Posts tagged ‘jew’
Islamic Terrorist Phone Transcripts
It is interesting to me how the world’s leaders continue to use Jerusalem as this huge pawn in their game of “king of the mountain.” Jerusalem is God’s Holy City and I doubt seriously that He will allow this to go on much longer. His patience thus far has been remarkable, but if we understand the Bible correctly, we know where this is all heading.
Problems with Dispensationalism, Part 2 (God’s Sovereignty)
One of the constant hammerings that Dispensationalism takes is the charge that it impugns God’s sovereignty. It apparently does this in a number of ways, but chiefly, it is alleged that Dispensationalism teaches that man has continually thwarted God’s plans. Here is a quote from Bernie Gillespie’s site, in which he wrote an article about what he believes to be the problems with Dispensationalism:
“[Dispensationalism] impugns the sovereignty of God. It teaches that most all of God’s plan(s) to save Mankind failed because it was thwarted by human inability. That’s why dispensationalism teaches that the Church age was a surprise to the prophets. They did not anticipate that when Israel failed to receive Christ that God would turn to the Gentiles. The truth is, the Old Testament does teach that salvation would come to the Gentiles. And the failure of Israel was not a surprise to God, but on the contrary, totally expected. He anticipated all Humanity to fall short of His glory. That is why He determined to the save the world, both Jew and Gentile, slave and free, male and female, in and through Jesus Christ.”(1)
Of course, the tragedy here is that nowhere does Dispensationalism advocate that God has failed…ever. Mr. Gillespie makes the same mistake others have made by assuming that God’s plan always equals His salvation. Gillespie also assumes that he is correct in understanding God’s current dealings with Israel; that God has completely and forever rejected them and in its place, created the Church. This is incorrect and what it says by implication is that God did fail. Even though He created the nation of Israel, and made many promises to them that He said He would never break, it would appear as though He did break those promises, because according to the Covenant Theologian, Israel failed, so God with finality did what He said He would never do; gave them up. Mr. Gillespie’s sentiment with respect to God and Israel is incorrect. Paul makes this perfectly clear in Romans 9 – 11; something that Covenant Theologians have a very difficult time explaining.
Gillespie further confuses the issue with his apparent limited understanding of the Church, believing as he does that the Church was actually revealed in the Old Testament. He believes this because as he points out, the prophets knew that the gospel would eventually be extended to the Gentiles. The truth of the matter though is actually different than what Mr. Gillespie believes. The “mystery” of the Church in its entirety was revealed in the New Testament by Paul. Gillespie is taking two completely different topics (1. the gospel to the Gentiles, and 2. the Church) and treating them as if they are one and the same, however, he has not shown that they are one in the same. That is because he cannot, since Scripture is clear that any aspect of the Church was revealed only by Paul and no one before him.
On the plus side, Gillespie is correct when he states that “the Old Testament does teach that salvation would come to the Gentiles.” Certainly there is no question about that, nor should there be. That is plain from numerous places in Scripture (cf. Genesis 8:20-21; 14:18; 17:4; 22:18; Leviticus 19:33ff; Jonah 3:1; Genesis 17:4; 22:18; Psalms 2:8; Isaiah 42:1, 6; 49:6; cf. Romans 11:1ff; Ephesians 2:11ff). This in no way coincides with the revelation of the Church.
Not one of the Old Testament prophets knew of this entity called the Church, nor did they know how the Church was designed to work spiritually. Paul is the one who claims to be the revealer of that mystery (cf. Ephesians 3:1-6). He makes special mention of the fact that “This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel,” (Ephesians 3:6).
