Hi Jeffrey! Looks like Brandon created a new space for our discussion on your three questions put to me a little while ago. Thank you, Brandon. I’m still very much learning my way around your site and what’s available to us here. I appreciate your patience with me on that.
So, back to your three questions, Jeffrey:
You asked this first question two different times, so I referenced them both here. You asked for my opinion/thoughts on the nation of Israel as it is today.
Overall, and probably to my discredit, I don’t give Israel a lot of my “thinking” time because most of that is spent on studying God’s word and meditating on it. I pray for the peace of Jerusalem and for God’s will to be realized in His time, but I honestly haven’t spent any quality time thinking about whether the Israel of today is the same as Biblical Israel.
However, in thinking about it now, I would have to say, no, the Israel of today is not like Biblical Israel:
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Today, approximately 21% of the residents of Israel are Arabs. And, although approximately 74% of the population is of Jewish ethnicity, at least 20% of those don’t even believe in God!
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Biblical Israel was chosen by God as a people unto Himself, a “peculiar” people as viewed by the rest of the world (maybe that’s still true
). Ever since Israel rejected their Saviour, God has put them “on ice”, so to speak, when He paused the prophetic time clock and focused His attention on building the church, the body of Christ. He’s been doing that for over 2,000 years now. God hasn’t communicated openly with Israel since then, whereas Biblical Israel heard from God in a number of different ways through various spokesmen. Today, God is silent towards Israel.
Do I think God is done with Israel? No, God isn’t done with Israel. As you’re probably aware, I believe in a pre-Tribulation catching away of the body of Christ. When we are taken out of the way, the Antichrist will be revealed on earth as the Tribulation period begins, which is all about Israel and God’s wrath being poured out. When that ends with the appearance of Jesus Christ to save Israel from total annihilation, He sets up his physical kingdom on earth in Jerusalem and implements the New Covenant with the nation of Israel (Jeremiah 31:31-40). After that, Satan is released for a little time, then comes the White Throne Judgment and the lake of fire.
I went back to my response to sNOwflakes to make sure I understood what caused you to ask this question:
There’s no more law for those of us in the church, the body of Christ (see Galatians 3:24-25; Romans 3:19-31; Romans 6:14; Romans 8:3-4; Romans 10:4; Galatians 2:16).
The KJV Bible says that on the 2nd day of Creation, He created the firmament and placed the firmament “in the midst of the waters” so as to “divide the waters from the waters” (Genesis 1:6-8). I have a hard time picturing this in my mind’s eye because I have no idea what Earth truly looked like at the time except that the surface was covered by water. Genesis 1:8 says God called the firmament heaven.
Smith’s Bible Dictionary defines the firmament as, “…the great arch of expanse over our heads, in which are placed the atmosphere and the clouds, and in which the stars appear to be placed, and are really seen.”
In Genesis 1:14-19, God created the sun, moon, and stars in the “firmament of the heaven” to shed light upon Earth. As we now know that these celestial bodies are situated in what we call, “outer space,” then it must be this heaven that God calls the firmament.
So, because I believe the KJV Bible to contain the Truth of God, that’s what I picture as being the firmament. As a caveat, however, Paul does indicate that there are three “heavens” (2 Corinthians 12:2), and he refers to the third heaven as “paradise” (2 Cor 12:4). I’d like to know for certain what Paul was thinking the second heaven to be. I’m assuming it’s the firmament (where the sun, moon, and stars are) based on his knowledge of the Scriptures as a Pharisee. That would leave the first heaven to be where the birds fly and the clouds are formed.
And there you have my feedback on your three questions, Jeffrey.