THE DESTINY OF THE JEWS

THE DESTINY OF THE JEWS

By William Chalfant

ARE THE JEWS THE SAME AS THE CHURCH, OR DO THE TWO HAVE SEPARATE BUT INTERTWINED DESTINIES?

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE JEWISH NATION AND THE CHURCH

One would think that it would be understood that there are separate destinies for the Jewish nation and the New Testament church-but many have confused the two peoples. It is impossible to do away with the sons of Jacob without doing away with the promises of God.

The NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH is a spiritual Body consisting of both saved Jews and saved Gentiles, but the NATION OF ISRAEL consists only of Jews, descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The church consists of those who are the spiritual descendants of Abraham through Jesus Christ, while the Jewish nation consists of those who are the physical descendants of Abraham. To say that the church has replaced the nation of Israel would be like saying that Rachel replaced Leah. The egotistically gentilocentric attitude of some has caused them to wrongly assume that the church is the only people that God has ever had or ever will have. God has saved people before the church age, and He will save people after the church age-but all through Jesus Christ.

The nation of Israel is at this time voluntarily cut off from the NEW COVENANT, but it has not been cut off entirely from the COVENANT OF ABRAHAM. The church is a spiritual partaker of THE PROMISE OF THE FATHER (Acts 1.4,5, the baptism of the Holy Ghost). Paul restricts the “blessing of Abraham” to the “promise of the Spirit” (that is, the promise of the Father) to the Gentiles in the church through the Jew, Jesus Christ (Galatians 3.14). Had Jesus not been a Jew, He could not have, according to the word, passed on the blessing of Abraham’s “promise of the Spirit”. He said, “Salvation is of the Jews” (John 4.22). He was the Seed of Abraham. Some of us Gentiles apparently do not want to hear that.

The blessing of the rest of the promises (concerning the land and the prerogatives given to the nation of Israel) made to Abraham remain to the nation of Israel as a part of their NATIONAL DESTINY.

Some of the Jews, who have also partaken of the New Covenant, and are members both of the nation of Israel and of the Body of Christ (the church), will also partake of the national destiny of Israel. Jesus promised the apostles that they would (in the millennium) sit “on thrones judging THE TWELVE TRIBES of Israel” (Luke 22.30).

It seems obvious, then, that the great apostle Paul (since he is “THE APOSTLE OF THE GENTILES”, Romans 11.13) will apparently also sit on a throne, in the millennium, judging the nations of the Gentiles under Christ. But Gentiles of the church will not judge the twelve tribes. They themselves will be under a Jew! Humbling isn’t it? Is anyone willing to say that, even though we no longer know Christ after the flesh (2 Cor. 5.16), there is no Jewish element in the kingdom of God? Why has Jesus chosen Jerusalem for a base of operations in the new millennium? Why is He coming back to Jerusalem instead of Washington DC?

SEPARATE ADMINISTRATIONS AND SEPARATE DESTINIES

In other words, while there is a common destiny for both Jews and Gentiles in the New Testament church to “rule and reign” with Christ (2 Timothy 2.12, “we shall also reign with him”), there is a separation in the provisions of the administration of this reign to account for the separate destinies of the nation of the Jews and of the New Testament church itself. The Jewish apostles are over the twelve tribes, while the Jewish apostle sent to the Gentiles (the rest of the nations) will be over those nations (under Christ in Jerusalem). The nations of the world in the millennium will be in a subservient role to the nation of Israel, with Jerusalem as the capital, and Jesus Himself sitting upon the throne of David.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TWO WOMEN

Revelation 11,12, and 13 describe the period of time called by some the “Great Tribulation”.

This time of tribulation is called “The Time of JACOB’S TROUBLE” by the prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 30.7). And Jeremiah tells us that it is “Jacob” who “shall be saved out of it”. Not the New Testament church! The name “Jacob” is NEVER used of the New Testament church. Yet there is also nevertheless A DESTINY AHEAD FOR JACOB. Revelation 12 discloses that there is another “Woman” involved in the “Time of Jacob’s Trouble”.

We know that THE BRIDE of the Bridegroom is the New Testament church. In Matthew 25.6, a cry is made, “Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him”. Thus, the church is compared to a bride.

The apostle Paul, in Ephesians 5, compares the church to a Bride. The union of Christ and the church is compared to that of a husband and a wife: “This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church” (Ephesians 5.32).

John the Baptist confirmed that the church was the Bride in John 3.29, when he described Jesus as: “He that hath the bride is the bridegroom...”.

THERE IS ANOTHER WOMAN

In Revelation 12, however, we see that there is another woman BESIDES the Bride. I am speaking of the Woman that gave birth the Man Child (Rev. 12.1-5). We do not see the Bride in Revelation 12. Anyone who would care to discuss the “divorce” of Israel?

