God’s Future Dealing With Israel

I will not break off My lovingkindness from him, nor deal falsely in My faithfulness.
–Psalm 89:33

Why aren’t many Jews coming to Christ today? Some people say, “God rejected Israel because Israel rejected Christ.” In other words, Israel had a chance to accept Christ, but they rejected the Messiah. They crucified the Messiah, and because of that, God is finished with Israel. He has now taken all the promises that belonged to Israel and given them to the Christian Church.

That is the heart of amillennialism. Amillennialism is a view of Bible prophecy that says when Israel rejected Christ, God transferred the promises that belong to Israel to the Church; and not only did God transfer those promises, but He also transformed them from literal promises to spiritual promises. In other words, there is no literal land that belongs to Israel. The land that should have been theirs has now been given to the Church, and that land is no longer Israel; it is Heaven. That’s what an amillennialist believes: Israel rejected Christ, so Christ rejected Israel.

But the promise God made to Abraham and his descendants was not a conditional promise. It was an unconditional promise. After God made that promise to Abraham in Genesis 12, it was time to ratify that covenant. In Abraham’s day, whenever two kings entered into an agreement, they would ratify that agreement by taking two animals, cutting them in half, and laying them side by side with a path between them. Then the kings would each hold a torch and pass through the animal pieces together, signifying that the fulfillment of this promise depended on each party keeping his part of the bargain. In Genesis 15, God told Abraham to take animals and cut them in two, so he did. He laid some on one side and some on the other, but then God did something unbelievable–He put Abraham to sleep. When Abraham was asleep, God appeared as a flaming torch and walked through those animal pieces by Himself, signifying that the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham had nothing to do with Abraham. It had everything to do with the faithfulness of God. That is the unconditional promise that God made to Abraham.

In Psalm 89, God was talking about His future dealing with Israel. He said, “If they violate My statutes and do not keep My commandments, then I will punish their transgression with the rod and their iniquity with stripes” (89:31-32). God was saying, “If Israel disobeys My commandments, then I will discipline them.” Israel has a long history of suffering. God was saying, “If you rebel against Me, then I will send the Assyrians. I will send the Babylonians. You will suffer.” But look at what He said next: “But I will not break off My lovingkindness from him, nor deal falsely in My faithfulness. My covenant I will not violate, nor will I alter the utterance of My lips. Once I have sworn by My holiness; I will not lie to David. His descendants shall endure forever and his throne as the sun before Me. It shall be established forever like the moon, and the witness in the sky is faithful” (89:33-37). God says Israel’s disobedience would result in His discipline, but it would not cause Him to break His covenant with His people.

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Today’s devotion is excerpted from “Why The Jew Is Important To You” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2014.

Scripture quotations are taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.