Second Coming of Jesus

THE TRUTH ABOUT THE "RAPTURE"

Let me give you Bible PROOF right from the start why the rapture teaching HAS to be a false teaching. We are going to use a lesson from Jesus Christ Himself to show you why the rapture theory has to be a false one.

In Matthew 13, Jesus tells the disciples a couple of parables. One of them being the wheat and the tares. Now have a real good think about the following verses:

Matthew 13:24-30 ...'Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together FIRST the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.'

When we come across such clear Bible verses as these, we should not need to debate the issue, because God has left no doubt what the truth is. These verses alone show the rapture theory to be false. Notice that Jesus says to leave the wheat (children of God) and the tares (the wicked) TOGETHER UNTIL THE HARVEST. But the harvest IS the "rapture" you may say? Well, if the rapture is the harvest, then this world must continue after the harvest right? Because that is what the rapture theory teaches, that the world continues for at least another 7 years AFTER the church has been taken. Look at the following scripture:

Matthew 13:38-40 ...'The field is the world; the good seed are the children of
the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; THE HARVEST IS THE END OF THE WORLD; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.'

So we have a number of very clear points here. The church (wheat) and the wicked (tares) are not separated until the harvest. The harvest happens at the end of the world when Jesus comes at the second coming with His angels. The angels gather the wicked FIRST.

Those who believe the rapture teaching are waiting for Jesus to take them away from this world FIRST, before the end. And yet the above scripture clearly shows that the church will continue to stay on this earth until the end. And the lost will be gathered first, not the church. Proof that the rapture teaching is false and that there is no separation until the end of the world.

WHERE DID THE RAPTURE TEACHING COME FROM?

During the great Protestant reformation, the reformers believed and taught the "historical" interpretation of the Bible and prophecy, especially concerning the antichrist. They clearly saw from the Bible and history that the antichrist was a religious system of apostasy and great persecution, rather than a future single individual. And from the evidence, it was clear that this antichrist system was none other than the Papal Church of Rome (Roman Catholic Church).

 

 

This brought about the counter reformation from Rome and a new society was established in the mid 1500's called the Society of Jesus (Order of the Jesuits), led by Ignatius Loyola. Through this Jesuit order, new interpretations of Bible prophecy were introduced, placing the emphasis on futurism, rather than the accepted historical interpretation. And of course with these new teachings of futurism, the Papal church was able to divert the minds of the people away from the Roman Catholic Church being the true antichrist, to a future individual who would arise AFTER the church was "raptured" away.

They achieved this by changing the true historical teaching of the 1260 year prophecy of Daniel and Revelation where the saints were persecuted by the antichrist power (fulfilled between 538AD - 1798AD, and known as the Dark Ages where the Papal Church persecuted God's people who read the Bible for themselves) to a literal 1260 days (3 1/2 years) and placed that time period in the future. They also changed the 70 week prophecy of Daniel, by taking the last 7 years and placing them, again, in the future and saying that the church would be "raptured" away before this 7 year period of tribulation, during which time the antichrist would rise. Even though there is no Biblical support whatsoever for taking the last 7 years of the 70 weeks prophecy of Daniel and placing them into the end times.

The main aim of these new false interpretations was to divert people away from the truth that the Roman Catholic Church is the antichrist system that the Bible speaks of. And they were successful, as these false Jesuit teachings dominate in the mainstream Protestant churches today.

IS "RAPTURE" IN THE BIBLE?

Let's take a look at the very name "rapture". You will not find this word anywhere in the Bible.

 Not only is the word rapture not in the Bible, most Christians who believe in this teaching can't even agree as to whether they will be taken before, during, or after the seven year tribulation. There is just utter confusion on this, when there shouldn't be, as God's Word is very clear on it. It's a false teaching and in this study we will show you why.

