Frequent Asked Questions About Israel and the Jews 
Last Updated: 09/27/2014 17:07:17
- Answer: Many people today are confused about the position of Israel in God's plans. Reformed and Replacement Theology have grossly distorted what the Bible plain states. Reformed and Replacement theology falsely teach that God has rejected Israel because they rejected Jesus as the Messiah and that God has now given the promises to Israel to the "church". They conclude that the many prophecies that God made to Israel, as God's Chosen people, are to be allegorized and given a spiritual interpretation, rather than accepting literally what God has said in the Bible. That is a serious mistake and gives an erroneous picture of Israel in God's plans. To be able to answer your questions I needed to make mention of the above and also how we should correctly interpret God's word.
We are to interpret the Bible literally and accept the meaning of scripture as what it actually states. Allegory is used in the Bible but rarely and when it is, it is clearly stated. (See Galatians 4:24 for an example) So to correctly interpret God's word we must accept what God actually stated or literally interpret God's word in is grammatical, historical, and cultural context.
I have an article at http://bible-truth.org/Principles.htm titled "Biblical Principles for Interpreting the God's Word". The article will explain in detail how to biblically interpret God's word.
Now to Israel. In Genesis 12:1-3 God called Abram (Abraham) to be the father of a new nation that God would create. God did not chose an existing nation on earth, but brought into being a special nation to carry out His plan for the redemption of mankind. God specifically told Abram "And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.." (Genesis 12:3) In Galatians 3:8-16 God inspired the Apostle Paul to explain to us what the passage means. He said the word "seed" was singular and referred prophetically to the Jesus Christ. Galatians 3:16 is the key verse.
God made an unconditional covenant with Israel that He would make them a great nation (Gen. 12:2). God's promise was not conditional on the Jews believing or obeying God. God said this was His will and He would bring it into fruition regardless of Israel's disobedience. God promised to give then the land of Canaan for Abraham and his descendants forever. (Gen. 12:7, 13:14-15, 15:18-21, 17:8) God promised the Abrahamic covenant was and everlasting covenant .....meaning it would never end. (Gen. 17:7, 19) God restated the covenant to Isaac and to Jacob Abraham's son and grandson. (Gen. 26:1-4, 28:1-14, 35:9-12, 48:4) The meant that the covenant God made with Abraham was everlasting and would be passed on to his descendant forever.
God said in Jeremiah 31:35-37, "Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name: If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever. Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD." (Jeremiah 31:35-37) Clearly God has plainly stated that He would never forsake or reject the nation of Israel.
Israel did reject Jesus as their Messiah and in 70 AD God destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem and scattered the Jews all over the world. Judaism ceased to be practiced on earth and even to this day, 2000 years later, the Jews have no temple and do not follow the Old Testament Law. Even modern Israel is not a theocracy following God. 70 AD ended the Old Testament dispensation when God was working with the Jews, offering them their Messiah and promised Kingdom. God then during this transitional time, (the beginning of Jesus' ministry and ending in 70 AD) beginning with Peter taking the Gospel to the Roman Centurion Cornelius, continuing in God calling Paul as the Apostle to the Gentiles. In Acts 2 God began the current dispensation we are presently in that is called the Church Age. God instituted His program, offering to the world the presentation of the Gospel through the local church. The first Christians were all Jews, but in about on century their were mostly Gentiles. So what happened was the Jews rejected Jesus Christ and God then began His new covenant with Christians.
However, this does not mean that God is through with Israel, His chosen people. After the rapture, when Christians are removed from the earth and taken to heaven, Daniel's 70 week will begin (Dan. 9:27) called the seven year Tribulation and God will once again begin to work with Israel. Ezekiel 36-48 explains that God will regather Israel to the land and explains the events that will follow leading to the end of the Tribulation and Christ's second coming. The current dispensation of the Church Age will end with the rapture and the dispensation of the Tribulation will begin. Note that Israel will be regathered. (Eze.36), the Antichrist will be revealed , who is the fourth beast of Daniel 7:7-23. Israel will be regathered (partly this is already accomplished) in the land and will make a peace treaty with the Antichrist. In the middle of the seven year Tribulation the Antichrist will turn on Israel, desecrate the new temple built in Jerusalem and set himself up as god to be worshipped. He will murder millions of Christians and Jews saved during the seven year Tribulation. He will be controlled by Satan, and as Revelation 19:20 explains the Antichrist and his false prophet will be both cast into the Lake of Fire at the end of the Tribulation at Jesus' Second Coming. Revelation 20:1-2 state that Satan will be bound by God and locked up in a bottomless pit for a 1000 years.