In the verse immediately prior to the one quoted, referring to this same mystery, Paul unequivocally states, “the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit,” (emphasis added). Here then, we see that Gillespie is in disagreement with Paul. While Paul would agree that the prophets foretold of the extension of the gospel to Gentiles, he would unequivocally disagree that these same prophets knew of the Church. In fact, there is no reason to believe that the prophets understood that the gospel would be offered to Gentiles outside of Israel. That was being done then, in essence, though in a very limited fashion. Since Israel was supposed to be the light of the world, it is natural to conclude that these prophets likely thought in terms of a greater number of Gentiles coming to salvation through the nation of Israel. They had no idea that God’s plans and purposes included a new entity called the Church. None whatsoever.
Because of the obvious nature of Paul’s claims, it is difficult to understand how Mr. Gillespie (or anyone else for that matter), would arrive at the conclusion that one of the main issue at hand between Covenant Theology and Dispensationalism has to do with the gospel being extended to the Gentiles. This is simply not the case in God’s sovereign plan. The gospel was always intended to be extended to Gentiles, as stated. The mystery that Paul reveals goes much further than simply the gospel being extended to the Gentiles, in which this new entity called the Church, would be composed of Jewish and Gentile individuals as fellow heirs, outside of the nation of Israel. This is all part and parcel of God’s sovereignty. He will accomplish His purposes in all of His Creation.
This leads us to this extremely important point. Based on the fact that God is sovereign and according to the passages like Deuteronomy 32:39; Job 42:2; Psalm 2; 22:27-28; Proverbs 16:9; 19:21, and a host of others, God will bring about His purposes, it stands to reason then that man has two choices. They are 1) to voluntarily, with fear and humility bow to God, delivering to Him all that you posses, and all that you are in order for His will to be accomplished in and through you, or 2) resist God, attempting to keep for yourself all that you possess, and all that you are, but His will is still going to be accomplished through you, whether you like it or not.
I believe this is of supreme importance. God’s will is going to be completed and we can be carried along by the scruff of our necks, kicking and screaming, all the while thinking that we are our own person. We can do that, or we can humbly submit to Him, so that we are lining ourselves up with His will. In doing the latter, we place ourselves in the place of blessing God has allotted for us.
All the people who choose hell as their final destination by ignoring God’s saving grace, still do God’s will, though they may think that they are doing their own. This was the case with Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar and countless other individuals who believed that they lived their life, doing what they wanted to do, accomplishing what they wanted to accomplish. This is actually the furthest thing from the truth. God used them for His purposes and plans.
Everyone who has ever lived, is living or will ever live, does what God wants them to do. This is not mere “puppetry,” absolving man from any responsibility for his crimes and sin. This is God’s sovereignty in action, fully in control of all aspects of His entire Creation. How could it possibly be otherwise, if we are going to say that God is sovereign?
Each person has a choice, but the choice is not whether they will or will not do God’s will. The choice is how will they do His will? Will it be done while all the time believing that they control their own destiny, or will be done with the heart that is glad to give up their own life in order that His will be done in and through them knowingly?
No one is in reality their own god, even though they may come to believe it. God’s purposes will not falter or fail. His sovereignty has always been on display, but the problem is that some simply do not recognize this truth.
This will all be made clear for each and every individual – whether spirit being, or human being. All will acknowledge that God is fully and absolutely sovereign, by Himself, with no one who has ever been, or will ever be a threat to His sovereignty.
Dispensationalism has no problem whatsoever understanding that God is fully sovereign over everything which He created. This is overriding truth and highest purpose of all that He accomplishes. His sovereignty is what Creation was made to recognize and understand. It is in voluntarily recognizing and understanding His sovereignty that glory is given to Him.
May we endeavor to glorify Him more and more each and every day while we live. May we seek His face, in order to understand the comprehensive quality of His sovereignty. May we glorify Him through our adoration of Him, because He is sovereign.
God reigns. He reigns supreme. He will always reign supreme. There is no other that deserves our love, our adoration and our worship. He is God, the Sovereign Most High. Holy is His Name and may He receive blessing and honor from all that we do, think and say.
