Monday, Aug. 27

Monday

Not long after we began our summer series on the minor prophets, a young man approached me and asked me a very good question.  He said, “If all of these prophecies we are reading in the Old Testament are given to the Jews, how do I know they are for me today?”  Since then I have been asked similar versions of this question several more times.  It is a good question because one of the problems for Christians like us is how a book full of promises to ancient Israel can be a help to us today.  I thought it would be helpful to sketch very briefly five guiding principles for the interpretation of prophecies like this. (much of these 5 principles are borrowed and adapted from pastor John Piper)

FIRST - These prophecies are aimed primarily at the ethnic people of Israel. They were the audience; and when they heard Zechariah refer to "the house of Judah and the house of Israel," they would naturally understand the Jewish people, not the Christian Church. These prophecies are aimed at the ethnic people Israel.

SECOND - God is not done with Israel.  It is too simple to say that since the time of Christ the Church has replaced Israel as God's chosen people, even though that is true, in a sense. The reason it is too simple is that in Romans 11 Paul teaches that God is not finished with ethnic Israel. In verse 1 he says, "Has God rejected his people? By no means! I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin." Paul insists that God has not finished with the Jews, first of all, because he is a Jew (of the tribe of Benjamin!).

Now Paul does admit that the Jews are temporarily rejected through their unbelief, but this is for the benefit of us Gentiles; and when the full number of Gentiles is complete, the remaining Jews, too, will repent and be saved.  Romans 11:12, 15 "Now if their (Jews) trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean! . . . If their (Jews) rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?"  Here Israel is distinct from converted Gentiles and is promised a glorious future. So a few verses later, in verses 25, 26, Paul says, "A hardening has come upon part of Israel until the full number of the Gentiles comes in, and so all Israel will be saved."

THIRD - Gentile believers (that’s us) become full partners in the promises made to Israel in the Old Testament by faith in Jesus Christ.  The two key texts to support this principle are Galatians 3:29, “If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”, and Ephesians 2:19, “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household”, and Ephesians 3:6, “This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.”

FOURTH - The prophecies of the Old Testament made to Israel are not less than literal (as though ethnic Israel were not intended), but more than literal, because they embrace not only the ethnic Israel but also the Gentile children of Abraham by faith who will not be second-class citizens in the final kingdom.

FIFTH - and finally, many of the benefits promised to the people of Israel are fulfilled in stages.  This is especially true since the expected coming of the Messiah has occurred in stages. Christ came the first time as Hebrews 9:26 says, "to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself."  And he will "appear a second time not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him."  For the most part, Old Testament prophecy does not distinguish these two comings. Therefore, very often some aspects of Old Testament promises are fulfilled already in Christ, but the final fulfillment still waits for the last day.

So these guiding principles are helpful when we try to understand and apply the promises for God’s people in the Old Testament.  1) it is aimed primarily at ethnic Israel  2) God is not done with Israel  3) by faith in Christ we Gentile believers become full fellow-heirs of the promises made to Israel  4) therefore, the Old Testament prophecies concerning Israel are not less than literal but more than literal: they embrace not only ethnic Israel but also us Gentile believers  5) many of the benefits promised to the people of Israel are fulfilled in stages, especially since the promised Messiah himself comes in two stages.

The practical implication of all this is that whenever you read "Fear not!" or “I have not forgotten you” or “I will deliver you” in the Old Testament, you can take it for yourself as a fellow heir if you are a Christian!

Jeff Frazier