternal sovereign unbreakable promise that he made to Abraham. Now that's what we saw in our last message, but it left us with a question and the question was this well, but the Jewish people rejected their Messiah 2000 years ago and because they rejected their Messiah did they forfeit these covenants that God made with them and did the church inherit the covenants that God made with Israel, including the covenant to the promised land. Well, this is a very important question and this is what were going to talk about today. You know, every time the Holocaust is brought up and all of the horrific things that were done to the Jewish people during World War II. I think all of us shake our head a little bit in wonderment and go how in the world could Hitler have taught the German people. These were educated people. These were civilized people. These were modern people, how in the world could he have talked them into going along with what happened to the Jewish people and friends. The answer to that. And the answer to the first question we ask today. How could a Christian leader like Martin Luther say what he said about the Jewish people.

The answer to both of those questions is actually theological and I want to explain that to you right now in his book Jesus and Israel. Historian Jules Isaac said this and I quote he said although German responsibility for the Holocaust was overwhelming. It was only a secondary responsibility.

The real culprits. Isaac says, was the tradition of Christian anti-Semitism that had dominated Europe for centuries. Just like we heard come out of the mouth of Martin Luther. Isaac goes on to say Christian anti-Semitism was the tree onto which Nazi anti-Semitism was grafted is a Christian anti-Semitism where did that come from friends. It came from 18 centuries of theology 18 centuries of the church being committed to a particular theology called replacement theology say what is that will let me explain replacement theology is the teaching that because the Jewish people rejected Jesus as their Messiah God, in turn, rejected the Jewish people and condemned them as arrays and cancel his covenants with them and gave their covenants to the church. In other words, the church replaced Israel as the special people of God.

You understand now why it's called replacement theology good okay very good but there's more to it, and therefore, because all of this is true, therefore replacement theology teaches that after their rejection of the Messiah of the Jews became nothing more than a group of contemptible reprobate Christ killers who deserved every evil thing of that they got now for us as evangelical Christians today. This sounds very strict because evangelical Christianity here in America and evangelical Christianity around the world to me were the strongest supporters of the Jewish people on the face of the earth where the strongest supporters of the nation of Israel on the earth, and so hearing language like this were like where you know it it it like doesn't even computer hardly withdraws well.

We need to go back now and do a little survey of church history to really get an understanding of how we ended up where we are today. So you ready frontal survey of church history are you were going to go all way back to the apostle Paul to start the apostle Paul in Romans 910 11 gives us the biblical view God's view of the status of the Jewish people after their rejection of Christ. Every go verse one Romans 11 I say then, Paul writes that God has not rejected his people has E certainly not for two Emmett Israelite, a descendent of Abraham. Paul says of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew verse 11 I say then have the Jews stumbled that they should fall permanently. Paul says certainly not rather by their transgression by their rejection of Jesus salvation has come to the Gentiles. That's great news for the Gentiles of the world, but the story doesn't stop there. Paul goes on verse 12. Now if they are the Jews, transgression resulted in riches for the world.

How much more shallow they are. What's the next word restoration, how much more shall their restoration result in God's going to restore the Jewish people. Paul says and verse 25 tells us win for when the fullness of the Gentiles has come to pass all Israel shall be say. So what's the conclusion Chapter 11 Romans verse 28 from the standpoint of preaching the gospel then gave the Jews are enemies for your say why because they oppose the preaching of the gospel, but from the standpoint of God's election, they are what's the next word. Beloved, they are beloved, they are beloved for the sake of the fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob for the gifts and the calling of God are your revocable point Paul is making is a God is through with the Jewish people. You they may be in widespread unbelief.

Now, but one day God's going to gloriously restore them back to their rightful place at the center of God's plan for the ages, and why is God going to do this.

What in verse 28 say it said because God's promises in God's covenants with them are you revocable. And so, in light of this, what was the apostle Paul's attitude towards on believing Jewish people. Well, it was an attitude of love. It was an attitude of affection. It was an attitude of evangelistic passion for them by why he said in Romans nine verse three Paul said I could wish that I myself were accursed and separated from Christ. Instead, what you say.

How can anyone wish that for the sake of my Jewish brethren if they would come to Christ.

