(chart 15)

THE FOURTH ORDER ON EARTH; THE AGE OF REVELATION, REJECTION AND BLINDNESS 

After the flood the curse upon the earth went into full bloom. Each succeeding generation after the flood lived only half as long as the preceding generation, until man’s average lifespan declined to only 70-80 years, Ps 90:10. The fact that this curse from God was upon the earth in this order and continues in the order in which we live is obvious from the extreme wickedness of man, the disease, pain, death, biting insects, vicious animals, destructive forces of nature, etc.  This also might be considered the age of the revelation as God was re-introducing himself to the people of earth after the new beginning represented by the world wide flood. Recall that Adam and Eve knew God intimately as they had lived with him in his Garden. However, over the centuries the truths that Adam and Eve must have passed on about God gradually became lost and man became extremely sinful. Thus the flood. After the flood God chose a way to re-introduce himself to the people of earth; initially through a chosen people and finally to returning to earth himself.

While we might call this the age of revelation, we might also call it the age of rejection and blindness. During this timeframe we see the Jewish people going through a repeating cycle of following God and then rejecting him for the false gods of their neighbors. God forgave them over and over and continued his revelation of himself with warnings about what he would do to them if they continued in this pattern. God finally grew sufficiently tired of this and told the Jews that he was blinding them to the truth because of their rejection of him. Isa 28:10-13 says that God will make his truth more difficult for the Jews to understand due to their failure to listen to him. See the following discussion of the blinding of the Jews for more detailed discussion of this. Again, this was all a part of God’s plan to provide a bride for his son.

THE PERIOD OF THE BLINDING OF THE JEWS

In Daniel 9:23-27, we notice that there is a gap in verse 26 between Jesus being cut off and the end. This Gap represents the period of the blinding of the Jews, the period during which their minds are made dull in terms of being able to understanding the true identity of Jesus, the period during which God has left them to one day return to them again, the period during which they are divorced from God only to be remarried to him one day in the future, etc. Many people are skeptical about this, but it is Biblical and historical fact. It is very major in the history of Israel. This period of time is discussed extensively in the Bible, in both the Old and New Testaments. It was prophesied over and over in the Old Testament and fulfilled in the New Testament. Let me make it clear that Paul said the blindness was in part; and that there is always a remnant of Jews who understand and are not blinded (Rom 11:25). Scriptures that discuss this period of time include (Deut 18:15-19, Hosea 2:2, 3:4-5, 5:14-6:2, Micah 5:1-3, Amos 8:11-12, Isa 6:1, 9-10, 28:10-13, 29:9-24, Ps 69:22-23, Jer 3:8, 14-18, 31:31-34, Ezek 39:23-39, Rom 9:22-32, 11:4-10, 13-14, 19-20, 25-29, 2 Cor 3:14-16, 4:3-6, Gal 3:13-22, 5:2-4, Acts 3:22-24, 15:13-18, 24:19, 28:25-28, Jn 1, 12:37-41, Matt 15:30, 21:43, 23:37-39, Lk 19:41-44, Rev 22). This gap is mentioned at least 25 times in the Bible in one context or another. Let’s look at a couple of the scriptures a little further.

In Acts 15:13-18, James says that God will first take a people for himself from the gentiles and then turn his attention once more to the Jews. He says that this was predicted by the Old Testament prophets.

In Matt 23:37-41, Jesus says that the Jew’s land would be left desolate and that they would not see him again until they recognize him as their God as predicted in Ps 118:26 and other places in the Old Testament. He is describing the fact that he will come to earth two separate times.

Luke 19:41-44 tells us the exact day when the blinding, dulling, divorce, etc., from God began. It was on the original Palm Sunday when Jesus was hailed as King as prophesied centuries before by Daniel in Dan 9:23-27. This was on the Sunday before his crucifixion, 6 Apr, 32 AD. Jesus goes on to say that this blinding had been done because the Jews did not recognize that he was God coming to them.

Micah 5:3 tells us the exact day when the blinding, etc. will come to an end. It will be on the day of the rapture of the church, the day when the church gives birth and all of its members receive their new glorified bodies. It’s the day when a large Jewish remnant suddenly recognizes that Jesus is God because of the sudden rapture of maybe 10% of all of the people on earth, those who are born again Christians. They will know and recognize, as Jesus uses this supernatural event to prove to them that he is God. The immediate remnant will number 144,000 and will become the greatest missionaries that the world has ever known as a result of this event. They will be given 3 ½ years to witness before things get very bleak in the world as the anti-christ declares to the world that he is God and the time known as the great tribulation begins.

Rom 11:25-32 says that the blindness of the Jews will be removed “when the fullness of the gentiles has come in,” or when God is satisfied with the number of gentile believers.