(1) http://www.inchristalone.org/PDFiles/Everlasting.PDF
The Middle East Madness
Recently, President Obama gave a speech in Cairo, in which he seemed to ignore the character of specific nations with respect to how they view Israel. The difficulty is that what President Obama attempted to hide during his election campaign has now come to the fore. It is apparent that Obama is a Muslim and prefers to cater to the Muslim world, even if it means tossing Israel under the bus, so to speak.
For many decades, Israel has only had the United States to rely on for support in her war against terrorists. This will obviously be changing now that President Obama has taken the reigns of this country. It was not too many years ago that it seemed a bit rare to hear much about the trouble in the Middle East. Within the last few years, things seem to have taken a turn in which the situation has ramped up. The rhetoric continues to fly from both sides, and in spite of the concessions made by Israel, it appears that the Arab world will have none of it.
To the Arab world, the fact that Israel has a presence in the Middle East at all is not something appreciated or wanted. In fact, it is obvious that if Israel could be kicked out of the Middle East altogether, most, if not all in the Arab world would be ecstatic about that. With President Obama’s vision for the Middle East and his insistence that a two-state solution is the only solution, with Jerusalem being split into two parts as well, the Arab world may get its wish.
Of course this begs the question of what God wants and will achieve. Many Christians today are under the unfortunate delusion that God finished with Israel years ago; in A.D. 70 to be exact. This was the time when Rome stormed Jerusalem and destroyed it, taking with it the Temple that Herod designed. True to Christ’s prophetic words, not one stone was left standing on itself (cf. Matthew 24). The Romans removed each stone to get at the gold.
It was this event that was the fulfillment of what Christ indicated would occur and it was this event that many believe is where God permanently parted ways with Israel. These folks state unequivocally that Israel is done; over. God has no plan or purpose for Israel any longer and has now switched His attention to the Church. Of course this assumes a couple of things:
- That God will break His promises (cf. Abrahamic, Land and Davidic Covenants of the Old Testament), thereby making Him a liar
- God has no previous knowledge that Israel would get to the point where He would have to create another entity at all
Certainly, God is not a liar. He does not break His covenants and since the Abrahamic Covenant (as well as the Land and Davidic) is unconditional in nature, there is no way that these covenants could be broken unless God broke them. The many anti-Zionist voices today cry louder and louder at the humanity of lives lost in the Middle East conflict that has been boiling below the surface for years. Unfortunately, these same folks seem to have absolutely no feelings for the Israelis involved in the conflict; only for the Arabs, or Palestinians. This form of anti-Semitism is just as wrong today as it was during Hitler’s day. Anti-Semitism is never wrong, yet for the anti-Zionist, what matters to them is that the Palestinians are treated fairly.
People can do all they can do for either side, but the truth remains that ultimately, it is God who has decided. He certainly does not need anyone’s help to bring about His dictates. He has gotten the world this far, based on His prophetic council from the past. Will He continue to work in the midst of that situation, fighting for His people, His land and His Holy city, or will He allow it to take “its own course” (whatever that means)?
If God has no further plans for Israel, then those who stand with her are wasting their time and breath. If on the other hand, God still stands with Israel, then all those who stand against her are in actuality standing against God. It is obviously important to know what the Bible teaches about Israel’s future, if there is one at all.
Certainly, the Bible teaches one thing, and either those who believe that God is done with Israel are correct in their understanding, or those who believe that God still stands with Israel are correct in the way they interpret Scripture. Time will certainly reveal all things. Regardless of how vociferous people get in their support for one side or the other, God is the final Determiner of what occurs in that area of the world, just like He is the final Determiner of what takes place in every other part of the world.
The United States now has a new president; one who seems to be fully enamored by the failed socialistic policies of other countries. He appears also to be a Muslim, fully in favor of those who fight against Israel. The reality though is that God place President Obama in his current position, so it would appear that God has plans and purposes that He will accomplish through our president. I pray that all of God’s plans become a firm reality and I look forward to seeing how things will unfold.
StudyGrowKnow 