My kinsman according to the flesh now sadly less than 100 years after the apostle Paul wrote these words in Romans 9 to 11. The church abandoned the Paul's teaching in favor of replacement theology, which not only replaced Israel with the church but listen also replaced the love of the Jews that Paul had with contempt for the Jews. Listen Justin Martyr second century A.D. he said and I quote, we Christians are the true spiritual Israel, and we, as Christians, not the Jews shall inherit the holy land.

Augustine fourth century, the greatest, the most influential theologian of his day said and I quote, the Jews have been cast off by God and have no further purpose in God's plan and as a result of his theology, church leaders lead pogroms violent persecutions against Jews all around the Roman world, including Alexandria, the largest Jewish community of the day where they burned every synagogue of the ground ran every Jew out of town and they killed thousands of Jewish people. These are church leaders John Chrysostom, Bishop of Antioch also fourth century, talking to the Jews, and he said, quote is because you killed Christ and stretched out her hand against the Lord, that there is now for you know restoration, no mercy and no defense you have committed the ultimate transgression, which is why you are being punished now worse than even in the past." And as you can imagine pogroms broke out against the Jewish people than to, with thousands being killed. Let me just run through the rest of this very rapidly in 324 A.D. the Council of Nicaea declared the Jews to be an odious people in 535 the Synod of Claremont for bid any Jew from holding public office in Europe in 1215, the fourth Lateran Council declared that all Jews must wear yellow badges that sound familiar mature. That's exactly what the Nazis did in 1267. The Synod of Breslow required all Jews to live in ghettos separated from the rest of European society. In 1095. The Crusaders massacred Jews by the tens of thousands on their way to the holy land in 1290, Edward I banished all Jews from England in 1394. Charles VI drove all Jews out of France and in 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue and also Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain through every Jew out of Spain and began the Inquisition during which the church executed thousands and thousands of Jews at the stake.

There was a moment in time when the church had the opportunity to reverse all of this he came in 1517 when Martin Luther posted his 95 theses and began the Protestant Reformation. There was a moment there when they could, under Martin Luther's leadership, the church could've made a break with replacement theology and return to the biblical theology of Romans 910 11 but as we just saw Martin Luther didn't go there as a matter of fact, some of the most vitriolic and hateful anti-Semitic rhetoric ever penned up by anybody came from the Penta Martin Luther historian Rollie Oberg in his book the destruction of European Jew says this and I quote he said the anti-Jewish laws passed by the third Reich all had clear precedent in church all indeed he says almost every anti-Semitic law in Nazi legislature came from laws passed by church councils and sinners previously through the centuries." The point is that all Hitler did was take the replacement theology and its attitude towards the Jews that had been dominant in Europe for 18 centuries and carry it to its logical extreme in the Holocaust.

That's how we got people to go along with now, by the mercy of God, and I mean this, by the mercy of God. All of that began to change in the middle of the 19th century with a man named JN Darby JN Darby was the founder of the Plymouth brethren movement when he was a young man he was very ill, he was confined to his bed.

He began to read and study the Bible, he began to read the Bible literally, the way we believe it ought to be read. He began to read it in error and believe the way we believe it ought to be read, and after doing that, he concluded some things number one. He concluded that the promises God had made to the Jewish people in the Old Testament would be fulfilled to avail not the church. The concluded number two that the church is never actually mentioned in the Old Testament, but it's only a great parenthesis in the middle of God's past and God's future dealings with Israel. And finally, he concluded that the Jews had been temporarily placed offstage.

Because of the rejection of Christ, but they were still God's timepiece to use his word and one day the Jews would return to center stage in God's plan of the ages, that is all that sound familiar, Lucia is exactly what the apostle Paul said in Romans nine, 10 and 11 and Darby came to these conclusions by studying the Bible. Romans 910 11 and also by an in-depth study in the prophecy in Daniel chapter 9 of the 77 essay on everyone heard of that prophecy. Well, I got great news for you. You going to know about it now will look at it. Yeah, praise Lord, I go Daniel nine verse 2470 groups of seven years.

God says to Daniel, have been decreed for your people and your holy city stop for a minute who was Daniel's people.

The Jewish people and who is that what's Daniel's holy city Jerusalem right is the point is that this prophecy deals specifically and exclusively with God's program for the Jewish people. The events of this prophecy had nothing to do with the church or with Christians or with the church age or with New York City over London.

