Lenten Devotional, Day 32: Lent Day 32: Thumb-Nail Theology

Dear Longing Saints,

The Sabbath Scriptures are Psalm 130, Ezekiel 36, and Luke 24:44–53.

THUMB-NAIL THEOLOGY:

The Bible talks much of The Millennial Reign of Christ.  Unfortunately Christians talk little of it.  Hmm?

Whereas the whole world longs for it sorta but differently.  There is a generic ideation of World Peace, political Golden Age, new age Aquarius, islamic Twelfth Imam, jewish Messiah (not meaning Jesus), a.i. Singularity, human-machine, Fifth Industrial Revolution, intelligent design's Return of the Space "Bros", etc.  One thing to note: These are mostly different from concepts of heaven or after-life.  They are earthly scenarios/expectations.

Now lately we have been given Chapters that touch upon it, e.g. Isaiah 60 & Ezekiel 36.  (There are about four dozen or so Chapters; the Millennium is no small topic).  Anyway, this 1000-year period — whether figurative or could it be literal — is a time of peace and restoration on Earth.

Jesus is reigning in heaven now.  Period.  Full stop.  But will He come back and reign on earth? from Jerusalem? in the midst of a Messianic Jewish people?  Us Gentile believers too?  For a 1000-year sabbath if you will?  Each question is a sermon.

Lil history: In A.D.70, the Romans under Titus invaded Jerusalem/Judea and destroyed The Jewish Temple (cf. Matthew 23:38, 24:2).  At that time ~2 million Jews lived in Judea.  About half were killed, another 100,000 were sold as slaves, many were exiled, and after a generation of subsequent military actions as few as just hundreds remained in the Holy Land.

Sometime later, circa A.D.400, Augustine came up with or solidified a new interpretation for unfulfilled prophecies concerning Israel.  He argued they willl never be a nation again, they rejected Christ with a blood oath (rf. Matthew 27:25), and he felt they bore the "mark of Cain" and would forever be a wandering people.  Ergo it must be that the church has replaced Israel in all the remaining unfulfilled prophecies and promises (see example below).  Note: First and second wave Protestant reformers held similar views, more or less.

Now let me give you two Verses from today and make an elevator pitch about the Millennium: "I [God] will take you [Jews] from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land [Israel]....You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be My people, and I will be your God." (Ezekiel 36:24, 28).

A literal fulfillment seemed impossible for nearly two millennia.  For 1900 years of church history it seemed impossible, truly impossible, that the Israelites/Jews would ever be a nation again.  They were spread to the four winds.  The Holy Land was desolate well into the late 1800s (Mark Twain).  Arab Bedouins were nomadic upon it and even they were scarce, but mostly it was owned by absentee Turkish sultans as a remnant of the Ottoman Empire.

So those verses above and hundreds more were taken figuratively as: God will save people from all nations and place them in the universal church spiritually, in an ever-expanding Christendom governmentally, and in heaven upon death.

But then in 1948 the prophecies started coming literally true: aliyah/repatriation (rf. Isaiah 49:22, 66:20; Ezekiel 34:13, 36:24; Amos 9:15), rebirth of the nation (rf. Isaiah 66:8), revival of the Hebrew language from near extinction (rf. Zephaniah 3:9), miraculous deliverances (Psalm 83), from desert to dessert/garden (Isaiah 35:1, 51:3), the center of world attention/trouble (Ezekiel 5:5, 38:12; Zechariah 12:2, 3).  There are dozens and dozens of prophecies more at the cusp(?), especially the most spiritual ones Isaiah 62, Ezekiel 37, etc.

A figurative interpretation seemed so reasonable until 1948.  I totally get that.  And most of Christendom still interprets unfulfilled Verses about Israel figuratively.  But I am of that ilk willing to swim upstream and say: O my goodness, God You meant it literally, You have not replaced the Jews/Israel as a people, a land, and in certain Biblical, especially end-time purposes.

Now let me interpret Ezekiel 36:24, 28: Father, You own sovereign responsibility for gathering Jews from the nations and repatriating them to a land that You call their ancient, promised land, and have every intention of restoring them (through great trial) to Yourself in Christ Jesus/Yeshua Hamashiach.  Any and every prophecy like that smacks of being a God-good thing, at least in the long, patient view.

Fast-forward, indeed half of all Jews have returned (made aliyah) back to Israel.  Ancient, Biblical Prophecies seem to be coming true literally in our day.  Off-the-chart anti-semitism is pressuring Jews from even prosperous Western nations to consider repatriation.  They are the epicenter of geopolitics.  Etc. etc. etc.

I just tried to reduce a massive idea from 150 eschatological Chapters of the Bible, 50 being Millennial, from off the top of my heart to its proverbial snow-flea-on-the-tip-of-an-iceberg version.  This isn't about having all the right answers and everything figured out.  But I am at least finding and commend that a literal view of Israel concerning unfulfilled prophecies is providing the necessary categories/bins I need to "watch and pray" (rf Luke 21:34–36) or in Jewish parlance to be a "son of Issachar" (1 Chronicles 12:32).

And o ya, nothing is so devotional as wondering at His feet: Is this Scripture literally happening before my eyes! in my lifetime! Linger, ponder, marvel, pray — don't force answers; they will come in due time.

The Only Best in/is Christ,

tIM