Tilling and Planting

Tag: Israel

  • The Pentecost Harvest

    The Pentecost Harvest

    Intro

    Easter is now over. And with that the next major Christian holiday is Pentecost Sunday. Pentecost Sunday occurs 7 weeks after Easter. And while I probably don’t have to tell you what occurred on that day in Christian history (though if you are new to the faith I will be sure to explain it for you), I’m willing to bet you aren’t fully aware of the Old Testament origins of Pentecost as a Jewish harvest festival. And if you want to be technical, part of what we as Christians recognize as happening on Pentecost is a harvest of sorts. Just not in the agricultural sense.

    Shavuot

    You might be thinking, “What did I just read?”, “What is Shavuot?”. Shavuot is the Hebrew word for the festival that occurs on the day we call “Pentecost”. It is Biblically called the Feast of Weeks. In terms of timing, the Israelites celebrated Passover, counted 49 days – or 7 weeks, hence the name – and then on the 50th day, celebrated this feast (see Leviticus 23:15-16 and Deuteronomy 16:9-10). Because it occurs on the 50th day after Passover, it also got the Greek name, Pentecost (which means “fiftieth”) – as we see in Acts 2:1.

    Shavuot is an agricultural festival related to the first fruits of the wheat harvest happening at this time of year. Consequently, part of the offerings brought to God included two loaves of bread baked with the first fruits of the harvest. In addition, they offered a bull, rams, lambs, a goat for a sin offering and more lambs for a peace offering (Leviticus 23:17-19). It was also one of the festivals that required mass pilgrimage to Jerusalem. So the city would be packed year after year on this day.

    As tends to happen, Shavuot also became associated with something else important from Jewish history. The giving of the law. Some Jewish traditions hold that 50 days after the first Passover in Egypt, the Israelites arrived at Mt. Sinai. And in fact, the Bible does say “in the third month” after leaving Egypt they arrived at Mt. Sinai. And 50 days after Passover – middle of the first month – would have been “in the third month” (third month of the Jewish year, not third month after leaving Egypt, just to be clear). Whether that’s true or not, Pentecost became a holiday not only for the wheat harvest, but also to remember the giving of the law at Mt. Sinai.

    Bonus: The Jubilee Year Connection

    One quick note, is that Pentecost and the Jewish year of Jubilee both had the number 50 attached to them. Pentecost was celebrated 50 days after Passover and every 50th year was the year of Jubilee. During this year, debts were cancelled, enslaved Israelites were set free, and the land was not worked. No sowing, plowing, reaping, etc. Consequently, the number 50 itself had connotations with freedom and rest.

    And as you’ll see later, all these things I mention here become reflected on the day God poured out Holy Spirit on the disciples.

    Pentecost of Fire

    Jumping ahead to the New Testament, 50 days after the Passover at which Jesus was crucified, all the disciples (120 in all) were in an upper room praying. And they were expectant. How do I know they were expectant? Take a look at what Jesus said before He ascended.

    On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

    Acts 1:4-5 (NIV – italics added)

    At this time, it was probably around 9 days since Jesus said these words to them. Perhaps less. So they were all eagerly awaiting this promised gift of Holy Spirit to be poured out upon them. They were probably planning on taking advantage of all the pilgrims who were in Jerusalem for Pentecost and witnessing – seems logical. Then God did something amazing. Take a look at what Luke writes in Acts 2.

    When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

    Acts 2:1-4 (NIV)

    The very thing they’d been waiting for that Jesus told them would come finally came! Filled with Holy Spirit they preached (in all the languages represented by all the pilgrims) to all who would listen and 3,000 people got saved that day.

    This is the Pentecost that Christians remember and celebrate. But what’s interesting are all the little connections between Pentecost the harvest festival and Pentecost the day Holy Spirit was poured out.

    From Wheat to Fire

    Why did God choose Pentecost to pour out Holy Spirit? Well, here’s a few ideas that show how the Christian Pentecost fulfills the Old Testament Shavuot.

    The Waiting Period

    In the Feast of Weeks, there’s this period of anticipation, a waiting between Passover and this feast. This symbolized the period from the Exodus from Egypt to the entering of Canaan when they could offer God the first fruits of their land. Similarly, in the NT the disciples had to wait for the promise of Holy Spirit to come upon them before they went out to fulfill the Great Commission.

