Page 9 - Eschatology - Masters revised

They believe that because the church has now replaced the nation of Israel all future promises of God
will be fulfilled to the church instead of to Israel. Therefore, the promise of the land will be fulfilled to
the church in a symbolic way rather than to Israel in a literal way. They expect the church to someday
have ultimate influence over the whole earth which will then symbolically fulfill the specific land
promise.

This idea of “Replacement Theology” began in the fourth century when certain church leaders reacted
against the continued rejection of Jesus Christ by the majority of Jewish people. The church then
concluded that God had rejected the nation of Israel permanently and had chosen the church as its
replacement.

For this reason, the Roman Catholic Church replaced the Jewish temple priesthood with the priests in
the Roman Catholic Church. They replaced Jewish circumcision with infant baptism. This church replaced
eating during the Passover celebration with their view of communion known as Transubstantiation (in
which they taught that the bread and wine literally became the body and blood of Jesus Christ to be
eaten literally).

The Premillennial view teaches there is a vital distinction between the Church and Israel. There is a
future for Israel, not only in terms of salvation for the nation, but also a distinct future ethnically for the
chosen people of God.

The other views teach that the church has “replaced” Israel, which, because of disobedience, has forever
forfeited its special position before God. Therefore, there is no future restoration for the people of Israel
as a nation and there is no Millennial Kingdom during which God’s promises to Israel are literally
fulfilled. The church today is the “new Israel” which will symbolically inherit the blessings originally
promised to Israel. The church has now superseded (called supercessionism) the nation of Israel as the
people of God.

An expectation of literal fulfillment of God’s Promises.
The natural, literal interpretation of the Bible has been replaced by a non-literal, spiritualized or
allegorical interpretation in many passages in order to erase the clear distinctions between the nation of
Israel and the Church.

Premillennialists believe God has not permanently rejected the nation of Israel and will literally fulfill
every promise made to His chosen nation. The Old Testament saints who died in hope of a King and a
kingdom will certainly be raised to enjoy the fulfillment of those promises. The church will participate in
the reign with Christ as His Bride but will not replace the nation of Israel. The King will return to deliver
Israel (Zechariah 14:1-3) and establish His kingdom (14:9). The kingdom will be headquartered in
Jerusalem, the very land promised to be the possession of the nation of Israel. And Israel will be the
central nation of this kingdom (Zechariah 8:22-23).

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Zechariah 14:1–3 (NIV84) A day of the Lord is coming when your plunder will be divided
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among you. I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it; the city will be
captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped. Half of the city will go into exile,
but the rest of the people will not be taken from the city. Then the Lord will go out and
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fight against those nations, as he fights in the day of battle.

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