To say that Christ will rapture away the church goes against the very teaching of the end times taught in the New Testament. And as we take a look through some Bible verses, you will see that the second coming, the resurrection, the harvest and the end of the world happen during the ONE SAME EVENT. There is no mention at all of any sudden taking away of the church before the end of the world.

The word 'rapture' is based on the words 'caught up' in the Bible verses following in Thessalonians:

1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 ...'For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.'

Now if we study the above verses IN CONTEXT, we will see another description of the second coming in Chapter 5 vs 2 ... "For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night." ... This thief in the night description is also used by the rapture supporters. But if we take a look at another Bible passage that talks about Jesus coming like a thief in the night, we can gain a TRUE understanding of it:

2 Peter 3:10 ...'But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.'

Wow! Bible proof once more that the rapture teaching with a following 7 year tribulation period is a false teaching! Look at what it says. Yes, the Lord WILL come like a thief in the night, but what happens AT THE SAME TIME? "the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.". No rapture and certainly no life continues AFTER Jesus returns like a thief, because it's the end of the world!

So what is the Bible getting at when it tells us that Jesus will return like a thief? Again we need to study IN CONTEXT, rather than take a verse hear and there. Look again at 1 Thessalonians 5:2-4:

1 Thessalonians 5:2-4 ...'For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.'

So what happens during the coming of Jesus as a thief? SUDDEN DESTRUCTION! And what does the above verses confirm concerning the church? THAT THE DAY OF THE LORD WILL NOT BE AS A THIEF IN THE NIGHT to the church, because we will have been watching and waiting for Him. So to apply the thief in the night verses to the church being raptured away is wrong. But the following verses confirm who Jesus comes as a thief for:

John 10:10 ...'The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.'

Matthew 24:43 ...'But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.'

Revelation 3:3 ...'Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt NOT watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.'

Revelation 16:15 ...'Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.'

Do you see a clear theme here? Friends, you have the amazing Bible truth right there! Jesus is NOT coming as a thief for the church. He is coming as a thief for the lost! For those who will not be expecting Him to return. Think about it. Would we WANT to see a thief? No. So who is it that wouldn't want to see Jesus "as a thief"? The lost! And when He does come as a thief, He will destroy the wicked and the earth will come to an END, which 2 Peter 3:10 confirms.

PAROUSIA AND APOKALUPSIS

Those who believe in a rapture say that the Greek word "parousia" refers to the secret coming of Jesus with the rapturing of the church and that the Greek word "apokalupsis" refers to the visible glorious coming of Jesus in power seven years later. So they believe from these Greek words that Christ will return in two phases, separated by the 7 year tribulation. The problem is, we have already PROVEN from the Bible that there is no separation between the church and the wicked until the END OF THE WORLD. The rapture supporters also teach that in middle of this seven year period, the antichrist will reign. This is nothing but Jesuit false doctrine to take people's eyes off the Roman Catholic Church being the true Bible antichrist. But let's take a quick look at "parousia" and "apokalupsis", and what we will show you is that BOTH are used to describe the SAME second coming.

Paul uses the word "parousia" in the well known so called "rapture chapter" of 1 Thessalonians 4, which we have discussed above, when speaking of the coming of Christ and our gathering together unto Him. But Paul then shows that this "parousia" will destroy the man of sin; the Antichrist ... "whom the Lord shall destroy with the brightness of his coming [parousia]." 2 Thessalonians 2:8. So we have a problem. Paul is saying that it is DURING the "parousia" of Christ that the man of sin will be destroyed. And yet those who hold to the rapture teaching say that the man of sin will reign AFTER the "parousia". And will not be destroyed until the physical "apokalupsis" coming of Christ.

"Apokalupsis" [revelation] is also used in a way that indicates it is NOT a separate coming from the time the believers are gathered up. Peter said in 1 Peter 1:13 ..."be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation [apokalupsis] of Jesus Christ;" Now why would Christians be exhorted to continue hoping to the end of the world for the grace brought through the revelation of Jesus Christ if their real hope was a rapture seven years before the revelation? Do you see the problems with this teaching? I hope so.

