OUR DAILY BREAD

Those of you who have read my blog over the years, know that I have the utmost respect for the contributors of material for the Our Daily Bread devotional. The Lord has used it to guide me, to rebuke me, and to encourage me for nearly forty years. But like all Christians, occasionally, their writers get things wrong. Today's devotion is an example. And while the error is not really a big deal, nevertheless, it could be interpreted as supporting Replacement Theology.

Replacement Theology is a theological perspective that teaches that the Jews have been rejected by God, and are no longer God’s Chosen People. Those who hold to this view disavow any ethnic future for the Jewish people in connection with the biblical covenants, believing that their spiritual destiny is either to perish or become a part of Christianity. While it is true that in order for a Jew to be saved during the Church Age, he must accept Jesus as his Messiah, as his Lord and Savior, the Church has not replaced the Jews as His chosen people.

The age in which we now live, the Church Age, is a parenthetical period that falls between the sixty-ninth and seventieth week of Daniel's Seventy Weeks Prophecy (Dan. 9:24-27). The sixty-ninth week ended with the Crucifixion of Israel's Messiah, and the seventieth week will be the Tribulation, which is described as the "Time of Jacob's Trouble" in Jeremiah 30:7. It is my understanding that Israel will "regain its sight" (Rom. 11:25) when the Antichrist commits the Abomination of Desolation midway through the seven year Tribulation (Dan. 9:27; 12:11; Matt. 24:15; etc.). It is at that time the Lord will give His people, Israel, a new heart (Rom. 11:26-29).

During the Church Age, Jews have the opportunity to repent and receive the gift of salvation the same way non-Jews (Greeks, Gentiles) do. Romans 10:9-13 says:

"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."

That is what the Apostle Paul meant by a Christian becoming a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17; Eph. 4:24). However, the passage in Ezekiel refers to God changing the hearts of all Jews during the Tribulation. The Church has not replaced Israel in God's plan, but has been "created" in order to make the Jews jealous (Rom. 11:11). God's love for Israel is the same as His love for His Church: never ending!

The Jews do not need to wait to accept Jesus Christ;
The Gentiles had better not wait to accept Jesus Christ!