By Amy Zewe—
Sorry to jar you, but sometimes we must ask ourselves this to understand if we are understanding God’s Word correctly.
As Antisemitism grows, not only has COVID fueled its conspiracy theories, the race wars seem to have mainstreamed elements that are falsely vilifying Jews and Israel. We discussed this last week with the term intersectionality.
But let us look at another term that is letting Christians fall victim to hate and even, dare I say it, by calling God a liar.
It is the idea of Replacement Theology. Those who follow or practice it do not know this term. We also see the term Supersessonalism used to describe it.
But what is it?
Replacement Theology is a cancer that started in the early church when gentile Christians were aligning themselves with state rulers and political powers, among other reasons.
Something called a-millennialism, a backbone doctrine of many mainstream Western dominations, sought to take the covenants (promises) God made to Israel and say they are for the gentile, Christian church.
This does two things: It makes those who adhere to it, in my humble opinion, not only thieves, but calling God a liar (perhaps not knowingly).
If God has made unconditional promises to Abraham and his descendants, who are we to say, “NO, those are our promises,” or claim the whole thing was just an allegory? (Allegory was another common tactic to remove the literal promises made to Israel—the nation and the people.)
Not all church theologians over the centuries agreed with this. Those early Zionist Christians saw God’s promises for Israel and the Jews as their destiny and it was not to be taken away or turned into allegory.
For a comprehensive overview of this topic in 2 hours, go to YouTube and watch Chuck Missler’s (KHouse.org) “Israel and The Church” two-session series posted Nov 2014. (He since passed in 2018.) Even two hours does not explain it all but gives you solid information to go study further and a strong foundation in these topics.
How does Chuck Missler define Replacement Theology?
Missler calls it a myth! A heresy. “Replacement theology is a non-Biblical outgrowth of Antisemitism in the early church that denies Israel’s place in God’s redemptive program”—FOR ALL OF HISTORY. And today, it is part of mainstream denominations to the point where the latest 2020 Danish translation of the Bible removes the term Israel from the text!
The roots of antisemitism were so deep in Europe you can find sermons and preachers’ writings with the most vile and hateful things said about Jews. You’d be shocked to think a Christian could even pen such things! These attitudes so permeated into society that an entire continent was complicit in the systematic genocide of a people by the 20th century: The Holocaust. Neighbors being hauled away—men, women, children–dragged to their extermination, raped, abused, humiliated in their own communities. Possessions looted, homes destroyed, businesses sacked. Think about it. You get angry to see a man subdued by officers on a video, what would you say to your neighbors if you saw a Gestapo haul them out of their homes, loot their property, smash their small children on pavement….what would you do?
The point is, we have God’s Covenant in the Hebrew Scriptures: unconditional promises to Abraham and his descendants, the Israelites (today, Jews and Israelis), about whom is 5/6 of the Bible’s content. The New Testament, with straight forward study, does not NEGATE any of it but indeed reiterates it, references it, supports it, and continues its promises for time still to come. The three main components of the Covenant:
The Abrahamic Convent, the promise to Abraham and his descendants that they will be a nation, a great people.
The Covenant of the Land, the actual real estate.
The Davidic Convent, the kingdom of God, Messiah, the line through which Messiah will come and the through which history will continue to move until his return.
And who seeks to remove or delete or erase any of these components, all via antisemitism, which is a demonic spirit that seeks to undercut and undermine these divine promises? Who is participating in this?
For the Abrahamic Covenant–the chosen people, an enduring people, whose descendants will permeate the world and be a blessing to it (including the Messiah), this covenant is being attacked by everyone. The UN, chanting crowds in Paris, chanting crowds in NYC, hate groups in Canada, vandals in Los Angeles, the list goes on—institutionally, internationally, or regionally—by groups and individuals. Antisemitism being the core thread, also includes the church, world rulers, and more. The antisemitism in the Western Church is palpable and overt since the 3rd century. The Holocaust of the 20th century was ushered in by this atmosphere. Today, we have the UN constantly condemning the Modern State, other leaders in the US Congress, the EU, and UK Parliament, as well as churches are usurping the covenant from their pulpits.
The Land Covenant—we see this every day with the Jihad of Muslims in the Middle East (and worldwide) both Arab and Persian (Iranian). The focus and constant drum beat that Jews cannot be in the land. The utter hatred to the death. The bloodlust to remove Jews and Israel from the map. This is now becoming a global cause as well. It is the Charter of the PA and Hamas and Hezbollah. More governments are piling on that Israel is somehow delegitimate, colonizing, imperializers, etc.
The Davidic Covenant—back to the Church. The Messiah is from the Jews and we cannot dismiss the study of Israel and the Jewish people for ALL of history: pre-first coming (Hebrew or Old Testament), the time between the first and second coming (33 AD to now), and the second coming and beyond (the future)—and yet replacement theology deletes the Davidic convent with the gentile church at the dawn of what men label the New Testament (The New Agreement according to some Danes). It is thievery. It is malpractice for preachers and seminaries to tow this line, and it is antisemitic: it is telling God he is a liar (and we don’t want to do that).
I am oversimplifying these things by a great magnitude to bring you a concise message that deserves a lifetime of study. But my point is, find out for yourself. Read the Bible with original eyes, not by what people are telling you. Translate words or look at verses in the original and see how they are meant to be, word by word, line by line and on context. See how much the Old Testament is quoted in the New, and remember the message was, “to the Jew first, and also to the gentile.” Israel’s role did not disappear 2000 years ago at the Cross. That is not the text. But you need to see it for yourself.
Many an earnest Christian with insights on a great many spiritual and theological matters, both past and even some present, have fallen into this snare of antisemitism and skewed Bible reading, but there is no excuse anymore. Too much information is available at our fingertips so that we can find truth for ourselves.
Shavua Tov, have a great week