I and that's so important because if we get that right this whole prophecy unfolds, and it is magnificent.

So here we go. You are to know God says to Daniel that from the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem stop when was this well remember Jerusalem was destroyed 586 BC King Nebuchadnezzar and it wasn't rebuilt until Nehemiah.

Nehemiah even tells us when he was given permission to rebuild Jerusalem. Nehemiah chapter 2 verse one says it was in the 20th year of King Artaxerxes of Persia. Now we know this day, with certainty, it was 445 BC. You can write that in the margin right next to verse 25 in your Bible.

So this is when this begins, 445 BC okay. From that point until the Messiah the Prince is caught all his kill. That's the endpoint crucifixion will be 69. Groups of seven years are listed as the multiplication 69×7 is 483 years but remember Jewish people use lunar years, not solar years.

So we have to convert this to solar years and it's 476 solar year.

So now let's subtract we know the two ends of this prophecy. 476 years is the end away from 445 BC, which was the beginning we subtract we get 32 A.D. because there's no year zero so, who claim to be the Messiah and fulfilled all the signs and wonders that when being the Messiah, who died at 32 A.D. Who was that was the Lord Jesus Christ friends. This is the most accurate chronological prediction of the first coming of Jesus Christ anywhere in the Bible, and you must understand this is why Jesus castigated and condemn the rabbis of Israel, in his day so harshly because they knew this prophecy, and they could multiply, and they could subtract and therefore they should know that the Messiah was coming right when the Lord Jesus Christ showed up but they refused to believe in. It was worse they talk the entire nation of Israel into not believing in tragic, tragic okay so that's 69 of the 70 groups of seven years. What happened to the 70th group the 70th week of years. Well your calls ready verse 27 Daniel nine then he will make a covenant with many for one week. There is measure 70th week but in the middle of this week. He will stop the sacrifices and offerings at the temple in Jerusalem, and he will set up an abomination of desolation you say wow log prominent that sounds so familiar. Well, it sure in Matthew chapter 24 when the disciples asked Jesus Lord.

One of the signs of the ends of the age. Jesus said when you see the abomination of desolation set up in the temple by the Antichrist. You better get out of Dodge because the second coming of Christ is imminent. I and he will set up the abomination of desolation, until a complete destruction, one that is decreed is poured out on him who makes this desolation. So who is this he in this verse.

In the 70th week was placed in jeopardy by some jeopardy yeah okay here we go ready makes a worldwide covenant for seven years breaks the covenant after 3 1/2 years lives. At the time when the third Jewish temple is operating in Jerusalem stops all sacrifices and offerings at this temple sets up the abomination of desolation in a wing of this temple and is completely destroyed by God at the battle of Armageddon, the way the Bible says who is the antichrist exactly. So here in week number 70, we suddenly jump down the corridors of time and now were in the tribulation. At the end of this age hated you ever wonder why the tribulation period was seven years and why wasn't white as in 20 years or why it isn't four years friends, the answer is because it's the last group of seven years from Daniel's prophecy.

Let's go back to Jay and Darby now Jay and Darby saw this he understood that between the 69th week ending with the crucifixion and the 70th week beginning with the tribulation. In the antichrist.

There was a huge parenthesis in time during which Israel was not center stage in God's plan, but the Gentiles the church was center stage. We know this today is the church age. Jesus called it in Luke 2124 the time of the Gentiles, beginning with the crucifixion the end of Daniel's 69th week and ending with the rapture just before the tribulation. And when that happens, when the church is taken out of the world, God's going to restore Israel just like Paul said and put them back into the centerpiece of his plan for the ages.

Just the way Paul said and make them his central focus in dealing with mankind now Jay and Darby called this theological system.

Dispensationalism is not a new system like move Jay and Darby came up with a brand-new theological system know we didn't know we didn't Jay and Darby went back 18 centuries to the theological system of the book of Romans. Do you understand that he went back to the theological system of the apostle Paul who said, every bit of this, we understand that yes we understand that it's not something new. The church left the biblical position and for 18 centuries was away from the biblical position and Darby just figured it out into his back to the biblical position.