    The First Fruits

    The Jews offered God the first fruits of their wheat harvest on the day of Pentecost. They witnessed to the fact that all of it belongs to God. And in a twist, the NT Pentecost is about God giving the church the first fruits of Holy Spirit (see Romans 8:23; Ephesians 1:13-14) rather than us bringing anything to Him. In His love, God bears witness to us that we belong to Him.

    Fire and Speech

    At Sinai, God spoke to the Israelites “out of the fire” (Deuteronomy 4:12) that His presence created on the mountain. The Bible describes thunder, lightning, a thick cloud of smoke, and blazing fire. What a sight! And then to hear the voice of God come out of that…no wonder the Israelites trembled.

    In the NT, Holy Spirit descended and separated as “tongues of fire” (Acts 2:3) and rested upon each on of them. And at that time they became empowered to speak in tongues. Do you see the similarities? The presence of God made manifest as fire and supernatural, divine, speech coming forth as a result. The biggest difference is that at Sinai God spoke directly from the fire whereas in the upper room, God spoke through the disciples. That’s next level!

    Covenants

    This one is pretty quick and simple. The Jewish people associated Pentecost with the giving of the law, the covenant, at Mt. Sinai. Similarly the outpouring of Holy Spirit marked the beginning of the New Covenant.

    The Jubilee Connection

    I’m back to the Year of Jubilee. I told you that everything I referenced would come back. Jubilee represented freedom from bondage, rest from labor, and the gift of the Holy Land. When Jesus poured out Holy Spirit, that brought with it freedom from Spiritual bondage, rest in Jesus, and the gift of the Kingdom of God. Pretty remarkable, don’t you think?

    The Harvest

    The last, but not least, connection I want to point out is the Harvest. I’ve said it multiple times that the Feast of Weeks is a feast of harvest. And on this day of Pentecost when God poured out Holy Spirit, a harvest of souls happened. 3,000 to be exact. And you know what? That number 3,000 has an Old Testament connection also. When Moses came down from the mountain carrying the Ten Commandments the first time, he found a lot of the people worshipping a golden calf. Look at what happened as a result of that.

    Then he said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Each man strap a sword to his side. Go back and forth through the camp from one end to the other, each killing his brother and friend and neighbor.’” The Levites did as Moses commanded, and that day about three thousand of the people died.

    Exodus 32:27-28 (NIV)

    Did you catch the number? 3,000 Israelites died because they worshipped the golden calf. How many Jewish people received Jesus on the day of Pentecost? 3,000. Talk about redemption. These numbers aren’t by accident. 3,000 rejected God and perished at Mt. Sinai but God made sure there was 3,000 who were ready to receive Him on the day Holy Spirit was poured out. What a God we serve!

    Wrapping Up

    I said this in my post about Passover and I’ll say it again. God knew what He was doing when He instituted the Feast of Weeks. He knew the Israelites would connect it with the giving of the law and He deliberately set it up with 50 days to create the connection to the Year of Jubilee. God doesn’t do these things by accident. He plans them out.

    I think our takeaway from this is that any seed that God sows in you and through you will bear a harvest. Maybe not right away, but it will come. Just keep waiting and being patient.

    Outro

    If you enjoyed this post, please consider doing one or all of these things. First, subscribe if you haven’t. If you have, thank you! Second, spread the word. Send these to everyone you know and encourage them to read and subscribe. This blog is purely word of mouth right now. I rely on you, my readers, to help me get more readers. And third, please consider donating. It’ll enable me to continue to offer regular posts.

    Feel free to leave a comment with any questions about what I’ve written, any additional comments about the post, or if there’s a topic you’d like me to write about. Before doing that though, be sure to check out all my posts here and see if I’ve covered it already. And if you find I’ve done it already but aren’t satisfied or still have more questions, let me know!

    Thank you for reading this! I greatly appreciate each one of you. Until next time, God bless you all!

  • Jesus The Passover Lamb

    Jesus The Passover Lamb

    Intro

    Easter has just passed us by. During this time we remember His death and resurrection. We remember that, much like the sacrifices of the Old Testament were made to pay for sin, Jesus’ sacrifice was made to pay for our sin. In this, I remember John the Baptist calling Jesus “The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29). And this fits with the idea of Jesus being a sacrifice like the sacrifices that the Jews were required to do. But this begs the question: Why a lamb? Why not a bull or any of the other animals? As my title kind of indicates, it all has to do with a particular Jewish holiday. So today I’m going to show the parallels between Passover and the Crucifixion and show how Jesus is the ultimate Passover Lamb.