This 1000 years is called the Millennium follows the Second Coming of Christ. Fifty days will transpire between the end of the Tribulation and the Lord setting up the Millennial Kingdom. The Millennial Kingdom is the Kingdom that God promised to Israel. Isaiah 11 explains this Kingdom was promised to Israel as a time of peace. (Please read the Chapter) Israel will occupy the land from the Nile River in Egypt to the Euphrates River in modern Iraq. (Gen. 15:18).
So presently God is working with the Gentiles in the period or dispensation we are currently in. However, God's promises to Israel as a nation were unconditional. God said He would fulfill all His promises to them and He will in the Millennium. This does not mean that Jews were saved simply because they were Jews or God's chosen people. Individually, a Jew in the Old Testament had to believe and accept God's promises by faith as we do today in by faith accepting the Gospel and Jesus Christ as our Savior.(John 3:1f) What God promised was that the nation of people that He created.....would be given promises as a people. But they had to accept it. In the Tribulation many Jews will be saved and a remnant of them will be alive on earth at the end of the Tribulation and will go into the Millennial Kingdom with the Gentiles who escape the Antichrist's persecution.
In the Millennium Israel will be fully restored as a nation and Jesus the Messiah will rule them and the world from Jerusalem. It will be a time of peace on earth as Isaiah 11 explains. The Bride of Christ, which refers to Christians in this Church Age dispensation (begun in Acts 2) will rule with Christ. Micah 4:1-2 teaches that all the nations of earth will come to Jerusalem and learn from Christ.
So God is not finished with Israel and never will be. He established with them as a nation an unconditional covenant which He will complete in every detail. Christians will be a part of the Kingdom and will rule with Christ.
I know this is a long, but I have tried to make is a clear as I can in a brief and to the point way. If you have further questions or comments please write. Your question is on the minds of a lot of people and as I said before there is a great deal of confusion on the matter. What I have given you is literally what the Bible says. I sincerely hope it helps your understanding although it does not cover all the events that bare on this matter. God bless you as you study God's word.
- Answer: God choose the descendants of Abraham because He choose to make a special people, without prior nationality, began by a miracle (birth of Isaac to Sarah) to make for himself a witness and to reveal Himself to the world. He made a new and special people the Children of Israel for His purpose.
They like us all are sinners and He used within Israel those that believed and trusted Him beginning with Abraham. Many believed, but God chose them knowing most would reject Him as a way to show to the world His grace, mercy and love. God did not force the individual Jew to serve, nor any man and He chooses not to violate our wills. He wants us to serve Him willing from a heart felt love. He does this for all people and the sinners today. All men are born in sin and most reject God, yet 1 John 2:2 says He died for them and paid their sin debt....even knowing they would not believe and would not accept salvation and forgiveness.<
In the coming Seven Year Tribulation the Lord will save a good number of Jews....and others from all the nations....and will establish His kingdom in Israel, thus ultimately they will receive Him at His Second Coming.
- Answer: Peter was preaching to the Jews who had rejected Jesus as their Messiah. Peter's message proclaimed to who was Jesus. Verses 36 sums up his message and is his invitation to them to believe in Jesus Christ. Verse 37 shows they understood and were under deep conviction of their sin of rejecting Jesus. Therefore, Peter in verse 38 tells them to repent of their sin of unbelief and receive Him as their Messiah and Savior. In believing in Jesus Christ as their Messiah they were also admitting all their sins and accepting Him as their spiritual Messiah or Savior. The Jews make the mistake of seeking a political savior to deliver them from the Romans. When they saw He was not a military leader or would use His power to drive out the Romans they rejected Him. They were not looking for a spiritual deliverer. That is why Jesus explained to Nicodemus that if he inherited the kingdom of God he must be born again, or be spiritually born. These Jews on the day of Pentecost understood this and many of them believed and were spiritually reborn. Thanks for your question. Most people do not really understand Acts 2. You are very perceptive to ask your question.
- Answer: Christians are not the literal descendent's of Israel, although we are their spiritual descendent's. In Romans 11 Paul is addressing Gentiles about the matter of the Gospel going to the Gentiles, because Israel was rejecting the Messiah. He said Israel was not thrown away, meaning God will continue to work with them in the future.
He describes the Gentiles as being a branch grafted into the tree of Israel. A grafted in branch may get its nourishment from the stem, but it is different from the tree it is grafted to. I also produces a different and better fruit.