THE WOMAN WHICH BROUGHT FORTH THE MAN CHILD CANNOT BE THE SAME WOMAN AS THE BRIDE. A man simply does not marry his own mother (unless he happens to be Oedipus Rex in the Greek tragedy). Of course, I realize one can carry types and shadows too far.

The Woman in Revelation 12 is identified easily as spiritual Jacob. She is “clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars” (Rev. 12.1). This description stems from the symbolism of the Old Testament.

In Genesis 37.9, Joseph dreams a dream that “the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me”. We see from Jacob’s interpretation that the celestial group meant Jacob and the twelve sons (THE NATION OF ISRAEL).

Obviously, the Woman that gave birth to the Man Child, was not simply the virgin Mary (although she is the prime spiritual representative of the spiritual Woman). THE WOMAN IN REVELATION 12 IS ISRAEL. She cannot be anyone else (see also Acts 7.38).

THE MAN CHILD IS JESUS

The Man Child is clearly JESUS. He is the one who will rule all nations with a rod of iron (Psalms 2.1-12 makes this clear). The New Testament church is never described as a “man child”, but rather as a Bride.

Likewise, is it Jesus who is “caught up unto God, and to his throne” (Rev. 12.5, see also Acts 1.9-11).

THE CHURCH DOES NOT FLEE INTO THE WILDERNESS

We have seen that the Man Child cannot be the church, since the Man Child was brought forth by the Woman, and the church did not bring forth the church! Jesus (the Man Child) founded the church (the Bride).

The woman does not bring forth a woman, but rather the woman brings forth a Man Child.

But if someone did insist that the church is indeed the Man Child, then there is still a problem. Because if the Man Child caught up to heaven represents the rapture of the church, then the apostle goes on in the very next verse to describe the Woman, which brought him forth, fleeing into the wilderness! This still means there has to be two women! One caught up into Heaven and the other remaining to flee into the wilderness!

It is not logical to hold to the theory that the church goes through the Great Tribulation period, and to have the church raptured in Rev. 12.5, and THEN the Tribulation begin in verse 6! How can these things be?

THE WOMAN IN THE WILDERNESS IS ISRAEL (THE JEWS)

Anyone familiar with biblical types and shadows knows that it is not the church that “flees into the wilderness”. It is Israel!

When Israel fled from Egypt, they went into the wilderness. There is no type and shadow of the New Testament church fleeing into the wilderness! Ezekiel prophesied of this very event concerning Revelation 12:

And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there

will I plead with you face to face.

Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land

of Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the Lord GOD. -Ezekiel

20.35,36

THE GAP THEORY

Notice something very important concerning the destiny of the Jews: God has yet to take the nation of Israel back out into the wilderness and to plead with them as a nation. This is a future event. It cannot have happened in the first century since the known historical events do not “gel” with Revelation and Daniel.

In Revelation 12.5 we see the events surrounding the ministry of Christ (the Man Child). His birth and His ascension following His resurrection occur in the first century. BUT THE NEXT VERSE IN REVELATION 12.6 CONCERNING THE DESTINY OF THE JEWS HAS NOT YET BEEN FULFILLED! There is a “gap” of nearly 2000 years between Revelation 12.5 and Revelation 12.6!

Just as there is a similar time “gap” between DANIEL 9.26 AND DANIEL 9.27. Daniel 9.26 concerns the crucifixion of Christ after 69 weeks (483 years) of the prophecy concerning Israel, and the destruction of the Lord’s temple. But Daniel 9.27, which refers to the final seven years (the 70th week) of the prophecy, has not yet occurred. The events of the 70th week have yet to be fulfilled. There is a “gap”. It is the CHURCH AGE.

THE DESTINY OF THE OTHER WOMAN

The Woman that brought forth the Man Child is Israel. We have seen her Man Child caught up to God in the first century. We have yet to see the destiny of the Woman since it is not yet brought to pass.

Revelation 12.6 states, “And THE WOMAN fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days”.

This period of 1260 DAYS is well known as the period of the “Great Tribulation”. This particular period is also mentioned as “A TIME, AND TIMES, AND HALF A TIME” (Rev. 12.14, Daniel 7.25, Daniel 12.7), and 42 MONTHS (Revelation 13.5), all of which give us THREE AND ONE-HALF YEARS, or half of the 70th week of Daniel.

This computation of the length of the “Great Tribulation” (“The Time of Jacob’s Trouble”) lets us know that Daniel 9.27 is referring to this FUTURE period when it prophesies “And he (the anti-christ) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and IN THE MIDST OF THE WEEK HE SHALL CAUSE THE SACRIFICE TO CEASE”.

Thus it is the placing of the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION (which Jesus Himself linked to Daniel’s prophecy), which starts the “Great Tribulation” period of 1260 days (see Matthew 24.15-21), and which pertains to the nation of Israel (the destiny of the Jews).