    Passover Summary

    Before I dive into the parallels, I’m going to give a quick summary of the start of Passover found in Exodus 12. That’ll give a clearer picture of why Jesus is the ultimate Passover lamb. The Egyptians enslaved the Israelites and after a handful of generations of oppression, God raised up Moses to lead them out. But Pharaoh was stubborn and refused. Consequently, God sent a series of plagues. After the first 9, God sent a warning to the Israelites. Unlike the other 9 plagues, the 10th – the death of the firstborn – would sweep through both the Egyptian and Israelite households. However, in His great mercy, God provided a way for His people to avoid the final plague. They were to take a lamb, kill it, and spread its blood on the doorposts of their homes and the angel of death would pass over their house.

    Parallels

    Just by reading my summary, I’m sure you can draw a pretty obvious parallel in that in both scenarios you’ve got guilty people (Israelites who were no saints and then all of humanity who are also terrible sinners) who are under a penalty and yet God provides a means of salvation because of His great love and mercy. So, that snippet alone demonstrates an important aspect to Jesus being the Passover lamb for all of humanity. But there is so much more. Let’s dive in.

    Mature Male

    According to Exodus, the lamb must be a 1 year old male. For a lamb, this is the age of maturity.

    The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats.

    Exodus 12:5 (NIV)

    Likewise, Jesus was born as a man and was fully mature when He was crucified – Luke records Jesus was about 30 when He started (Luke 3:23) and had a ministry of about 3.5 years, which made Him about 33.5 years of age when He died.

    No Broken Bones

    As soon as you read this heading, you’re probably thinking of how you know none of Jesus’ bones were broken. That’s a pretty common thing to hear when talking about the crucifixion.

    These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken,”

    John 19:36 (NIV)

    But did you know that the Passover lamb also could not have any of its bones broken?

    Do not break any of the bones.

    Exodus 12:46b (NIV)

    Admittedly this is one I forgot about. What’s great is the specificity God used and then He ensured that Jesus fulfilled all that specificity.

    Spotless

    If you reference Exodus 12:5 again (I have it above under “Mature Male”), you’ll see that it also states the lamb must be “without defect”. A couple other very common ways to describe this is “without blemish” or “spotless”. God required perfection for the Passover lamb. And not just for this one instance, but every year when the Jews celebrate it. It represented salvation.

    What about Jesus? Based on that paragraph you can say that Jesus’ sacrifice was for salvation. And we’ve also heard all the time that He was a sinless, perfect human being.

    “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.”

    1 Peter 2:22 (NIV)

    To take this parallel even further, the priests were required to carefully examine every single lamb brought into the temple for the sacrifices. And what happened to Jesus before His crucifixion? Pilate and Herod both examined Jesus and found no cause for Him to be sentenced to death.

    Then Pilate announced to the chief priests and the crowd, “I find no basis for a charge against this man.”

    Luke 23:4 (NIV)

    Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people, and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him. Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death. Therefore, I will punish him and then release him.”

    Luke 23:13-16 (NIV)

    For the third time he spoke to them: “Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then release him.”

    Luke 23:22 (NIV)

    And this is just Luke’s account. Matthew’s account in Matthew 27 records that Pilate washed his hands declaring that he was innocent of Jesus’ blood. Jesus clearly fulfilled the requirement that the Passover lamb be perfect.

    Substitution

    In the story of the first Passover, the Israelites killed the lamb as a substitute for the lives of their firstborn. Jesus died as a substitute for us. We all deserve death and separation from God for eternity. But Jesus took that punishment upon Himself when He died on that Cross.

    The Blood on the Doorposts

    Even the placement of the blood on the doorposts has a parallel.

    Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the doorframe. None of you shall go out of the door of your house until morning.

    Exodus 12:22 (NIV)

    Applying the blood to the top and sides of the door frame forms the sign of the cross. And not only that, but you also get the sign of the cross when the blood is dripping from the top and down the sides.

    An additional thing found in this verse is the hyssop plant. Look at what John says in his gospel.

    A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips.

    John 19:29 (NIV)

    Even the plant used to apply the blood to the doorposts had a parallel in the crucifixion!

