What About The Old Testament Promises To Israel?

During our sermon series out of Matthew 24-25 I continue to address in this blog questions I know that many will have after hearing my preach on the subject of the Second Coming Of Jesus Christ.

This week’s question arises because in some views of the Second Coming a literal seven year Tribulation and a literal 1,000 year reign of Jesus Christ upon earth wherein a literal temple is rebuilt and Old Testament worship is restored are all focused upon God fulfilling his promises to the nation of Israel as made in the Old Testament. Yet, as we are making our way through Matthew 24, it has become apparent that I do not believe that the Tribulation is focused upon primarily upon the nation of Israel. Likewise, I have also stated I do not believe a literal temple will be rebuilt and Old Testament sacrifices restored with divine approval. I believe this is impossible in light of what Matthew 5:17-18, Colossians 2:16-17, and Hebrews 10:1 teach. What do they teach?  Namely, that the Law, along with its feasts, festivals, its sacrifices, and its dietary laws, points forward to Christ. It was all designed to lay a foundation for the coming Christ so we would grasp his life, death, resurrection, and saving benefits when he came. Yet, once he came, these Old Testament “shadows” are not needed.

If I am right, though we look forward to a time when a larger number of Jews will come to Christ as Savior (Rom. 11:25-32), we should not anticipate a time when God works with Israel as a national entity, restoring to them their land, and rebuilding a temple.

What, then, should we do with the Old Testament promises to Israel? Do we conclude that God does not keep his promises? Do we assume he forgot them?  The answer is, “No” to both. What we do is follow the lead of the New Testament authors to see how they view the promises. What we find is that God fulfills the promises in ways that run well beyond the extent to which Old Testament believers would have assumed he would. Consider:

• God will not merely give a small parcel of land to his people wherein they can experience rest and worship him truly (Deuteronomy 12:10-14). Instead, he will give to his people the earth (Matthew 5:5), but even more than the earth, the eternal new heaven and new earth wherein they can rest, worship and find joy for all eternity (Hebrews 4:1-16; Revelation 21-22). And, what is more, this will not merely be the nation of Israel and those connected to them who are blessed with this promise. It will be those united to Christ, Jew and Gentile who enter this rest and glory (Ephesians 2:11-22; 3:6; Revelation 5:9-10; 21:12-14) as a fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 12:3).
• No longer is true worship of God confined to a tabernacle in Israel or a temple in Jerusalem (John 4:21), for the Word, the Son, has tabernacled among us (John 1:14) and, as such has become the new temple (John 2:18-22). As a result, those united to Christ and thus with his Spirit, comprise the temple of God (1 Cor. 6:19; 2 Cor. 6:16), that is, we are “living stones…being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:5). The Church, then, united to Christ comprises that end-times temple promised in the Old Testament to which the nations will flock and worship the true God (Isaiah 2:1-5; 11:10-16; Ezekial 40-48).
• Note that God’s ultimate saving promises were never meant to be fulfilled in all ethnic Israel without distinction, but only in the remnant, that is, those who truly believe, true Israel—the tree into which Gentiles have been grafted (Romans 9:6-33; 11:11-24) and made “fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel” (Eph. 3:6), the “one new man in place of the two” (Eph. 2:15).

So, when we look at how the New Testament authors themselves deal with the Old Testament, it appears what God was doing with Israel as his Son (Hosea 11:1) pointed forward to and was fulfilled in Christ (Matthew 2:13-15) with the result now that those united to Christ (not to a nation), are recipients of the blessings, the promises of God by grace through faith. So, what God is doing is bringing all his promises to fulfillment in Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 1:20).

So, will God fulfill all his Old Testament promises to Israel?  Yes, but how much more glorious and extensive those promises will be based upon the further revelation of the New Testament!