Dr. Charles Riley of Dallas seminary, says the distinction between Israel and the church is the essence of dispensationalism, and probably the most basic theological test of whether or not a person is a dispensational list and sends the middle 1800s thanks to the ministry of JN Darby and Dwight L. Moody and Billy Sunday, and Billy Graham and the Scofield reference Bible and Dallas theological seminary in Moody Bible Institute, and John MacArthur and many many other people like that dispensationalism has become the dominant theology of American evangelicalism. Thank God for that and it has restored the Jewish people to the proper role in God's economy that replacement theology had stripped from them all still okay other soul ready to summarize what we learned today, we learn number one. The dispensationalism represents a return to the biblical theology of Romans 910 11.

We've also seen the dispensationalism recognizes number one that God has not rejected the Jewish people would just move them offstage. For now number two that currently we are in a parenthesis. In God's plan called the church age.

But number three that this is a temporary situation that one day the church age is going to end with the rapture and then God is going to restore the Jewish people to center stage and he will fulfill every promise he made to Abraham, to Isaac to Jacob to the Jewish people, including his promise to give them the promised land from the river Nile to the river Euphrates, and why is all of this could happen. Friends Romans 1128 because the gifts and the calling of God.

Jewish people they are your revocable praise Lord, amen. Now you clap marching good now. It's time that the stars will go to David's time to ask our most question you say line you got time to ask so what friends a sermon without so what is like peanut butter without jelly yesterday. What I'm saying to you. We gotta do this. So are you ready come on now. Are you ready all of you on the Internet. Here we go now lawn Joe Gray. I felt good, didn't you say lawn dude and is like drinking from a fire hose today and yet I don't understand what any of this has to do with me on the lawn. I'm not even Jewish.

Well friends has a lot to do with you and me as followers of Christ dispensationalism gives us an entirely different construct a biblical construct as to how we are to regard and treat Jewish people.

It means that if God has never rejected Jewish people even though they rejected Christ but God still holds them dear. Then it's incumbent upon us as Christians that have the same attitude to treat the Jewish people. Romans 1128 as beloved and Romans 93 to have an evangelistic passion and to have a love for their souls. The same love and passion that the apostle Paul had and to reach out to them with the gospel is a lot. I got a couple reservations about doing okay. What always it will number one on the Gentile. You know, I think Jewish people are best reached by Jewish believers who you know listen Fred. It may shock you to know that most Jewish people who come to Christ. Don't come to Christ because the Jewish believer leads in the Christ, but because a Gentile believer leads in the Christ Bob Eckardt, the man that led me to Christ was as Gentile as a pork barbecue sandwich friends and yet he led me to Christ is to lie. Well, okay, but number two. I don't know all the right terminology to use with Jewish people. I mean, I know you not supposed to talk about Jesus, a Nazis was calling issue of UNESCO's talk about converting Islamic and I don't know all this right terminology. Listen to your friends, Bob Eckardt, who led me to Christ used every wrong word known to man talk about Jesus and converting and becoming a Christian and getting baptized.

Using any rightward none. They were all wrong and yet here I am walking with Jesus, over 40 years later, look, listen, if the Holy Spirit is it work in that person's heart and in your heart.

I don't care what words you use.

As long as there biblical God will get the job done in their heart to worry about the words you use our will on the number three the you know a Jewish person will eat me alive in talking about the Bible.

If we get in the Fresno kid yourself Jewish people don't know the Bible.

They don't. My dad when I tried to share Christ with the one time I said that I want to talk to you from Isaiah chapter 53. He said I don't believe in the New Testament half okay is it then Isaiah is in the Old Testament is really yeah let me show you had to prove to him it was in the Old Testament.

If you know that Isaiah is in the Old Testament you know more than my dad knew about the Bible.

Most Jewish people don't know anything about the Bible.

If you're an evangelical Christian. You know tons more than they do know to be intimidated by them is a yell but what about number four bar run into an exception really does know some about the Bible.

Well you know what, then, stay on the one question that I don't care how much a Jewish person knows about the Bible that they can't answer and that question is do you know for certain what's going to happen to you after you die. Do you know for certain that you're going to heaven after you die.