These following verses which give Matthew and Luke's account of the same event prove that the words "parousia" and "apokalupsis" do refer to the SAME ONE COMING OF CHRIST. In Matthew 24:37 it says ..."But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming [parousia] of the Son of man be." ... And the same account in Luke 17:26, 30 says ... "As it was in the days of Noah ... Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed [apokalupsis]." This is how we are to find out the TRUTH. We need to compare scripture with scripture.

So why are the two Greek words used? It's quite simple. Parousia means "presence", a VISIBLE return. And Apokalupsis means "to reveal", a REVEALING OF THE TRUTH. So to turn these two words into two separate comings make no sense whatsoever. They both describe the ONE event, the physical, visible, loud, fiery second coming of Christ, in which the truth will be REVEALED!!

LEFT BEHIND?

Another popular false teaching which is taught alongside and is used to support the rapture teaching is the left behind doctrine. This has become so popular that NOVELS have been written about it, selling multiple millions of copies. And yet, along with the rapture teaching, it can EASILY be proven false from the simple Word of our Awesome Creator and Saviour. So let us do that straight away.

Luke 17:36-37 ...'Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.'

So those who support the rapture teaching believe that the one taken is the one raptured to heaven, as you can gather from the picture, and the one left behind is the one that goes through the 7 year tribulation after the church is raptured. Some even believing that the one left behind gets a second chance at salvation, which is a VERY dangerous teaching.

Now if you read Luke 17 in context, you will see that Jesus is describing His physical, visible second coming. And during this event He says that between two people in the field, one will be taken and one will be left. Now remember what we discussed at the very beginning of this page? We proved that it is only at the end of the world that this separation takes place. So from that we know, this event in Luke is the ONE coming of Christ which marks the end of the world. Now notice what else it says in Luke 17 above:

"WHERE LORD?"

The disciples ask "where Lord". Why are thy asking this? Do they need to know where the one left in the field is? No. They want to know where the one TAKEN has gone. And look at Jesus' response ... "Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together." ... Now the word eagles in the original language can also mean VULTURES. And where do vultures gather? Where there is a DEAD BODY!

Job 39:27-30 ...'Doth the eagle mount up at thy command, and make her nest on high? She dwelleth and abideth on the rock, upon the crag of the rock, and the strong place. From thence she seeketh the prey, and her eyes behold afar off. Her young ones also suck up blood: and where the slain are, there is she.'

You see, the one taken is the lost and will be destroyed, and the one left behind will be saved, just like Noah was the one left behind and saved, while the wicked were TAKEN by the flood and destroyed. And contrary to belief, Lot was the one left behind and saved and the wicked in Sodom were "taken" and destroyed.

And we know this also because Jesus said that the angels will gather the wicked FIRST to be destroyed (Matthew 13:30)

The whole message of what Jesus was giving was for us to be watching and waiting for His return. His ONE AND ONLY return. So that we will not be "taken" by surprise and His second coming ends up being "like a thief" to us. And what does this false Jesuit teaching of the rapture and the left behind teaching do? It causes believers to "relax", thinking that they will not go through the tribulation that is to come and maybe even get a second chance after the church is so called "raptured". This is a teaching from the enemy friends and goes against the very teaching of Jesus that we need to be PREPARED, READY, WATCHING, WAITING for His return!

Luke 13:25 ...'When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are.'

THE END OF THE WORLD

Matthew 28:20 ...'lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.'

Interesting statement don't you think? Why would Jesus promise us that He would be with us until the end of the world, if He was going to rapture away His people BEFORE the end of the world?

John 6:40 ...'And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.'

John 6:44 ...'No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.'

John 11:24 ...'Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.'

John 12:48 ...'He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.'

The separation takes place at the end of the world, NOT before. We are resurrected on the last day, NOT before. We receive our judgment and reward on the last day, NOT before. Friends, this is the BIBLE TRUTH. Please heed the Word of the LORD, not the teachings of man!

