The Place Of Israel In The Last Days, Part Two

THE PLACE OF ISRAEL IN THE LAST DAYS, PART TWO

ROMANS 11:1-36

THE NATION OF ISRAEL IS GOING TO PLAY AN IMPORTANT PART IN THE YEARS PRIOR TO THE RAPTURE, AND THE YEARS PRIOR TO THE GLORIOUS APPEARING OF OUR LORD. WE BEGAN TO LOOK AT SOME OF THE ROLE ISRAEL WILL PLAY LAST WEEK AND WE WILL CONTINUE TO DO SO NOW.

A CONFUSING ELEMENT IN THIS STUDY IS HOW TO SEPARATE THE FACTS GIVEN AS TO WHETHER THEY RELATE TO THE RAPTURE OR THE END TIMES. ANOTHER ISSUE IS HOW TO INTERPRET THE PROPHECY?

WE ARE FOLLOWING A PRE-MILLENNIAL VIEW, WHICH ALLOWS US TO INTERPRET THE BIBLE IN A LITERAL MANNER. THIS MEANS THAT WHEN THE BIBLE IS SPEAKING ABOUT ISRAEL IT IS LITERALLY SPEAKING ABOUT THE NATION, AND WE DO NOT SPIRITUALIZE IT AS SOME BELIEFS DO.

THE KEY ISSUE THAT WE WISH TO ADDRESS IS JESUS’ STATEMENT IN MATTHEW 24:32-35:

MATTHEW 24:32-35:

“NOW LEARN THIS LESSON FROM THE FIG TREE: AS SOON AS ITS TWIGS GET TENDER AND ITS LEAVES COME OUT, YOU KNOW THAT SUMMER IS NEAR. 33 EVEN SO, WHEN YOU SEE ALL THESE THINGS, YOU KNOW THAT IT IS NEAR, RIGHT AT THE DOOR. 34 TRULY I TELL YOU, THIS GENERATION WILL CERTAINLY NOT PASS AWAY UNTIL ALL THESE THINGS HAVE HAPPENED. 35 HEAVEN AND EARTH WILL PASS AWAY, BUT MY WORDS WILL NEVER PASS AWAY.

WHAT DOES JESUS MEAN WHEN HE SAYS “THIS GENERATION WILL CERTAINLY NOT PASS AWAY UNTIL ALL THESE THINGS HAVE HAPPENED.”

PEOPLE WANT TO INTREPRET THIS IN LIGHT OF ISRAEL’S NECOMING A NATION IN 1948, AND WANT TO SAY THAT IT MEANS THAT THIS GENERATION WILL NOT PASS AWAY UNTIL THE RAPTURE, BUT JESUS STATEMENT HERE IS ABOUT HIS GLORIOUS APPEARING, WHICH HAPPENS AT THE TIME OF THE MILLENNIUM. AS LONG AS WE HEED JESUS’ WARNING.

THE RE-ESTABLISHING OF ISRAEL AS A NATION, HOWEVER, IS GOING TO SET IN PLACE SOME OF THE CONDITIONS NECESSARY FOR THE RAPTURE, AND TO LOOK FOR THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH IN THE NEAR FUTURE IS NOT WRONG AS LONG AS WE HEED JESUS’ WARNING.

MATTHEW 24:36: “BUT ABOUT THAT DAY OR HOUR NO ONE KNOWS, NOT EVEN THE ANGELS IN HEAVEN, NOR THE SON, BUT ONLY THE FATHER

THREE COVENANTS ARE GIVEN IN SCRIPTURE CONCERNING ISRAEL AND IT’S RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.

1. THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT

2. THE DAVIDIC COVENANT

3. THE NEW COVENANT

EACH OF THESE COVENANTS PLAY AN IMPORTANT PART IN IDENTIFYING ISRAEL’S FUTURE ROLE IN THE END TIMES.

THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT ESTABLISHES THE EVERLASTING NATURE OF GOD’S RELATIONSHIP WITH ISRAEL AND THE JEWISH PEOPLE. THERE HAS NOT ALWAYS BEEN A JEWISH NATION BUT THERE HAS ALWAYS BEEN A JEWISH PEOPLE. ONE OF THE GREAT MIRACLES OF OUR DAY HAS BEEN THE SURVIVAL OF THE JEWISH IDENTITY. WHILE IN CONSTANT VIOLENT STRUGGLES WITH NEIGHBORING COUNTRIES, TERRORISM, AND THE HOLOCAUST OF WW II, THE JEWISH PEOPLE HAVE ALWAYS SURVIVED.

IN THE END TIMES THE NATION OF ISRAEL WILL BE ESTABLISHED, WITH A MASSIVE REGATHERING OF ITS PEOPLE, WHO BELIEVE IN JESUS AS MESSIAH, AND HE WILL BE THEIR RULER.

ISAIAH 66:22: AS THE NEW HEAVENS AND THE NEW EARTH THAT I MAKE WILL ENDURE BEFORE ME,” DECLARES THE LORD, “SO WILL YOUR NAME AND DESCENDANTS ENDURE.

TODAY WE LOOK AT THE OTHER TWO COVENANTS.

POINT ONE: THE DAVIDIC COVENANT

WHILE THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT GUARANTEED AN EVERLASTING RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GOD AND THE HEBREW PEOPLE, THE DAVIDIC COVENANT FOCUSES ON THE LEADER OF THAT NATION.

SINCE THE TIME OF SOLOMON THE UNITED NATION OF ISRAEL HAS NOT KNOWN A KING. IT DOES NOT HAVE A KING TODAY. BUT THE NATION THAT JESUS IS SPEAKING ABOUT IN MATTHEW 24, IS A NATION OF ISRAEL THAT HAS A KING.

THE COVENANT IS GIVEN TO US IN 2 SAMUEL 7:12-16:

2 SAMUEL 7:12-16:

WHEN YOUR DAYS ARE OVER AND YOU REST WITH YOUR ANCESTORS, I WILL RAISE UP YOUR OFFSPRING TO SUCCEED YOU, YOUR OWN FLESH AND BLOOD, AND I WILL ESTABLISH HIS KINGDOM. 13 HE IS THE ONE WHO WILL BUILD A HOUSE FOR MY NAME, AND I WILL ESTABLISH THE THRONE OF HIS KINGDOM FOREVER. 14 I WILL BE HIS FATHER, AND HE WILL BE MY SON. WHEN HE DOES WRONG, I WILL PUNISH HIM WITH A ROD WIELDED BY MEN, WITH FLOGGINGS INFLICTED BY HUMAN HANDS. 15 BUT MY LOVE WILL NEVER BE TAKEN AWAY FROM HIM, AS I TOOK IT AWAY FROM SAUL, WHOM I REMOVED FROM BEFORE YOU. 16 YOUR HOUSE AND YOUR KINGDOM WILL ENDURE FOREVER BEFORE ME; YOUR THRONE WILL BE ESTABLISHED FOREVER.’

THIS PASSAGE IS OBVIOUSLY TALKING ABOUT SOLOMON. WE KNOW THIS BECAUSE IT IDENTIFIES DAVID’S SUCCESSOR AS THE ONE WHO WILL BUILD A HOUSE FOR MY NAME.

SOMETHING IMPORTANT IN THIS PASSAGE THOUGH IS THAT SOLOMON’S OFFSPRING ARE NOT PART OF THIS COVENANT. V.16 SAYS THAT “YOUR THRONE” WILL BE ESTABLISHED FOREVER. THIS MEANS THAT WHILE THE THRONE OF DAVID AND HIS DESCENDANTS WILL BE ESTABLISHED FOREVER, IT WILL NOT BE DONE THROUGH THE LINE OF SOLOMON.