    Freedom From Slavery

    The death of the firstborn convinced Pharaoh to let the Israelites go. That first Passover led to their freedom from physical enslavement. Likewise, Jesus death leads to our freedom from spiritual enslavement.

    Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.

    Romans 8:1-2 (NIV)

    Timing

    As if all this wasn’t enough, do you know when Jesus died? During the time that the lambs were slaughtered for Passover. Talk about divine timing! In addition, he entered Jerusalem on the donkey the same day that the lambs were brought into the city in preparation for the Passover. For Passover, the Jews brought the lamb into their home for a few days before killing it. Likewise, Jesus entered the city a few days before His death. On the same day. Crazy right?

    Wrapping Up

    This is a little bit of a shorter post, but it’s a powerful one. There are so many parallels between the Passover and Jesus’ Crucifixion. It just goes to show how much thought God put into it all and how much He wants His chosen people to see all the parallels and recognize Jesus as the promised Messiah – the conquering King, yes, but more importantly, the ultimate Passover Lamb – the one who saves from sin and sets us free for all eternity.

    So today – though Easter is over – let us remember Jesus’ sacrifice as the ultimate Passover Lamb.

    Outro

    If you enjoyed this post, please consider doing one or all of these things. First, subscribe if you haven’t. If you have, thank you! Second, spread the word. Send these to everyone you know and encourage them to read and subscribe. This blog is purely word of mouth right now. I rely on you, my readers, to help me get more readers. And third, please consider donating. It’ll enable me to continue to offer regular posts.

    Feel free to leave a comment with any questions about what I’ve written, any additional comments about the post, or if there’s a topic you’d like me to write about. Before doing that though, be sure to check out all my posts here and see if I’ve covered it already. And if you find I’ve done it already but aren’t satisfied or still have more questions, let me know!

    Thank you for reading this! I greatly appreciate each one of you. Until next time, God bless you all!

  • Replacement Theology

    Replacement Theology

    Intro

    I apologize for the one-day delay of this post. I had a lot going on this past weekend and wasn’t able to finish it Monday evening. But here it is. So, without further ado. In my last post (catch up here) I talked about God adopting us into His family. I also mentioned an erroneous way of thinking called Replacement Theology. This belief supposes that God rejected the Jewish people and that the Church replaced them. No room for coexisting as people of God. With today’s growing Anti-Semitism in the world, the church needs to be the Jewish people’s strongest supporters. That’s why I feel the need to address Replacement Theology.

    The Theology

    I’ve already given a short definition of Replacement Theology. But I’m going to expand upon it here. Replacement Theology is the idea that the Church replaces the Jewish people as God’s chosen people. When the Jews rejected Jesus as their Messiah, God rejected them as His people. And God transferred any prophecies and promises that were written for Israel to the Church.

    The Text

    When it comes to truth claims, there needs to be something to back it up. And when it comes to doctrines of the Christian faith, that something needs to be in the form of Biblical text. So, what Scriptures do proponents of Replacement Theology use to back up their claims? The major ones include Matthew 21:43, Romans 2:28-29, Romans 9:6-8, Philippians 3:3, and Galatians 6:15-16. I intend to go through each of them individually and show where they are skewed to say something they don’t. Then I’ll offer up a more accurate interpretation based on larger context. And context is so important when it comes to interpreting Scripture. False doctrine always crops up the moment you take something out of context.

    Matthew 21:43

    Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. (NIV)

    Knowing that Jesus was talking to Jews at the time He made this statement, one could conceive that Jesus was telling the Jews they were no longer God’s chosen and were being replaced. However, let’s back up and find the context. In verse 23, the chief priests come up to Jesus (who was teaching in the temple courts) and challenged His authority. Jesus responded to that challenge and then proceeds to tell two parables. Verse 43 comes after Jesus tells the Parable of the Tenants (verses 33-39). Afterwards He asks the priests what the master would do to the tenants. They answer that the master would kill those wicked tenants (verses40-41). Jesus then not-so-subtly compares those priests to the wicked tenants (verse 45).

    When you take in the wider context of the passage, you see that the people losing the kingdom of God were those who were regarded as the Spiritual leaders of Israel. And their chief responsibility was to guide the Jews to God and worship Him in Spirit and in Truth. But they failed. Therefore, God was replacing the “Spiritual leaders” of that day with those who would do what God desired them to do and lead people in accordance with the will of God. And that replacement doesn’t exclude Jews. After all, the early church was exclusively Jewish for a time.