The Old Testament Law, called the Law of Moses was given to the Nation of Israel. It was their constitution, civil and spiritual law. It was a school master as Paul said to teaching them how to obey God.(Gal. 3:24-25)
Romans 6:14 states believers in this the church age are not under the Mosaic law. "For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace." (Romans 6:14) A church is not a nation and has no civil authority to execute judgment in civil matters. However, that is exactly what the Law did for Israel. It was their system of laws. It set what was right and wrong and set penalties for disobedience.
Christians do not worship in a Temple, nor sacrifice animals which were clear commands to the Nation of Israel. This is but a brief description of the matter...but the bottom line is a church is not a nation and Christians are not under the Old Testament law.
We should understand however that the law was based on spiritual principles of God. For example: God commanded Israel to stone witches to death. The principle was that the occult was gross sin served Satan and corrupted the people. We today do not stone witches....we have no authority to do so, but we obey the principle on which the law was based in that we do not have anything to do with the occult. God separated Israel from the occult by stoning those that practiced it, but we separate ourselves from the occult by not having anything to do with it. We love the Lord and do not dishonor God or serve Satan by doing occult practices.
We do not need a law to make us obey God, we do so willingly about of respect and love for Him.
The Sabbath was given to the Nation of Israel as a special sign between them and God.(Exodus 31:17) It was not given to anyone else including believers today.
I have on my web site a FAQ that deals in some detail with the matter of whether Christians today are to keep the Sabbath. We keep the first day of the week as a day of rest and worship as the early churches did. My answer in the FAQ page explains this. You can read the article by going to http://bible-truth.org/FAQ-Sabbath.html .
Believers are grafted into the tree of Israel, but we are different than Israel being under grace or the freedom to serve God from our hearts and not by command.
Many people make the , under the Law...Paul repeated says that is wrong. Gentiles are not Jews and God has a different program for us. The local church the "ekklesia" is a group of Christians who join themselves voluntarily to serve the Lord. We follow the principles of God, but not the letter of the Law.
Galatians 3:19-25 states the law was given to Israel to prepare them for the coming of Christ. It is abolished with Christ's coming (2 Cor. 3:6-17) and it was taken away when Christ died (Col. 2:14-17). The Bible says Christians are dead to the law (Rom. 7:1-4). The law cannot condemn the Christian (Rom. 7:3).
We do not live the Christian life in order to gain righteousness, blessing, and life, but because we already possess these things in Christ. We serve Christ out of a sense of gratitude because of the salvation God has given to us, not in order to earn salvation or escape judgment.
Believers are indwelled by the Holy Spirit and He guides us by the word of God. Old Testament believers were not indwelled by the Holy Spirit as we are. The Christian's goal is to be willingly, of our own free well conformed, to the image of Christ (2 Cor. 3:18; Rom. 8:29; 13:14; Col. 3:10; Eph. 4:23-24). The O.T. law was only a shadow of Christ and of heavenly things (Heb. 8:5; 10:1; Col. 2:17; Rom. 2:20).
I hope this helps you understand the relationship that Gentile believers today have with the Law and Israel. God has a plan and way He worked with Israel and a different plan for believers today. Both the OT and NT saints are saved the same way...that is by faith and belief in God's promises. However, Israel and a church are two different institutions. If you have further questions or comments please write.
- Answer:
The House of Jacob refers to the Nation of Israel. The Bible often uses the names interchangeably, but they mean the same thing. Jacob's twelve sons are the twelve tribes of Israel. God changed Jacob's name to Israel in Genesis 32:28.
Jesus Christ is a Jew and Israelite and specifically a descendent of the tribe of Judah. God promised Israel He would give them an everlasting kingdom and that the Messiah would rule over the house of David forever. In 1 Chronicles 16:13-24 it is explained that God was making an everlasting covenant with Jacob and his children. In this passage God mentions both the names of Jacob and Israel.
Presently, Jesus of course is the Christ (Messiah) and sits on the throne of David, which is the throne of Israel. The Jews temporarily rejected Jesus as their Messiah, however that did not change God's plans, but it delayed the implementation of the kingdom. We are presently in the Church Age, and God is working with Gentiles and saving a people from them. However, there is coming a day which we call the Rapture when the Lord Jesus will return and take all believers of the church age to heaven with Him. He then will once again begin to work with the nation of Israel in the seven following years called Tribulation and also Daniel's 70th Week. (See Daniel 9:27)
God promised there would never lack a man to sit on the throne of David in 1 Kings 9:5. (Also see Isaiah 9:7)
Luke 1:32-33 proclaimed that Jesus was the promised Messiah and Savior who would sit on the throne of David forever.
