Eschatology is the study of the last days or the end time. All religions have their own eschatology and Christians are no exception. The study involves interpretation of future events that have not yet happened. Thus it would be very unwise to make major life and death decisions based on your particular view of eschatology.
I have changed my own views on the subject several times in my walk with the Lord. I once held to an historical premillennial viewpoint and still believe the preterists have a lot correct (more than half of Matthew 24 has been fulfilled). I now hold to what we call an historical: spiritual interpretation and an amillennial viewpoint. There is no literal 1000-year millennium. It is symbolic of the period of the reign of Christ on Earth, often called the Church Age.
However I have never held to Dispensationalist views or doctrines of John Nelson Darby and the notes in Cyrus Schofield’s Reference Bible, the basis for Christian Zionism. It involves the misinterpretation of biblical prophecy around the coming of Christ from Daniel 9:24-27.
Christian Zionists hold the view that the current political nation state of Israel is the same nation that God formed from Abraham’s grandson Jacob (Israel). It is not. They often quote a fictitious Bible verse where God allegedly said:
“I will bless those who bless Israel, and curse those who curse Israel!”
which does not exist in any Bible version. It is most probably derived from
And I will bless them that bless you, and curse him that curses you: and in you shall all families of the earth be blessed.
Genesis 12:3 AKJV
The problem with this is that the “you” in this verse is Abram whose name God later changed to Abraham.
And I will make of you [Abraham] a great nation, and I will bless you [Abraham], and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing:
Genesis 12:2 AKJV
The blessing was on Abraham, not his grandson Jacob (Israel). And there absolutely is no way to connect that blessing on Abraham to the current nation called Israel. They are not even in the same category.
Read The Blessings of God on Abraham.
Recently US Senator Ted Cruz, a staunch Christian Zionist, told Tucker Carson that “Biblically, we’re commanded to support Israel.”
He was apparently referring to Genesis 12:3 but being so biblically illiterate he didn’t know where to find it.
See Cruz: “Biblically, We’re Commanded to Support Israel” on CaldronPool.com for a correct understanding of God’s blessings on Abraham, which is interpreted for us by the Apostle Paul.
In Galatians 3:16, Paul writes, “The promises were made to Abraham and to his seed. It does not say, ‘And to seeds,’ referring to many, but referring to one, who is Christ.” This claim by Paul underscores a crucial theological truth that is echoed throughout the New Testament: the promises God made to Abraham find their fulfilment in Christ alone, not in mere physical lineage or national entity, including the modern state of Israel.
Jesus Christ is the seed of Abraham and through Him God has made many nations of believers. It is the gospel that all peoples, regardless of race, ethnicity or creed can be saved. The Chosen People are those chosen by God, His elect. There are no others. And that salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, God’s Son.
This brings me to where I now personally stand on eschatology. Jesus tells us about the end of the age, the last days when the living and the dead are resurrected. Some are taken to heaven and some sent to hell. That is all there is. It is a binary choice.
24 Truly, truly, I say to you, He that hears my word, and believes on him that sent me, has everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death to life. … 28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, 29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, to the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, to the resurrection of damnation.
John 5:24, 28-29 AKJV
Jesus also told a parable describing the last day when God judges the world.
24 … The kingdom of heaven is likened to a man which sowed good seed in his field: 25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares [weeds] among the wheat, and went his way. 26 But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. 27 So the servants of the householder came and said to him, Sir, did not you sow good seed in your field? from where then has it tares? 28 He said to them, An enemy has done this. The servants said to him, Will you then that we go and gather them up? 29 But he said, No; lest while you gather up the tares, you root up also the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather you together first the tares [weeds], and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.
Matthew 13:24-30 AKJV
The weeds are burned in fire but the good seed, the wheat, is stored in the barn. The fire represents hell and the barn represents heaven.
The disciples ask for a better understanding and Jesus explains.
37 He answered and said to them, He that sows the good seed is the Son of man [Jesus]; 38 The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares [weeds] are the children of the wicked one; 39 The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. 40 As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. 41 The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; 42 And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who has ears to hear, let him hear.
Matthew 13:37-43 AKJV
The message is very simple really. There is no complex timeline of special events, building the 3rd Temple, a secret Rapture, 7-year Great Tribulation, one thousand year millennium etc. None of that is mentioned by Jesus.
Final judgment is the end with the resurrection of the living and the dead. That is a reference to the great white throne judgment (Revelation 20) when all rewards and punishments are dished out. The righteous go into the New Heaven and New Earth and the unsaved go directly to Hell.
Read the following:
- Revelation 20: Great White Throne Judgment
- Revelation 20: The Church Age
- Amillennialist “Because of” Revelation 20
In my book “Apocalypse Now” I explain my interpretation in great detail. The above timeline graphic is taken from that book. You can download the PDF of 380 pages and read the book if you subscribe to my site as a Premium member for as little as $5. Click the link below. You can unsubscribe at any time. And I still have a few paperback copies I can send out.
Free PDF of My Book ‘Apocalypse Now’ for Premium Members
Now back to my main point. You cannot base your politics on some particular eschatology especially when it contradicts the gospel of Jesus Christ. But that is what the Christian Zionists do. What if your eschatology is wrong? How can you make the decision to bomb another country (Iran in this case) because you believe like Ted Cruz that you are doing God’s work?
Besides, who is a Jew in God’s eyes? They are all human beings who put their trust in God’s Son, Jesus Christ. That is the gospel. Salvation is for all. But there is no back door, no special privilege, no other way, and no chosen people by race, ethnicity or creed.
However that is effectively what all the so-called Christian Zionists (an oxymoron) are claiming. That God will bless the current political nation of Israel because of some misguided understanding of what the gospel is not. Each human must stand before Christ as King of the Universe in the final judgment.
The true gospel is offered as salvation for all people, Jews and non-Jews, everyone without any distinction. Since Christ’s death on the cross, the nation of Israel is irrelevant to the gospel; it was bypassed by Jesus Christ.
27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek [meaning non-Jew], there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you be Christ’s, then are you Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Galatians 3:27-29 AKJV
Related Reading
- Ted Cruz, Dispensationalism, and the State of Israel
- Christian Zionism is the Problem
- Salvation Is For All, Regardless of Race
- Book Release: Apocalypse Now
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