Israel: The Synagogue of Satan (Part 3)

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6. God's kingdom was taken from the Jews and was given to the Gentiles. A. The nation of Israel was God's kingdom (1Ch 17:14; 2Ch 13:8). B. Israel's rejection of Jesus Christ filled the cup of their iniquity, and therefore God took the kingdom from them and gave it to the believing Gentiles (Mat 21:42-43). C. Israel was ground to powder (Mat 21:44). D. God's churches, comprised of His elect from every nation, are now His holy nation (1Pe 1:1-2 c/w 1Pe 2:9-10). E. The promises to Israel of being a holy nation and a peculiar people are fulfilled in the new testament church (Exo 19:5-6 c/w Deu 14:2 c/w 1Pe 2:9 c/w Eph 2:11-22). F. The Jews were the natural branches of the olive tree (the church) which were broken off because of their unbelief (Rom 11:15-22). i. (For sermons on National Israel vs. Spiritual Israel, see parts 1-2 of the US Foreign Policy in the Middle East sermon series.) ii. (For a sermon on the olive tree of Romans 11, see part 31 of the Problem Texts for Sovereign Grace series.) iii. If the Jews continue not in unbelief they can be grafted back into the olive tree (Rom 11:23-24). iv. Some of elect Jews were blinded because of their unbelief and will remain that way until the fullness of the Gentiles come into the church (Rom 11:25). a. This will happen at or near the end of time when the last Gentile is converted. b. Fulness - 1. a. The condition of being filled so as to include no vacant space. iii. The Jews who are converted will be added to the NT church and become Christians. iv. Romans 11 is not a promise of the national restoration of Israel, but of the spiritual restoration of some of the elect Jews into the NT church. v. All of the elect Jews will be saved eternally, even though many of them are enemies of the gospel (Rom 11:26-29). 7. All of the promises to Israel of returning to the land were made before the Babylonian captivity (2Ch 30:9; Jer 12:14-15; Jer 30:1-11 c/w Neh 1:8-9; Jer 32:36-44; Jer 33:11; Jer 42:12; Jer 46:27, et al). A. The promises of an everlasting covenant that God would make with Israel after they returned to the land were fulfilled when Jesus Christ instituted the New Covenant and sat upon David's throne after His resurrection (Jer 32:36-42 c/w Jer 33:11-21 c/w Act 2:29-33 c/w Jer 31:31-34 c/w Heb 8:6-13). B. Hosea prophesied of Israel's return in the "latter days" (Hos 3:5). i. Hosea was written between 753-617 BC in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel (Hos 1:1) which was at least 100 years prior to the beginning of the Babylonian Captivity. a. Hosea's prophecy was given at least 170 years prior to the return to the land after the Babylonian Captivity. b. See The Wonders of Bible Chronology by Philip Mauro, pages 70-71, 85-89. ii. 170+ years later would certainly be considered the "latter days." iii. The "latter days" refer to the days after the Babylonian captivity (Jer 23:19-20; Jer 30:23-24). iv. Every usage of the "latter days" or "latter years" in the prophets is found in the prophets that prophesied prior to the return to the land after the Babylonian captivity. Here they all are: (Jer 23:20; Jer 30:24; Jer 48:47; Jer 49:39; Eze 38:8,16; Dan 2:28; Dan 10:14; Hos 3:5). a. The "latter days" and "latter years" are contrasted with the "former days" and "former years" before the time of the return from the Babylonian Captivity. b. The "latter days" refer to the second period of Israel's national existence after the Babylonian Captivity. v. The only usage in the prophets of the "former days" and the "former years" is found in Zechariah and Malachi who prophesied after the return to the land (Zec 8:11; Mal 3:4). vi. Zechariah, who prophesied after the return to the land, spoke of the "former prophets" who prophesied before the return to the land (Zec 1:4; Zec 7:7; Zec 7:12). vii. The "former prophets" who prophesied before or during the Babylonian Captivity in the "former days" are the only prophets who prophesied of Israel returning to the land. viii. The prophets who prophesied in the "later days" after the Babylonian Captivity never prophesied of Israel returning to the land. C. There were no promises made to Israel of returning to the land in the prophets that prophesied after the return from the Babylonian captivity. i. Search the books of Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi which were written after the return from the Babylonian captivity and see for yourself that there is no prophecy in them of Israel returning to the land. ii. Luk 21:24 says nothing about Israel returning to the land after the times of the Gentiles. iii. Therefore, there is no prophecy that states that Israel would return to the land of Palestine after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD. 8. Satan is the god of the unbelieving Jews (Joh 8:41, 44). A. They made a deal with the devil (Isa 28:14-15). B. The generation of the Jews in Jesus' day were full of devils (Mat 12:43-45). C. They worship in his synagogues (Rev 2:9; Rev 3:9). D. Modern Judaism is the religion of the ancient Pharisees. i. "In King Agrippa (41-44) the Pharisees had a supporter and friend, and with the destruction of the Temple the Sadducees disappeared altogether, leaving the regulation of all Jewish affairs in the hands of the Pharisees. Henceforth Jewish life was regulated by the teachings of the Pharisees; the whole history of Judaism was reconstructed from the Pharisaic point of view, and a new aspect was given to the Sanhedrin of the past. A new chain of tradition supplanted the older, priestly tradition (Abot i. 1). Pharisaism shaped the character of Judaism and the life and thought of the Jew for all the future. True, it gave the Jewish religion a legalistic tendency and made "separatism" its chief characteristic; yet only thus were the pure monotheistic faith, the ethical ideal, and the intellectual and spiritual character of the Jew preserved in the midst of the downfall of the old world and the deluge of barbarism which swept over the medieval world." (Jewish Encyclopedia, Pharisees, 1906) ii. "Orthodox Judaism is the direct descendant of the religion of the Pharisees: "The active period of Pharisaism extended well into the second century C.E. and was most influential in the development of Orthodox Judaism...After the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 C.E., it was the synagogues and schools of the Pharisees that continued to function and promote Judaism...The Pharisees generated a ramified system of hermeneutics and found no great difficulty in harmonizing Torah teachings with their advanced ideas, or in finding their ideas implied or hinted at in the words of the Torah. It was due to this progressive tendency, therefore, that the Pharisaic interpretation of Judaism continued to develop...In general, the Pharisees admitted the validity of an evolutionary and non-literal approach toward the legal decisions and regarded the legal framework of the Oral Law as equally valid as the Written Law." (Michael Hoffman (quoting the Encyclopedia Judaica, 2007 ed., vol. 16, pp.30-31), Judaism's Strange Gods, pp. 45-46) iii. "The Mishnah, the initial section of the Talmud, is based on the Oral traditions of the first century Pharisees, which Jesus confronted during His lifetime. Hence, Judaism is the religion of the Pharisees, not of God or His Holy Word." (Michael Hoffman, Judaism's Strange Gods, pp. 84) E. Given these facts, I have a couple of questions. i. Could someone please explain to me why we should be supporting the people who are the spiritual children of those who bitterly hated our Lord and whom He denounced with the strongest language (Mat 23:13-33)? ii. And next, can they explain to me why I am to believe that such people are the people of God to whom He has given the land of Palestine? F. Given that Satan is the god of the unbelieving Jews, who do you suppose then is behind the creation of the modern nation of Israel? i. The modern nation of Israel was built by the Rothschilds, not by God. ii. It was chartered by the declaration of the United Nations, not by the declaration of God's word.