    Romans 2:28-29

    A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God. (NIV)

    Proponents claim that this Scripture teaches that an unsaved Jew is not a Jew at all and therefore has no claim to any blessings or promises of God. But this is not the case at all. To claim that would be to make God out to be a promise breaker (more details in a later section). A major topic found in Romans is that the Jewish law cannot save and cannot give people true righteousness. That’s why Jesus came and died as the perfect Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world. And that’s what this passage is on the heels of. Verses 17 through the end of chapter 2 talks all about the Jews and the Law. Here, Paul is saying that to be a Jew that truly pleases God, you must be circumcised in the heart, not just in the flesh.

    As Isaiah 64:6 puts so eloquently, “all our righteous acts are like filthy rags” (NIV). Paul argues time and again that what we do in the flesh is simply not enough. The Law – though good as it is – cannot save us. We need Jesus, whether Jew or Gentile, we need Jesus. That’s all he’s saying here in Romans. To claim anything else is quite a stretch.

    Romans 9:6-8

    It is not as though God’s word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children. On the contrary, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring. (NIV)

    Romans 9:6-8 really could sound like Paul saying that the church has come in and become “Israel”. Even though they may be Gentiles and not Jewish by blood. However, the broader context here demonstrates Paul’s love for Israel, even though Israel has by and large remained unrepentant and has rejected Christ. In earlier verses (3-5) Paul makes note of the benefits of having received the covenant, the law, having the patriarchs, etc. Paul’s clear that it is of great benefit to be a Jew. So why would he suddenly say, “but the nation of Israel has been replaced by the Church, so there’s no real reason to be proud of your Jewish heritage.” Talk about contradicting yourself!

    Here Paul expresses that just being a Jew does not make one saved. And simply being a descendant of Israel or Abraham does not automatically make one an inheritor of all of the promises of God. Paul used the examples of children of Abraham that did not inherit all of God’s promises to Abraham. Ishmael is the best-known son of Abraham that didn’t inherit the promise, but Abraham also had 6 other sons besides him and Isaac. And yet, only Isaac inherited the promises. Going down the line a bit further, Jacob inherited the promises from Isaac while his brother Esau, did not.

    Once again, Paul makes no claim that the church replaces Israel. He’s arguing as to why the Law and simply being a Jew isn’t enough to be saved. There’s more to it than that, the Jews need Jesus just as much as the Gentiles.

    Philippians 3:3

    For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh (NIV)

    Again, people misconstrue and twist this passage to make the claim that the Church replaced Israel. After all, the “we” refers to Christians. And these would have been Gentile Christians to boot. Then of course you have the statement of being “the circumcision”. And since circumcision was the physical sign of being a Jew – of being one of God’s people – it could certainly sound like Paul’s making the argument that the Jews are no longer God’s people. In this passage, Paul is merely saying that the believers fulfill the spiritual meaning of circumcision. We don’t need to be physically circumcised to serve God and be counted among His people. By accepting Christ, we become spiritually circumcised.

    Furthermore, this passage comes immediately after Paul gives a warning about “evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh”. Paul is addressing a group of Jewish believers spreading the false teaching that Gentiles had to be circumcised in order to be saved – in addition to believing in Jesus. Hence why Paul explains that true circumcision – in regard to serving and pleasing God – comes from Holy Spirit circumcising the heart.

    Galatians 6:15-16

    Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation. Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule – to the Israel of God. (NIV)

    Proponents twist the phrase “the Israel of God” to make the claim that it’s referring to the Church. Now Paul did use “Israel” in a bit of a broader sense here, but he’s still not saying that the Church replaced Israel. The passage here says much the same as the passages from Romans. Being a Jew, being circumcised doesn’t make one saved or an automatic inheritor of the promises of God. What matters is accepting Jesus as Lord and being made into a new creation. Paul addresses this more than anything else (at least it certainly seems that way!) throughout his many letters.

    After all this, I now turn my focus to defend the Jewish position in the eyes of God by bringing out passages that clearly demonstrate God’s ongoing love and faithfulness toward Israel.

    The Defense

    Contrary to what proponents claim, God has not rejected Israel. The New Testament declares His support and love all over. I’m only going to give you a few examples.

