Replacement Theology
There is a lot of confusion going around
these days about God's
promises, even among
our own ranks here at (unnamed organization).
I'd like to take this opportunity to
dispel a little of the confusion.
There is a powerful movement afoot called
Replacement Theology
which states that the church is Israel
and the promises given to
Israel were primarily
for the church. This movement
is
incurring the wrath
of God, as it increasingly condemns the
nation of Israel as illegitimate, which
is natural for folks who
believe the church
has replaced Israel. Even among those who
still hold to Israel to one degree or
another, there seems to be
a propensity for yanking Old Testament
promises out of the Bible
-- and, I might add, out of
context -- and indiscriminately
applying them to modern
church situations. The tendency is to
select those promises which fit church
theology (like healing,
prosperity, victory) and
ignore those which do not (like
punishment for rebellion, keeping of
feasts, sacrifices). To
set the record straight:
the church did not yet exist when
those promises were given, and they
were not given to Israel as
a "type" of the
church until the church should inherit them.
The Old Testament promises were given
to Israel, and they apply
to Israel. Many of
them ALSO apply to the church in a general
way, and many of them apply to all nations
in a general way, and
many of them apply only to Israel.
We have got to quit assuming
that just because some teacher of the
Word says the Bible says
something is ours, that it is.
We must understand the situation
and context in which the promises
were given -- promises of
blessing and/or cursing,
of redemption, et-cetera -- before we
can understand the promises themselves.
Let's take as an example 2 Chronicles
7:14. Most people today
are familiar with
that verse, but unfortunately the vast
majority of the church in America seems
to have gotten the idea
somewhere -- not from God -- that the
promise is to America. It
most assuredly is not. Let us
read the passage in its context
(2 Chronicles 7:11-20):
Thus Solomon finished the house of the Lord and the
king's palace, and successfully completed all that
he had planned on doing in the house of the Lord and
in his palace. Then the Lord appeared to Solomon at
night and said to him, "I have heard your prayer,
and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of
sacrifice. If I shut up the heavens so that there
is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the
land, or if I send pestilence among My people, and
My people who are called by My Name [over whom My
Name is called] humble themselves and pray, and seek
My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will
hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and
will heal their land. Now My eyes shall be open and
My ears attentive the prayer of this place. For now
I have chosen and consecrated this house that My
Name may be there forever, and My eyes and My heart
will be there perpetually."
The context here is the completion and
dedication of the temple
in Israel.
Note God's promise concerning "this house".
Speaking to Israel, the Lord promised
to forgive the nation and
heal the land if the nation would
repent. The entire nation is
called "My people". Israel
is called by God's Name. This
promise was NOT given to
Japan, Albania, or the United States,
none of which is a nation "called by
My Name". Unfortunately,
we in western society
have twisted the meaning for our own
supposed benefit to allegedly
say, "If My people which are
called by My Name (the Christians
within the country) ..." But
it does not say that. Now the
promise CAN apply to a nation
other than Israel
in a general way: certainly if any nation
(America included) will repent, God
will restore the nation and
forgive the sin and heal
the land. The key is the distinction
between who is Israel and who is not.
If the church is Israel,
then one can truly say, "If the
believers will repent and pray,
I'll restore their land." But believers
have already repented,
or else they wouldn't
be believers! The confusion comes from
erroneously assuming the church is
modern "spiritual Israel",
having replaced national
Israel. It does not say "If the
Christians will pray and intercede and
repent". Repent of what?
The believers are already the righteousness
of God in Jesus, and
it's not for the righteousness of the
believing 1% that America
will be judged, but for the sin
of the wicked 99% who refuse to
repent. The promise concerns
a NATION repenting, not God's
people WITHIN A NATION repenting and
praying. We are the temple
of the Holy Spirit, it is true,
but our repentance does not
nullify the justice and
righteousness of God. He cannot leave
America unjudged and remain a righteous
judge!
Elsewhere in the Bible we find the answer
to how God deals with
a wicked nation where a
few people are righteous. This is one
of those passages the modern Word
of Faith and Kingdom Now
people like to avoid,
because it pretty well debunks their
misinterpretation of 2 Chronicles
7:14. This is found in
Ezekiel 14:13-20, and it is one
of those places which speaks of
all nations in general (starting with
verse 21 -- not quoted
here -- the Lord starts to apply it
directly to Israel):
"Son of man, if a country sins against
Me by
committing unfaithfulness, and I stretch out My hand
against it, destroy its supply of bread, send famine
against it, and cut off from it both man and beast,
even though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job
were in its midst, by their own righteousness they
could only deliver themselves," declares the Lord
God. "If I were to cause wild
beasts to pass
through the land, and they bereave of children, and
it became desolate so that no one would pass through
it because of the beasts, though these three men
were in its midst, as I live," declares the Lord
God, "they could not deliver either their sons or
their daughters. They alone would be delivered, but
the country would be desolate. Or if I should bring
a sword on that country and say, 'Let the sword pass
through the country and cut off man and beast from
it,' even though these three men were in its midst,
as I live," declares the Lord God, "they could not
deliver either their sons or their daughters, but
they alone would be delivered. Or if I should send
a plague against that country and pour out My wrath
in blood on it, to cut off man and beast from it,
even though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in its midst,
as I live," declares the Lord God, "they could not
deliver either their son or their daughter. They
would deliver only themselves
by their
righteousness."
Can our righteousness deliver America?
What does God say about
it? The only
people who will be delivered are the righteous,
and we've got to quit praying out of
God's will and asking Him
to deliver the wicked,
because He is a righteous and just God
and He will judge sin. The smart
thing is to get your sin
judged on the cross
so you're free of it and you don't get
judged yourself. We need to pray
for people to get saved, and
for wisdom for our leaders, and
whatever else the Word tells us
to do. But know this: God
is about to judge this nation. It
is His will to do so, indeed, He MUST
do so. It is NOT His will
that any perish, but that all be saved.
Nevertheless, Scripture
is clear that God hates sin, and He
will destroy the nation that
continues to sin. He will also
leave a righteous remnant.
The next time you hear someone quoting
2 Chronicles 7:14 over
America and admonishing you to
pray for restoration of America,
just remember God isn't
going to restore America. God is
restoring Israel now, and human
government is coming to an end,
because the Messiah is about to return
as King of kings and Lord
of lords; and soon the Word
will be fulfilled which says, "The
kingdoms of this world have become the
kingdoms of our Lord and
He shall reign forever
and ever." Why should God put off
Messiah's return so Americans could
enjoy a few more years of
materialism and debauchery?
We need to get in on what God is
doing, not try to make Him conform to
American Christianity and
an American Jesus.
