“Not a word failed of any good thing which the LORD had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass.”
(Joshua 21:45, NKJV)
In this Manna we investigate if today’s occupation of the land Israel by the Jewish nation, as well as the existence of the state of Israel, has any theological meaning in terms of the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy within God’s greater plan of redemption for the world. To make it immediately topical – Do we have absolute certainty from the Word that we can throw our full weight behind the Zionist vision?
In the light of the previous teachings we believe we have clearly shown that the old covenant that had been made with the Jews was part of a different dispensation, which was discontinued in the new covenant. Thus, AND THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT KEY, we need to read the old covenant/Testament in the light of the New Testament. [It could be said that much of our theological nonsense stems from accepting the entire Bible as equal, and interpreting it as such. In the Old Testament we just quickly swap Cyrus’ name and fill in our own, as if it had been said about us, or take certain laws from the Old Testament and read it outside of its fulfillment in Jesus. Various deceptive theologies are built on this, and many Christians hold onto empty promises which God had never given to them. The sting to this naive approach to the Bible is that we quite comfortably leave out the verses which we don’t like, like the fact that we need to stone our daughter if she is no longer a virgin when she gets married (Deut 22:20-21) or that we need to stone our sons when they are disobedient and rebellious (Deut 21:18-21).]
1 Cor 10:1-11 carefully explains that the entire old covenant had been fulfilled in the new covenant, and have to be read as such. The Darby Translation puts it as follows – “Now all these things happened to them as types, and have been written for our admonition.” (v 11). The English Standard Version says it was written for our “instruction”. The temple and especially the ark of the covenant was, in the old covenant, a manifestation of God’s presence. This was replaced by Jesus, who brought the covenant to our midst (John 1:14). In the olden days God had chosen many ways to speak to the people, and now speaks through His Son (Heb 1:1-2). Like all the types and shadows of the old covenant had been fulfilled in the new covenant (like physical circumcision which became spiritual circumcision, or becoming born again) in Jesus the Christ, so the role of the Jews and the land of Israel was likewise fulfilled, and thus redefined.
The land which had been promised to Abraham (Gen 12:1; 115:18; 17:1-8) was a symbol for a specific covenant, WHICH LATER HAD TO BE FULFILLED IN JESUS. Abraham was not so much on his way to the inheritance of the physical land of Israel, but was, according to Heb 11:10-16, on his way to “the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God … These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country.”
Physical land as inheritance? No way.
Read the Scripture from Joshua, quoted at the beginning of this teaching, again. All prophecies concerning Israel “came to pass”.
- Sela: Ask God which Scriptures from the Old Testament you bended and appropriated in good faith.
- Read: Deut 3 Joel 3; Ezek 29
- Memorize: Joel 3:16-18 (typologically very important for this teaching)
For a deeper understanding: Read Stephen Sizer’s article at www.israelnews.com/view.asp?ID=379