Presently Christ is in heaven and holds the everlasting position as the King of the Israel. Although there is no earthly kingdom of Israel, Jesus remains as their legitimate king. (the present State of Israel does not worship God or are lead by Him) At the end of the seven year Tribulation, Jesus will return to earth and establish His kingdom and rule the earth, which was promised to the Jews. This period is called the Millennium. (Rev.20:4) At then end of the 1000 year Millennial Kingdom, God will establish a new heaven and earth and Christ will continue to sit on the throne and rule.(Rev. 21-22)
- Answer: Jesus instructed His disciples in Matthew 10:5-15 to go into the Jewish cities and preach the that the Kingdom was at Hand. v7. Jesus was presenting Himself the the Nation of Israel as their promised Messiah. He told them that if they were received by the "worthy," meaning believing Jews, "let your peace come upon it." That simply means they the news of the coming of the Messiah would be comforting to those who accepted it. If they refused the message of the coming Kingdom the disciples were to shake the dust off that house and leave it.
In Matthew 15:22, a Canaanite woman came asking for healing. Jesus said to her, "But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel." (Matthew 15:24) verse 28 records Jesus healed her because of her great faith.
However, Israel rejected Jesus as their Messiah and the Kingdom was postponed. Today we do not preach "Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand" because it is not "at hand" but as least seven years away (Daniel's 70th Week...seven years of Tribulation which comes after the Rapture.) The Old Testament dispensation of the Law given to Israel is postponed and we are presently in the dispensation of grace "If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward" (Ephesians 3:2)
Jesus in Acts 2 began this dispensation with the institution of the local church. At first all those who believed in Jesus as the Messiah were Jews, but God called Paul to be the apostle to the Gentiles and in less that a hundred years most Christians were Gentiles and that continues until today. So yes, the saving Gospel of the Jesus Christ is for everyone, Jew or Gentile. Many passages in God's word state this clear truth. Since the institution of the local church was beyond the message has been the Gospel which Paul explained.
- "Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures" (1 Corinthians 15:1-4)
Let me explain that Jesus was a Jew and came offering the Kingdom of God to the Jews. Yet, the Jew rejected Jesus as their Messiah and Savior. Many Jews did believe and were saved, but many refused to believe. Those Jew who were saved became the first Christians.
In Acts 10:1-11:18 records how the Gospel first went to the Gentiles. Cornelius, a Roman was the first Gentile saved. When the believing Jews in Jerusalem heard how he had been saved that were glad. "When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life." (Acts 11:18)
Later God called Paul to be the apostle who preached Jesus Christ to the Gentiles.
- Rom. 11:13 "For I speak to you Gentiles , inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office"
- 1 Tim. 2:7 "Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity."
- 2 Tim. 1:11 "Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles."
In Acts God says speaking of Paul and Barnabas, "Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed." (Acts 13:46-48)
Paul said, "Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also." (Romans 3:29)
So these and many other passages clearly state salvation is to both the Jew and then Gentile. Jews who believe today become Christians and part of the bride or body of Christ. They receive the promises God made to Christians....not the to Israel. Christian will be in the Kingdom, but not in the same way as Jews. A Christians in the Kingdom, the coming Millennium, will be raptured, resurrected children of God in their new bodies.
I have an article at http://bible-truth.org/myst-5.htm which explains this in greater detail.
- Answer: Double Adar is are reference to Hebrew leap year. The Hebrew calendar is based on the lunar cycle and consists of 354 days (in contrast to the solar year, which has 365 days). Therefore, if they did not occasionally have leap months, Passover could occur in a completely different season. The Jews, as opposed to simply adding a day, as we do with the Gregorian calendar, they add an entire month. This means that seven times every 19 years, there are two months of Adar.
Adar is the happiest month of the year....thus a double Adar means having double happiness and double fun. The devout Jews see this as having twice the opportunity to exercise the joy of the Lord and His blessings. It also is a time the Jews give and help each other. In other words they seek to make others happy by giving to them. A double Adar, (two months) then is seen as having twice the opportunity for giving.