This Post is taken from the website at the bottom:
 http://www.endtimes-bibleprophecy.com/page26.htm

 

Israel in the End Times

One of the great deceptions that the enemy has brought about concerning Bible prophecy is the teaching that we need to look to the nation of Israel for the fulfillment of Bible end times prophecy. And if you search for end times in the search engines, you will find that the majority of websites you click on will be focused on Israel. But on this page you will find the truth about Israel in the end times, and you will see that these people have their eyes fixed in the wrong direction.

Please remember as you study this subject of Israel in the end times, that God's promises to Israel were conditional upon them following and keeping His commandments and accepting Christ Jesus as their Saviour. Take a look at the following Bible verses:

Exodus 19:5-6 ...'Now therefore, IF ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, THEN ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.'

1 Kings 6:12-13 ...'Concerning this house which thou art in building, IF thou wilt walk in my statutes, and execute my judgments, and keep all my commandments to walk in them, THEN I will perform my word with thee, which I spake unto David thy father.'

1 Kings 9:6-7 ...'BUT IF ye shall at all turn from following me, ye or your children, and will not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them: THEN will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people.'

Jeremiah 18:7-10 ...' At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; if that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; if it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.'

Do you see? IF you obey me, THEN I will keep my covenant with you. But if you do not obey Me, then I will REPENT of the good I promised. Conditional!

And we all know that the Jewish nation continued to sin against God and rejected Christ Jesus as their saviour! Therefore BREAKING the "everlasting covenant" which would only remain as an everlasting covenant through obedience.

Now there is something that Jesus told the Jews through one of His parables which also helps us to understand what would happen to the Jewish nation. Have a good read of the parable of the vineyard in Luke 20:9-16. Here you will see Jesus giving a story about a vineyard owner (God) going away and leaving his vineyard (God's kingdom on earth) to 'husbandmen' (the Jews) to take care of it and 'bare fruit' (expand God's kingdom). And while the owner was away, he sends 'servants' (prophets) to see how things are and collect the 'fruit'. But the husbandmen beat the servants and sent them away empty handed (The Jews by and large rejected the prophets). The the owner (God) sends his son (Jesus Christ). And the husbandmen KILL the son (Jews have Jesus killed). And what did Jesus say would happen to the husbandmen (the Jews) after doing all these things? They would be destroyed (destruction of Jerusalem in AD70) and the vineyard (kingdom of God) would be GIVEN TO OTHERS (the Gentiles, or anyone who accepted Jesus Christ as their Saviour).

Now look at how the Jews reacted to this parable: Acts 20:16 ...'And when they heard it, they said, God forbid.' ... Meaning they KNEW that Jesus was saying THEY would be destroyed and the kingdom would be TAKEN OFF THEM AND GIVEN TO ANOTHER PEOPLE. And this is EXACTLY what happened!

This is so important, because you will not reach the truth about the end times until you understand the role of "Israel" in endtime Bible prophecy.

It's interesting to find out where this focus on the nation of Israel came from. All this hype about Israel in theend times came from a man called Hal Lindsey, who wrote books in the 1980's proclaiming that the focus of the end times would be in Israel, including a literal battle of armageddon in Israel. In these books he proclaimed a "rapture of the church", a literal temple being rebuilt where the antichrist would be revealed, a literal armageddon and a thousand year millennium on earth for the church. The amazing thing is, he proclaimed that all this was to happen by the year 1988!! Now even though these events didn't take place as Hal predicted and his belief's have been shown to be error, the majority of Christians around the world who study end times prophecy still hold on to these teachings. But what we will show you here is that Israel in the Bible end times has a spiritual application, not a literal one.

To accompany this study, please see 70 weeks of Daniel for a fuller understanding of Israel in the end times.

