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The altar intended for use in a rebuilt Jewish temple.
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“Consider
Abraham: ‘He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.’
Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham. The Scripture
foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel
in advance to Abraham: ‘All nations will be blessed through you." So those
who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith’ (Galatians
3:6-9).
In March 2015 a website called
Breaking Israel News reported that construction of a stone altar which would berequired for renewed sacrificial service in a rebuilt Jewish temple had been
completed. The altar was built by The Temple Institute, a non-profit
organization in Jerusalem founded in 1987, “…dedicated to every aspect of the
Biblical commandment to build the Holy Temple of G-d on Mount Moriah in
Jerusalem (The Temple Institute n.d.).” Currently, the Al Aqsa
mosque and the Dome of the Rock, Islamic holy sites, occupy the Temple Mount,
where Jews and some Evangelical Christians envision a rebuilt Jewish temple.
The Temple Institute, however, has accounted for this by designing the new
altar so that it can be taken apart and reassembled, “when circumstances become
favorable.”
“One
thing that makes this altar unique is that it was designed to be disassembled
and quickly reassembled in its correct position on the Temple Mount. According
to the Temple Institute, ‘The people of Israel are required to build an altar
exclusively on the site of the original altar on Mount Moriah, the Temple
Mount. When circumstances become favorable, this new altar can be quickly
re-assembled on the proper location, enabling the Divine service to be resumed
without delay (Balofsky 2015).’”
The Divine Service mentioned
in the Temple Institute’s statement is not the communion service with which
Confessional Lutherans are familiar. Rather, the phrase refers to the animal
sacrifices prescribed in the Old Testament.
“The
base of the altar contains two portals for collecting the blood poured during
animal sacrifices, in accordance with the Torah. It is also crowned with four
raised corners, called horns by the Torah (Balofsky 2015).”
Religious Jews are not the
only ones working toward the goal of a rebuilt temple on the Temple Mount.
Evangelical Dispensational Christians such as Tim LaHaye believe that a rebuilt
temple and the physical nation of Israel are integral to the plot of End-Times
prophecy. Dispensationalists such as LaHaye believe that “God’s plan for
history demands a consistent distinction between national Israel and the church
which includes an ongoing plan for national, ethnic Israel that culminates in
Christ’s millennial kingdom (Tim LaHaye Ministries n.d.).”
These Christians believe that
New Testament prophecies associated with the Jewish Temple, such as Matthew
24–25 and 2 Thessalonians 2:1–12, were not completely fulfilled in 70 AD, when
Jerusalem was razed by the Romans. This view is a core part of
Dispensationalism, which teaches that the Jews remain God's chosen people.
Dispensationalist theologians, such as LaHaye, teach that the Third Temple will
be rebuilt when the Antichrist makes peace between the modern nation of Israel
and its neighbors after a world war. The Antichrist is often identified as the
political leader of a world-wide national alliance, often identified by leaders
in the dispensational movement as the European Union or the United Nations. The
Antichrist will proclaim himself to be God at the rebuilt temple and demand
worship. At some point before, during, or possibly after these events,
Christians will be raptured off the earth by Christ. There will be a great
tribulation culminating in the battle of Armageddon, the final return of
Christ, and the inauguration of the Millennial Kingdom on earth (though not
necessarily in that order). At some point during these events the physical
nation of Israel will be saved – converted to Christ – en masse.
The
future salvation of the national Israel will result in much greater blessings
to the Gentiles. It is called "life from the dead" (v. 15). This
phrase is interpreted in three different ways. First, it can be seen as a
literal resurrection, that is, a general resurrection from the dead leading to
blessed eternal life. In other words, the conversion of Israel will signal the
resurrection of the last day. The restoration of the Jews at once will bring on
the end. The dead will be raised and the Messiah's kingdom will be set up
glorious and incorruptible. Professor Ernst Käsemann says, "The conversion
of Israel is . . . also the last act of salvation history" (Matthew 2011).
This article isn’t meant to be
a survey of Dispensational teachings, though it is helpful to be familiar with
the landscape of Dispensationalism when navigating through the wilderness of
American Evangelicalism. The focus of this article is to examine what popular
Evangelical teachers, such as Tim LaHaye, teach about Israel in relation to
what the Bible says about Israel. American Evangelicals who are of a
Dispensationalist flavor often accuse other confessional Christians of engaging
in “replacement” theology. Replacement theology is popularly defined as the
teaching that the Christian Church has replaced the Israelites as God's chosen
people, and that the Mosaic covenant has been replaced or superseded by the New
Covenant (Supersessionism 2015). Opponents of this
Replacement Theology charge that this view leads to persecution of Jews by
Christians, as they are no longer seen as favored by God. Attempts to cast
so-called Replacement Theology in an unflattering light notwithstanding, it is
taught in Holy Scripture and stands in direct opposition to what is taught by
much of the Christian church in America today.
In Chapters 9-11 in the Book
of Romans, St. Paul writes about his anguish concerning his countrymen – his
people according to the flesh. St. Paul makes a distinction between the Israel
of the flesh, and the Israel of God. Rather than teaching that there are two
separate peoples with whom God deals differently and apart from one another, however,
St. Paul laments that one group (physical Israel) is lost while the other (spiritual
Israel, or the Israel of God) is redeemed through Christ.
I
speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it through the
Holy Spirit— I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could
wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my
people, those of my own race, the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption to
sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the
temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is
traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised!
