James & Tess Arendt
This is a Bible study that was inspired by a former dispensational Christian Zionist preacher, Steve Gregg, who my wife and I listened to yesterday evening. He has two videos on this subject (at the bottom of this article) totaling nearly 3 hours. This article is an attempt to prove true directly from the Bible and in my own words as succinctly as possible what Pastor Gregg is teaching. I figure if I can't teach a doctrine directly from what the Word of God actually says in the Bible, I either don't understand that doctrine well enough, or it's a false doctrine with no basis in Holy Scripture.
Famous influential preachers such as Billy Graham, Franklin Graham, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell Jr., John Hagee, James Dobson, and many others, have taught or are teaching that God's promise to restore the Jews to their own land was fulfilled in 1948. They use the prophecies in Ezekiel chapters 36 and 37 to support that claim. But do those prophecies really support it? Let's read some of those prophecies, the ones in Ezekiel 36, and find out. And as we read them, let's remember the time when these prophecies were given: During the 70-year Babylonian captivity of the Jews.
Ezekiel 36:23 And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them (during the Babylonian captivity); and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, saith the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. 24 For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. 25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. 26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. 28 And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God. 29 I will also save you from all your uncleannesses: and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you.
This passage only makes sense when you read it in the light of the fact it was given during the Babylonian captivity and was completely fulfilled by the time Jesus confirmed the Covenant when His ministry started in 27 AD, the very Covenant of grace that God made with Abraham concerning his seed.
How does the prophecy compare to the modern nation of Israel?
Ezekiel 36:23 And I will sanctify my great name
Is the Name of God or of Christ sanctified among them?
Verse 23b: the heathen shall know that I am the LORD
Do the surrounding heathen nations know that Jesus Christ is the Lord?
Verse 25:Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
Is the modern nation of Israel clean from all filthiness and idolatry?
Verse 26: A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
Does the nation of Israel have a heart of love and compassion for its neighbors?
Verse 27: And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
Is the modern nation of Israel walking in God's statutes and keeping His judgments?
The answer to all these questions is a resounding no!
Ezekiel 36:24 For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.
Jeremiah 30:3 "For, lo, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the LORD: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it."
These prophecies were totally fulfilled by the time of Christ! The books of Ezra and Nehemiah are all about the end of the 70 years of captivity and the return of the Jews to Judea. The kings of Medo-Persia gave them permission to return and rebuild the Temple and the walls of Jerusalem! And Jesus Himself said His ministry was to the house of Israel!
Matthew 10:6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Matthew 15:24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Verse 26: A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
This prophecy was clearly fulfilled on the day of Pentecost!
Acts 1:5 For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.
I believe the prophecies in Ezekiel 36 were all fulfilled by the time Jesus was born and walked on earth during His ministry. Not all Jews were saved, but a good remnant were.
Acts 6:7 And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.
The main reason why prophecies are misinterpreted is because of failure to understand how they were already fulfilled in the past. Some believe a prophecy can have multiple fulfillments. Is there a precedent for that in the Bible? I don't see one.
Ask yourself, are unbelievers in Christ Jesus God's covenant people of today? Does a person's ethnicity matter in God's eyes? My Bible says it doesn't.
John 1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. 11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not. 12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
If you like my simple Bible study, please share it with your Israel supporting friends. My aim is to keep things so simple that when people read it, they will remember it and share it. When I share something I learned, often the Holy Spirit deepens my understanding of the subject. When we share God's Word with others, the Lord increases our understanding of it to do an even better job of sharing God's Word with others.
And I hope you take time to listen to what Pastor Steve Gregg has to say. He covers a lot more details.
My name is James Arendt. I was raised in the Hegewisch neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, served in the USAF from 1970 to 1974, and became a full-time missionary for Christ living 40 years in Japan, 3.5 years in Russia, and a few months in other countries such as Finland, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, South Korea, Taiwan and mainland China where I also served the King of Kings, Jesus, as an Ambassador for His Kingdom. My full bio.
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