Jews celebrate the Feast of Purim which commemorates God delivering the Hebrews from the plan of Haman, the Babylonian to destroy all the Jews. This is recorded in the Book of Esther. This was to happen on the 13th day of Adar (Esther 3:13). Queen Esther, a Jew discovered the plot and exposed Haman's evil plan to her husband King Ahasuerus. Ahasuerus intervened and the plot was folded. Haman and his family were hanged on the gallows he had planned for Mordechai a high ranking Jew in the king's governement. Thus the Hebrews were saved from extinction in Babylon. Mordechai and Esther then institutionalized the celebration of the Purim miracle, they ordained not only the Purim observances of Adar 14 and 15, but also the commemoration of "the month that was transformed for them from sorrow to joy, from mourning to festivity" (Esther 9:22).
- Answer: Being grafted into Israel means that God began to send the Gospel and to work with Gentiles. This was God's plan from the being, but was only revealed after Israel rejected Jesus the Messiah. [For an article that addresses this in detail go to http://www.bible-truth.org/myst-5.htm ] God began a new dispensation we refer to as the "Church Age" in which He is seeking and saving Gentiles (and Jews) which are the "body of Christ" or "body of the Messiah." (Romans 12:5; 1 Cor. 10:16, 12:12, 27; Eph. 4:12) Those saved in this dispensation have a special place in God's plans and in His coming Kingdom as the body of Christ.
Israel was God's plan to bring the Messiah to save men from their sins. God promised to Abraham that through his seed (singular) all the families of earth would be blessed.(Gen. 12:3 and Gal. 3:16).
Therefore when Israel rejected their Messiah, Jesus Christ, God's plan was to take the Gospel to the Gentiles and in a new dispensation save Gentiles who are the body and bride of Christ.(Rev. 18:23, 21:2, 9, 17)
However, God is not finished with Israel and in the coming seven year Tribulation will once again begin to work with Israel and many Jews will be saved.(Revelation 7:1f) God's plan was to reveal Himself to the world through the special nation He created which is Israel. That has not changed. The seven year Tribulation, also Daniel's 7th Week, is God finishing the dispensation of the Old Testament. Daniel said there would be 490 years to the coming of the Messiah to set up the promised kingdom to Israel, which is the Millennium that follows the Tribulation. Presently, only 483 years of Daniel's prophecy has been fulfilled leaving one week or seven years till it is finished. Therefore, the dispensation of the Church Age is God grafting into His plan the salvation of Gentiles and saving the body of Christ who are separate from Israel with different promises and position.
As saved Gentiles we understand that God's plan has always been to bring salvation through Jesus Christ, a Jew of the nation of Israel. We do not make light of Israel and realize they are God's special people to whom He is not finished working yet. We have an inseparable connection to Israel and God's plan. See Romans 11:25-27. Gentiles can be grateful that God has grafted us into His plan which is Israel and given us special promises He has not given to Israel.
- Answer: Actually there are no ten lost tribes and it is a myth. The Assyrians took Israel,the ten northern tribes, in to captivity into Assyria ?over a twenty year period ending in 721 BC. Later the Babylonians attacked Judah the two southern tribes and they too went into captivity in Babylon in 721.
- Seventy years later (Jer. 25:11). In 539 BC Cyrus ordered a decreed to allow the Jews to return to their homeland. About 50,000 returned under the leadership of Zerubbabel which was a small number compared to the many in Babylon. (See Ezra 2:64-65) The Bible does not identify the Jews who returned by tribe. It is logical to assumed Jews from all the tribes were with Zerubbabel. Many of the Jews who were living in Babylon and in other countries were living in comfortable houses, they were prosperous and they were glad to stay right where they were and refused to return.
- Under Ezra the foundation of the temple as laid, but the temple not finished. Only about two thousand Jews returned with him.
- The later Persian king Artaxerxer I in 457 BC allowed Nehemiah to return and rebuild the walls and temple.
- The Bible does not say how many returned with Nehemiah, but most think it was a small number.
- The Bible never mentions any lost tribes. The ten tribes were in Babylonia when the two southern tribes arrived. Those who returned are not identified by tribe because clearly Jews from all the captive tribes returned. The New Testament does not mention tribes accept in Heb. 8:8 where God says He will establish a new covenant with Israel and Judah. Seventy five times the NT uses the name Israel or children of Israel to identify the Jews.
- So.....there were not lost tribes, only unfaithful Jews who remained in Babylonia and were assimilated into that region. They were not physically lost, but spiritually as they thought nothing of God's promises to them as a nation.
- The idea of ten lost tribes first appeared in the apocryphal books in the 7th and 8th Centuries. DNA studies have refuted any connection between modern-day ethnic Jews and most of the ethnic groups discussed below as possible Lost Tribe candidates.
- The ten lost tribes myth is the found among the cults and false churches and teachers.
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