Amen. 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. For this was how the promise was stated: “At the appointed
time I will return, and Sarah will have a son” (Romans 9:1-9).
Lenski writes the following,
regarding verse 6:
He
[Paul] is clearing up what may cause a difficulty for earnest Christians when
they look at the position assigned to Israel in God’s Word and yet see that
Israel is lost. They may think that the Word of God has dropped away, that the
outcome with regard to Israel proves it to be unreliable, non-dependable. Such
would be mistaken regarding Israel and regarding the Word: regarding Israel
because it does not include all the physical descendants of Abraham; regarding
the Word because this is promise and itself excludes unbelief and unbelievers.
Not the Word has fallen by the way, ‘it liveth and abideth forever’ (I Peter
1:23); but these Israelites, despite the Word and the promises which they had,
have fallen by the way (Lenski 1945).
St. Paul cites all the things
God has raised up for the salvation of men through the nation of Israel – the
sonship, the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple
worship, the promises – culminating in the very Messiah himself. But then he goes
on to say that, “Not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.” In other
words, not every Jew can claim to be an Israelite simply because he is a Jew.
St. Paul emphasizes here, as he does in Galatians, that faith in Christ is what
saves a person, not their physical lineage. Despite all of the things St. Paul
mentions here, because they rejected Christ, they did not belong to God. Jesus
makes this point to the Pharisees in a rather more pointed way:
[speaking
to the Jews...the Pharisees], "If you were Abraham's children," said
Jesus, "then you would do the things Abraham did. As it is you are
determined to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God.
Abraham did not do such things. You are doing the things your own father
does." "We are not illegitimate children," they protested.
"The only Father we have is God himself." Jesus said to them,
"If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now
am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me. Why is my language not
clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your
father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a
murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in
him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the
father of lies. Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! Can any of
you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don't you believe
me? He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is
that you do not belong to God" (John 8:39-47).
The Pharisees are not
Abraham’s offspring because they do not have faith in Christ. They have the
physical blood line, but they reject the promise. This is what St. Paul is
grieving in the opening verses of Romans chapter nine. St. Paul, who loves his
fellow Israelites-by-blood, laments the fact that they are lost – cut off from
Israel – because they reject God’s promised Messiah and do not repent of their
sin.
Israel is the name God gave to
Jacob in Genesis 32. This name later expanded from Jacob to all the 12 tribes
of people who descended from him. Rev. Alexander Lange, preaching on Jesus’
baptism by John the Baptist, explains that God shows his love for his people
Israel by calling them his “firstborn son” (Exodus 4:22). Jesus, the Son of
God, however, is Israel reduced to one. Israel was to be a light to the nations
by living in a special relationship to God. He would be their savior and they
would be faithful and obedient. Israel, however, was not faithful and obedient
to God and needed a substitute:
John
[the Baptist] was calling Israel to repentance. Then God sent Jesus to John
with a very special mission — Jesus would become Israel’s substitute. He would
become Israel Reduced to One. He would be the Israel that Israel never could
be. Jesus would succeed where Israel had failed. Just look at our text and see
how Jesus reenacted Israel’s life (Matthew 3:13-17). Like Israel, Jesus passed
through water. Having been baptized, he was anointed by the Holy Spirit, just
like Israel. God announced that this man is his beloved, firstborn Son, just as
he once did with Israel. After his baptism, Jesus wandered in the wilderness...just
like Israel. He was tested...just like Israel. Unlike Israel, Jesus withstood
all temptations. He did not whine when he grew hungry or worship false gods. He
did not grieve God’s Spirit. Unlike Israel, Jesus was a faithful, obedient Son.
Jesus carried out God’s mission perfectly. He was the Light of the Word. He
drew people to himself and told people about God’s wonderful works and
steadfast love. Jesus was the perfect fulfillment of Israel (Lange 2014).
St. Paul expressly teaches
that there are not two peoples, Jew and Gentile, with whom God deals separately
from one another. On the contrary, Israel is the Body of Christ – all those,
Jew or Gentile, who have been brought to penitent faith in Christ Jesus for the
forgiveness of their sins. Jew and Greek, slave and free, male and female are
all one through faith in Christ. To be in Christ is to be a part of Israel.
Now
before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the
coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ
came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has
come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons
of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put
on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free,
there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you
are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise
(Galatians 3:24-29).
St. Paul explains that, those
who have been connected to Christ through baptism have been connected to his
death, and will also be connected to his resurrection.
Do
you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were
baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into
death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of
the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united
with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a
resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in
order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no
longer be enslaved to sin (Romans 6:3-6).
Finally, Pieper has this to
say regarding the physical nation of Israel:
It
is the express declaration of the Apostle that the present state of Israel is
not one of hardening of the heart, but there is a hardening only of a part of
Israel, and Paul’s words (Rom. 11:32): ‘God hath concluded them all in unbelief
that He might have mercy upon all,’ apply to the Jews till the end of the
world. Walther says well: ‘True though it be that the Jews have crucified and
rejected their own Messiah, still, according to the mystery unfolded by the
Apostle, Jews shall be converted as long as Gentiles are converted. Not only
will the door of grace remain open till the end, but there shall always be a
number of both who actually enter the Kingdom of God’ (Pieper 1953).
Works Cited
Lenski, Dr. Richard C. H. The Interpretation of St.
Paul's Epistle to the Romans. Columbus, Ohio: Wartburg Press, 1945.
Pieper, D.D., Francis. Christian Dogmatics. Vol. III.
IV vols. Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1953.