    Romans 3:1-4

    What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? Much in every way! First of all, the Jews have been entrusted with the very words of God. What if some were unfaithful? Will their unfaithfulness nullify God’s faithfulness? Not at all! Let God be true and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (NIV)

    Paul points out here that even though some Jews don’t believe God, God’s faithfulness to His people and to the promises He made to their ancestors remains. And we can see this throughout the Old Testament as well. Especially in the book of Judges. The Israelites repeatedly turned their backs on God and He continued to honor His covenant and rescue them when they cried out to Him.

    Romans 11:1-2

    I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. (NIV)

    “By no means!”, Paul says, did God reject His people. We find a similar phrase in Romans 11:11 “Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all!” (NIV). Paul dedicates a lot of Romans to defend the Jewish nation while also showing how the Gentiles fit in God’s Kingdom. And he makes it clear that God has not and will not reject His covenant people.

    Old Testament Prophecies

    In addition to the New Testament passages, the Old Testament prophets prophesied many things concerning Israel that have not been fulfilled. The borders of Israel as promised by God are much larger than anything Israel controlled in its history. And as you’ll see in the next section, assuming that the Old Testament prophecies and promises can be transferred to the church is inherently dangerous.

    The Dangers

    Choosing to adhere to Replacement Theology brings with it some inherent dangers. They’re not obvious from the surface, but all it takes is a peek under that surface, a following to the logical conclusion that exposes these. Here’s but a few.

    God as Promise Breaker

    Replacement Theology misrepresents God as one who breaks His promises. The Bible states that “God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he not speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?”, Numbers 23:19 (NIV). And logically, if God breaks promises like any man, how can we be confident in our own salvation – which is the whole point of Romans 9-11? The claim that Old Testament promises and prophecies have been transferred to the church makes those promises broken promises.

    Anti-Semitism

    Replacement Theology led to many anti-Semitic policies and actions within the church, which spills out into the rest of the world. This encourages violence against the Jewish nation. And violence against any human is sinful in God’s sight. And God frowns upon encouraging such violence just as much as actually committing the act.

    Revulsion Towards Jesus as Messiah

    Replacement Theology brings many Jews to revulsion at the idea of Jesus being their Messiah. The Church is supposed to provoke Israel to jealousy to come back to God and embrace their Messiah (Romans 11:11).

    Reduced Understanding

    Replacement Theology results in there being a smaller number of Jews coming to faith. Which in turn leads to a lack of people more knowledgeable about the language, culture, Mosaic and rabbinic law and tradition that would greatly benefit the Church.

    Mocks Old Testament Promises

    Replacement Theology actually makes a mockery of Old Testament promises. You can spiritualize some promises, but not all of them. The land that God gives to Israel is a great example. Genesis and Ezekiel lay out the borders of the promised land (much larger than what Israel has ever actually controlled by the way). So, how does this promise get transferred over to the Church?

    Reduced Evangelism Among Jewish People

    Replacement Theology birthed an even more dangerous theology: Two Covenant Theology. Two Covenant Theology supposes that the Jews and Christians related to God via two different covenants. You’ve got Judaism for the Jews and Christ for the Gentiles (and any Jew that wants to follow Him). This led to a drop in attempts at evangelizing the Jewish communities across the world. Which is worse than Replacement Theology! At least Replacement Theology encourages reaching Jewish people for Christ. Two Covenant Theology says that Jews already have a right relationship with God and don’t need Jesus at all!

    Wrapping Up

    Coming to the conclusion, I hope you see that Replacement Theology is not only wrong, but it’s dangerous. And I hope you can see that God loves His chosen people now just as much as He did when He brought them out of Egypt. And God’s plans for them are far from over.

    Outro

    If you enjoyed this post, please consider doing one or all of these things. First, subscribe if you haven’t. If you have, thank you! Second, spread the word. Send these to everyone you know and encourage them to read and subscribe. This blog is purely word of mouth right now. I rely on you, my readers, to help me get more readers. And third, please consider donating. It’ll enable me to continue to offer regular posts.

    Feel free to leave a comment with any questions about what I’ve written, any additional comments about the post, or if there’s a topic you’d like me to write about. Before doing that though, be sure to check out all my posts here and see if I’ve covered it already. And if you find I’ve done it already but aren’t satisfied or still have more questions, let me know!

    Thank you for reading this! I greatly appreciate each one of you. Until next time, God bless you all!