What, then, is the “destiny” of the OTHER WOMAN? She flees into the wilderness (this is a compact people, a NATION-not a worldwide New Testament church). The OTHER WOMAN will be “fed” in the wilderness for the period of this “Great Tribulation”. The reader will remember how God fed Israel in the wilderness before with manna from heaven (Deuteronomy 8.3).

What happens on earth is preceded by events in heaven.

WAR IN HEAVEN

Revelation 12.7 tells us that this period of the Great Tribulation (Jacob’s Trouble) is preceded by “WAR IN HEAVEN”.

Who are the combatants? One of the angelic leaders is the ARCHANGEL MICHAEL. This is the “great prince”, which “standeth for the children of thy people” (the Jews) (see Daniel 12.1). WE FIND, THEN, THAT THE OTHER WOMAN IS AGAIN IDENTIFIED AS THE PEOPLE OF DANIEL (THE JEWS). Moreover, it is Daniel’s people (“thy people”), who shall be delivered out this “Great Tribulation” (see Daniel 12.1). Not the New Testament church (which is primarily composed of Gentiles).

This WAR IN HEAVEN results in the casting down to earth of the devil and his angels. The devil has been formerly called “the prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2.2). He was certainly not previously “confined” to earth (Job 1.6). This casting down to earth brings about the WRATH OF THE ANTI-CHRIST, which some call “the Great Tribulation period”.

Jesus had a prophetic vision nearly 2000 years ago of this downfall of Satan to earth when he exclaimed at the return of the disciples from a missionary trip, wherein they had victory over the devils, “I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven” (Luke 10.18). Jesus foresaw the day when the “Great Tribulation” would come about!

THE DEVIL PERSECUTES THE OTHER WOMAN

Revelation 12.13 states, “And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted THE WOMAN WHICH BROUGHT FORTH THE MAN CHILD”. Not the church. The church was founded by the Man Child on the Day of Pentecost, and did not bring forth the Man Child. This is the OTHER WOMAN (the Jews). The church will caught up in the rapture before this event takes place (1 Thessalonians 4.13-17 and 2 Thessalonians 2.2.6,7).

The flight of the Woman is described in Rev. 12.14 as being on “two wings of a great eagle”, which is probably (we might speculate) some sort of an “airlift” of Jews into the nearby wilderness, as they flee from the Anti-christ. It is hardly descriptive, by any stretch of the imagination, of the worldwide New Testament church.

The OTHER WOMAN will be nourished “for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent” (Revelation 12.14).

THE REMNANT OF THE OTHER WOMAN’S SEED

John closes chapter 12 of Revelation with this verse:

And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with

the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and

have the testimony of Jesus Christ. -Rev. 12.17

And so it is with the OTHER WOMAN (THE JEWS), and the REMNANT OF HER SEED (JEWS) that the Anti-christ makes war . In fact, he will be given power to “overcome” these Jewish saints (Rev. 13.7). This is a power that has never been given against the church, which is the Body of Christ on earth. Jesus gave the church “power...over all the power of the enemy” (Luke 10.19). Men have been moved by Satan to persecute the church, but have never been given the power to overcome it. It is the Body of Christ on the earth and thus quite different from the nation of Israel.

But these Jewish saints will find something that has been kept from them for centuries due to their blindness. They will “keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ” (Rev. 12.17). Something the church was never able to do-except when it was under Jewish leadership-was to have a revival among the Jews. Only Jews can reach Jews!

THE DESTINY OF THE JEWS

Once the New Testament church leaves in the rapture (1 Thessalonians 4.13-17), which is a mystery and different from a “simple” resurrection, the only vehicle which can reach the nations of the world will be gone. According to His word (Romans 11.25,26), God will then turn back to the Jews after the “fulness of the Gentiles be come in”. The “FULNESS” of the Gentiles” (Romans 11.25) should not be confused with the “TIMES of the Gentiles” (Luke 21.24). The first phrase refers to the salvation of the Gentiles, while the second phrase refers to the rule of the Gentiles.

That is why Jesus said, “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto ALL NATIONS; and then shall the end come” (Matthew 28.14). It is the church that preaches the gospel to all nations or the Gentiles. Once that task is accomplished (to the entire modern world as it was to that portion of the world in Paul’s day), then the end of the age comes.

CONSIDER THE PURPOSE OF THE CHURCH IN RELATION TO THE TIME OF ITS DEPARTURE

After the gospel has been preached to every nation, the church has no further purpose in this world until after the consummation. That is why Jesus then turns to the Jews in Matthew 24.15-28 and describes THE DESTINY OF THE JEWS (not the church). We must remember that He was speaking to Jews when He describes the Great Tribulation. A comparison of Daniel (to which Jesus refers) will demonstrate that. It is the destiny of the Jews. It is the church that preaches the gospel, but it is THE JEWS who will go through the Great Tribulation.

-Bro William Chalfant