Ezek 39:23-39 also discusses the blindness of the Jews and when it will be removed. The reasons for the blinding and its removal are presented by Ezekiel as prophecy. It is fully removed in the tribulation period and soon thereafter God will reassemble the Jews from all over the world in Israel as believers in and followers of Jesus.

We see that God repeatedly punished the Jews for either idol worship or disobedience. He always forgave them multiple times and gave them multiple chances before he punished them. By the way, is there a lesson here for America?

WERE THE JEWS REPLACED BY CHRISTIANS IN GOD’S PROMISES TO ABRAHAM

Did the gentiles replace the Jews in the promises made by God to Abraham? If so, was this replacement permanent or just until the blindness of the Jews was removed?

Believers come down on both sides of these questions. Both sides often use the same scriptures to make their arguments, especially Rom 9-11 and Gal 3. Let’s look at these scriptures and come to our own conclusions.

First let’s look at the parable in Matt 21:33-44. Here we see the kingdom being taken from the Jews and given to some other people, who history shows to be the gentiles. But is this permanent? Let’s look further.

One question that I have been asked many times is whether or not the unbelieving Jews will go to heaven. Paul tells us many times that they are lost and will not be in heaven (Rom 9:9, 11:15).

Some Jews receive the promises of God and some don’t (Rom 9:7). Those who receive the promises are those who are believers in Jesus, those who put their faith in him (Gal 3:22). There is no difference between Jews and gentiles concerning how salvation is received (Rom 10:9-13).

God did not reject the Jews. In fact, he still has plans for them, but only for those who accept Jesus as savior (Rom 11:1-6). This is the remnant mentioned many times in the Bible.

The Jews who did not accept Jesus were blinded or hardened so that salvation might come to the gentiles (Rom 11:1-12).

Paul tells us that the gentiles were grafted into the original blessings and promises of God and that some Jews were cut off from the blessings (Rom 11:13-24, Gal 3:14). He further tells us that if the gentiles could be grafted in as wild branches then the natural braches could be even more easily re-grafted back in.

However, the blindness or hardening of the Jews only applied to the unbelieving and it will one day be removed (Rom 11:25-32).

God’s original promises to the Jews are irrevocable and will one day be completely fulfilled for them (Rom 11:28-29).

The promise given to Abraham that was inherited by the gentiles is the promise of Gen 12:3, “and all people of earth will be blessed through you.” This blessing was through the “seed” of Abraham, Jesus the Christ. This is clear from Gal 3:16-22 and applies to all who put their faith in Jesus (Gal 3:22).

There were many other promises given to Abraham for his descendents which were irrevocable and did not apply to the gentiles. These include the promise of the land and the nation. These are being fulfilled in our own time and will culminate after the rapture of the church.

God’s plan is still unfolding and we can only understand what is in the future from God’s prophecies in the Bible. We understand that Jesus will someday return for his believers and rapture them to heaven (1 Thess 4:13-18, 1 Cor 15:51-53). Jesus taught that he was not finished with his original chosen people and that he would one day restore their nation, re-gather their scattered people and finally return to earth to reward them for the key part that they had played in implementing his plan (Isa 66:7-9, Jer 30:1-17, 32:37-44, Hos 3:4-5). That will occur at the end of a period called the Tribulation Period, which results in the Jewish people finally realizing who Jesus is and accepting him (Hosea 5:14-6:3, Zech 12:10, 13:9). It will be a seven year period of great wrath, wars, upheavals on earth, etc. (Dan 9:24-27, Matt 24:21-22, Zech 12-14, Rev chapters 4-19), with large numbers of people being killed, including 2/3 of the Jewish people (Zech 13:8). Jesus will hear their calls for him to return and save them and he does so at his Second Coming (Zech 13:9-14:3, Hosea 6:2). Satan and his followers will be participants in this end time war (Rev 20:1-3). Jesus defeats Satan and his followers and ends the war (Rev 19:11-21). That will usher in a time of worldwide peace on the earth lasting for 1000 years (Rev 20:4-6), with Jesus himself being on earth as “King of kings” (Rev 19:16). Satan will be bound in Hades during this period of time (Rev 20:1-3). Sickness, disease, suffering, etc. will greatly subside and people will live very long lives (Isa 65:17-21). There will be requirements for everyone to make periodic visits to see Jesus in Israel (Zech 14:16-21). At the end of the 1000 years, Satan will be loosened upon the earth for a short period of time as a final test to see who he can convince to follow him (Rev 20:7-9). The final judgment will soon follow. Satan and his followers will be judged and sent to hell (Rev 20:10-15). All believers will then spend eternity in heaven with Jesus (Rev 21:1-7). Man will be restored to his place in that he will once again live with God (Rev 21:3).

So, we see that the gentiles were a co-heir of one on the original promises made to Abraham, in fact the key promise, but that several of the promises still belong to Israel and their fulfillment is under way. That’s the way I understand the scriptures concerning the promises to Abraham.