Remember how the Jews misenterpreted Bible prophecy and thought that Jesus was going to come the first time as this mighty warrior who would setup a "physical" kingdom on earth and rule over the nations? Well, we have it all over again with end time prophecy students and teachers today believing the exact same thing! But this time with the second coming of Christ. They believe that Jesus is going to return, after a secret rapture of the church and setup His kingdom in Israel and rule there for the thousand year millennium. The Bible prophecy teachers today are so focused on war and destruction in Israel, that they are missing the great spiritual application of God's kingdom, just as the disciples did during Jesus' first coming.

Luke 17:20-21 .....'And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh NOT with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.'

Do you see what Jesus is saying in the above Bible verse? He's explaining in clear words that the kingdom is a "SPIRITUAL" one. And yet the disciples were still clinging to the belief that Christ would setup a physical kingdom to rule from on earth, just like the prophecy teachers of today ... Luke 24:21 .....'But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel.' ... They were still holding on to that notion, and when Jesus died on the cross, their hopes were crushed! They just didn't understand the spiritual application of Israel and the kingdom of God, until the day of Pentecost.

Now there's a Bible verse that many Christians love to quote when defending their belief in the literal nation of Israel being the endtime kingdom ... Matthew 10:34 .....'Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.' ... It's a good verse that is completely misunderstood. Christians love to apply this to war and destruction, but the "sword" that Jesus was talking about was His WORD, His TEACHINGS. ... Ephesians 6:17 .....'And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.' ... His Word was the "double edged sword" that would bring division throughout the world

Many sincere Christians have been deceived by the Roman Catholic Jesuits. How? Because after the Protestant reformers revealed the Roman Catholic Church as the antichrist church, the Jesuits were commissioned in a "counter-reformation" to invent new interpretations of end time Bible prophecy, in a bid to take people's eyes off the Papal Church as antichrist. This they greatly succeeded as many Christians now adopt the false Jesuit interpretations of Bible prophecy. And not only that, many of the Protestant churches are now UNITING again with the Papal Church!

Spiritual Israel

This starts to become more clear when you study how the name "Israel" came about and what it signifies. As you know, Israel was the name given to Jacob ... Genesis 32:28 .....'And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.' ... Just before this, Jacob was greatly distressed because of his sin (deception) towards his brother Esau, and was greatly afraid that Esau, who was on his way to meet Jacob with 400 men, was going to kill him. So Jacob prayed to God for help and protection, and an angel came to him and a great struggle began between Jacob and the angel. The reason for the struggle is that Jacob would not let the angel go until he received a blessing from God. The angel proclaimed that Jacob had prevailed and gave him the name Israel. This represented Jacob's struggle and victory over sin through God's grace, and therefore God applied the SPIRITUAL name of Israel to Jacob.

God also applied the SPIRITUAL name of Israel to Jacob's descendents ... Exodus 4:22-23 .....'And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn: And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn.' ... Now who is God asking Pharaoh to let go? Not Jacob himself, but all His people. So God is applying the name "Israel" to ALL HIS PEOPLE.

Now take a look at the following interesting application of the name Israel ... Hosea 11:1 .....'When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.' ... Who was God talking about here? Was it the literal nation of Israel? Well, Israel had by now fallen in and out of apostasy many times, so was God talking about someone else? ... Matthew 2:13-14 .....'And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt.' ... King Herod wanted Jesus killed and so God gave word to Joseph to take Jesus and Mary to Egypt. So was God talking about Jesus (as Israel) in Hosea? Well, look at this next verse ... Matthew 2:15 .....'And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, out of Egypt have I called my son.' ... Do you see this amazing truth? Matthew is quoting directly from Hosea, saying that the "Israel" spoken of in Hosea was Christ Jesus! So do you see the SPIRITUAL application of the name Israel?

Bible verses that once applied to literal Israel in the Old Testament, are now applied in a spiritual symbolic way to Christ Jesus, as Israel are no longer the "seed" because Christ is ... Galatians 3:16 .....'Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, and to seeds, as of many; but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ.' ... Christ is now the seed, and anyone who believes in Him and follows Him are his CHOSEN PEOPLE.

