Shalom Dear Friends,
Disappointed and Dismayed: Part 3
Last month, I continued a series of articles commenting on a dialogue-by-letter that has taken place between the well known author and Pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, John Piper, and David Brickner, the Executive Director of Jews for Jesus. The discussion centered around a four-part exchange of views on the subject, “Do Jews Have a Divine Right to Israel’s Land.” You can read the exchange of letters at the Christianity Today website:www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2012/juneweb-only/john-piper-david-brickner-israel.html.
Unfortunately, I came away from the discussion disappointed and dismayed. Why? I was surprised that both men displayed a real weakness in regard to Israel as it exists today. In Part 1, I recommended resources, explained Brickner’s and Piper’s understanding, and concluded with my definition of the concept of “Divine Right.” Part 2 covered the question, “Has God sovereignly given the Land of Israel to the Jewish people?” I introduced Isaiah 11:11- 12 and the revelation that there will be two worldwide re- gatherings of the Jewish people. I explained the second worldwide re-gathering. Now, in Part 3 we will answer the question, “When did the first worldwide re-gathering occur?” The answer to that question is found in Ezekiel 20:33-38 (see also Ezekiel 22:17-22, 36:22-24):
“As I live,” declares the Lord God, “surely with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out, I shall be king over you. I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you from the lands where you are scattered, with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out; and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face. As I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you,” declares the Lord God. “I will make you pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant; and I will purge from you the rebels and those who transgress against Me; I will bring them out of the land where they sojourn, but they will not enter the land of Israel. Thus you will know that I am the Lord.”
According to Ezekiel 20, God will re-gather the Jewish people to the Land of Israel while they are in a state of unbelief. The sequence of events is as follows: 1) Israel re-gathered to the Land in unbelief, 2) then God will gather the nation in the wilderness, 3) He will enter into judgment with His people purging out the rebels. At this point in the progression, Isaiah 11:11-12 comes into play, 4) the cleansed nation will be re-gathered to the Land of Israel in faith.
There are two worldwide re-gatherings predicted for the Jewish people. The first worldwide re-gathering will be in unbelief and in preparation for judgment. This judgment will be the judgment of the Tribulation period. It is also known as the “time of Jacob’s trouble” (Jer. 30:7). Then, after the Tribulation, the nation will experience the second worldwide re-gathering which will be in faith, and in preparation for blessing. The blessing will be the blessings of the Messianic Kingdom. The worldwide re-gathering that we are part of today is the first worldwide re-gathering in unbelief, in preparation for the judgment of the Tribulation.
The point of this three part series has been to establish that the Jewish people do possess a divine right to the Promised Land by virtue of the unconditional and eternal Abrahamic Covenant and by virtue of prophetic revelation. What is happening today is fully in line with God’s program for Israel and mankind. I humbly ask my brothers in the Lord, John Piper and David Brickner, to consider these biblical principles when they explore the question, “Do Jews have a Divine Right to Israel’s land?”
Let me close with a word about the relationship between the eternal and unconditional Abrahamic Covenant and the temporary and conditional Mosaic Covenant. These two covenants God made with the Jewish people are intimately related, but they are radically different and must be kept separate in our minds.
The responsibility to fulfill the Mosaic Covenant rests on two parties, Israel and God; whereas the Abrahamic Covenant relies on God alone. While the Jewish people cannot break the Abrahamic Covenant because it is unconditional, we can and did break the Mosaic Covenant. Jeremiah 31:31-32 states:
See, a time is coming—declares the Lord—when I will make a new covenant with the House of Israel and the House of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers, when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, a covenant which they broke, though I espoused them—declares the Lord.
The broken covenant of Jeremiah 31 is clearly the Mosaic Covenant. Nowhere in the Bible is it ever stated that Israel broke the Abrahamic Covenant. It is the Abrahamic Covenant that contains the deed to the Promised Land. The Abrahamic Covenant cannot be broken because it is a unilateral covenant. God alone is responsible for its fulfillment and our God is a promise-keeping God.
The Mosaic Covenant can be broken because it is dependent on two parties—God and Israel—for its fulfillment, and Israel failed. This is the point Pastor Piper has confused in his mind (see part 1).
Let me summarize: Israel broke the Mosaic Covenant and therefore is subject to the curses of the covenant because of disobedience (Lev. 26, Deut. 28). The most severe discipline is dispersion out of the Land (Lev. 26:33-39). However, this dispersion does not nullify the title deed to the Land. When the discipline has been accomplished (Lev. 26:40-41), the nation is returned to the Land in accordance with the Abrahamic Covenant (Lev. 26:42-46). We are re-gathered in accordance with the promise of God, not in accordance with our righteousness. Return to the Land is not earned. It is not predicated on obedience, but on God’s solemn word. Yes, repentance is required, but not a national regeneration. This is exactly what happened after the 70 year exile in Babylon, and it is exactly what is happening today. In both instances we were returned to our land with a mixture of belief and unbelief.
The good news is that the next world-wide re-gathering will be different. Every Jewish person alive at the end of the Tribulation will place their faith in Yeshua. Then we will be returned to our Land a regenerate nation and enjoy the blessings of the Messianic Kingdom. The gifts of God are irrevocable (Rom. 11:25-27).
Thanks for your partnership.