Rabbinic Judaism has no answer for that. Don't you let them get you off on all kinds of trivial stop. Stay on point. That is the weak link in the armor stay there and besides, that's the key issue. Anyway, isn't yeah is our lot only got one more and that is what if the person that I try to share with just interested and and that they that they don't want to talk about in the they treat me, like I don't know rude will get used to it. It happens I fly back from Israel and we landed here in the New York I was standing there at the belt waiting for my suitcase to come off and just as my suitcase came off and started going around this woman right when he got to be stepped in front of me and I lost my moment.

You know how you lose your moment there at the bill and it went by.

My moment was gone and so I'm trying to chase this crazy thing down, the bill, and finally one nice Jewish man helped me and pulled it off the bill for so I thought well you did something nice for me I should do something nice for him, so I went over to my briefcase got a CD of my testimony brought it over and since you did something very nice for me.

I want to do some very nice for you. I want to give you this CD and it tells you about my life story, Jewish person, but I believe in Jesus and he looked at me and said I wanted to get to know you don't want. I simply can't possibly do you any harm just to listen to it.

He said I don't want it okay for I wanted okay okay so I walked away and then I had to go around, you know, we go through the customs guys or guys with blue uniforms on your whatever. So I gave one to one of the custom God and he said see her over there .1 of the other customs agencies that she really needs is give one to her and I said okay so I gave one to her that was five Americans won all five of and then overheard him talking. She said why go to church. One of the other agent said you haven't thought about a lot more than about going to church so they're all having this discussion.

These five agents and outcomes. This Jewish man again and I said to him I said hey look, you see all those agents over there, they all took my CD and had heard any of them. I said come on this is this is last chance last call right here about taking this from. He said I don't know why. Okay, think again. You know, fine off you will say you were the one running the one of them will number one focus release.

We gave that person a fighting chance and number two goes to get when the rapture of the church happens. This would be 144,000 Jewish people all your doctors your dentists your lawyers who are going to look around and go all my gosh Susie was telling me the truth. Jesus really is who he said he is and Revelation chapter 4 says they're going to come to Christ and they're going to be evangelists for the Lord in the beginning of the tribulation.

My point is, it may not be what a Jewish person does with the gospel message. Right now it may be what they're gonna do with it at some point in the future, but either way it doesn't matter. Jewish people deserve to know the truth and they need us to tell it to, and I had a lady in the lobby come up to me and say well I could tell my Jewish friend the truth but they might get mad and I might lose all relationship with them and never talk to me again I said ma'am and asked her question would you rather have your Jewish friend looking at you from hell and saying you know I broke relationship with you, and I was mad at you but at least you told me the truth or would you rather have them looking at you from Helen saying I 6 feet from your face and you didn't tell me what I needed to know to stay out of this place. She said yeah okay I got it friends that's true for everybody. Jews and Gentiles alike was strictly true of our Jewish friends with our heads together with our heads bowed in her eyes close, but I like you to do now is, I'd like you to think of three Jewish people that you know that you care about the don't know Christ's friends and acquaintances, relatives, and now what I'd like you to do is pray for them that God would open up a door in their heart to listen to the gospel. Now I'd like to ask you to ask God to give you the opportunity to share the Lord Jesus with these folks to open up a door for you to talk to him about Christ and finally, I want to challenge you right now to promise God that if he does when he does give you this opportunity you may be scared, and you may be nervous but with the help of the Holy Spirit you're going to grab more Jesus.

We just prayed for hundreds and thousands of Jewish asking you to open a door in their heart to allow us to share Christ with them and to bring them to faith in the Lord Jesus.

Father I pray you would honor those prayers by giving us those opportunities and and we even though were scared and nervous than he will step out. Trusting you by faith and take those opportunities, the Lord, we know you love Gentiles and Jews.

The same you don't love Jewish people more you love anybody else interested, we as the church tend to be so intimidated about sharing with them and we should so Lord Jesus send this out in the streets of Washington to share with everybody, particularly to look for those chances to share with our Jewish friends knowing that they are below by you and they should be beloved by us and the greatest love. We could ever show to tell them the truth about salvation in Jesus Christ Lord. We look forward to there being hundreds and thousands of Jewish people in heaven forever because of the prayers that we offered sitting right here this afternoon and we ask these things in Jesus name what God's people say what you say amen