Remember in the Old Testament that the Israelites were called God's "chosen people", "a kingdom of priests, a holy nation"? ... Exodus 19:6 .....'And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.' ... But this statement is now applied to Christians ... 1 Peter 2:9 .....'But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.' ... If you like many others think that Peter is talking to the Jews, then take another look. Peter says these people were "called out of darkness and into His marvellous light". There is only one group of people this could be ... THE GENTILE CONVERTS who are now Christians!

Galatians 3:29 .....'And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.'

Romans 2:29 .....'But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.'

Friend, this is the amazing Bible truth about Israel. If you remember in Galatians 3:16, Paul stated that Christ was now the seed of Abraham, and above he says that ANYONE who is in Christ is also Abraham's seed. In other words, ANYONE, whether Jew or Gentile will be called Israel!And as Paul confirms in Romans above, ANYONE can be a Jew (called Israel) if they are circumcised in the heart and are in Christ Jesus.

What does this mean? It means that literal Jews (Israel) are no longer God's special chosen people. Instead, ANYONE who comes to Christ Jesus now has that special position.

Romans 9:6-8 .....'Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, they which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.' ... In other words, we who are "children of Christ" are counted for the promise and become the special chosen people. Being a Jew of the flesh counts for nothing now. Anyone who worships God in spirit and truth now is TRUE Israel ... Philippians 3:3 .....'For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have NO confidence in the flesh.'

Now from what we have learned above, let's apply it to the following verse ... Romans 11:26 .....'And so all Israel shall be saved.' ... Many people apply this to literal Israel of the flesh, saying that all literal Jews will turn to Christ Jesus in the last days and be saved. But in light of what we have learned above, there is only ONE conclusion that we can come to, which is, ALL WHO ARE IN CHRIST JESUS will be saved ... SPIRITUAL ISRAEL! And if you read Romans 11 in context, then you will see that Paul says in verse 14 that he wants to provoke the people of his own flesh (literal jews) to jealousy, so that some of them MIGHT be saved.

So you can see from the language Paul is using that SOME of the literal Jews MIGHT be saved IF they turn from their sins and follow the Lord Jesus Christ. And in light of the rest of the clear evidence shown, the Israel he speaks of in Romans 11:26 must be the true Christian Church.

Galatians 3:28 .....'There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for YE ARE ALL ONE in Christ Jesus.'

Colossians 3:10-11 ...'And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.'

I hope you see this truth, because you will not get to the truth about end times Bible prophecy unless you see the truth that the name of Israel is now applied to the Christian Church. Words like Israel, temple, mount Zion, Babylon, all have a symbolic spiritual meaning in end time prophecy, not a literal one. Once you understand this, you can move forward in your study of Bible prophecy and your eyes will be opened WIDE!

Jesus said to the Jews ... "Behold, your house is left unto you desolate." (Matthew 23:38)

Jesus also said ... "Therefore I say unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof." (Matthew 21:43)

The Jews had Jesus crucified and even said themselves ... "His blood be on us and on our children." (Matthew 27:25) ... And not only did they reject Christ and crucify Him, they also rejected God's extended mercy to them when they rejected the gospel message given through the apostles. Then Paul says to them ... "It was necessary that the Word of God should first have been spoken to you; but seeing as ye put it from you and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the gentiles." (Acts 13:46)

After Jesus was crucified, the gospel message had to go to the Jews first to fulfill the 70 weeks of Daniel. In His mercy, God gave the Jews a last chance to turn to Him and accept the gospel message, but they rejected it, and therefore the "kingdom was taken from them" and the apostles turned their attention from the Jews to the Gentiles. This is the truth about Israel in the end times. They are no longer the chosen of God and therefore we need not look to them for fulfillment of end times Bible prophecy.

This message is taken from, wwww.end-times-prophecy.org.

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