Replacement Theology Dangers
This was an interesting and timely take on an old issue revisited by an anonymous writer.. take a look...
Replacement Theology by Anonymous, 1989
There is a lot of confusion going around these days about God's promises, even among our own ranks here at (unnamed organization). I'd like to take this opportunity to dispel a little of the confusion.
There is a powerful movement afoot called Replacement Theology which states that the church is Israel and the promises given to Israel were primarily for the church. This movement is incurring the wrath of God, as it increasingly condemns the nation of Israel as illegitimate, which is natural for folks who believe the church has replaced Israel. Even among those who still hold to Israel to one degree or another, there seems to be a propensity for yanking Old Testament promises out of the Bible -- and, I might add, out of context -- and indiscriminately applying them to modern church situations. The tendency is to select those promises which fit church theology (like healing, prosperity, victory) and ignore those which do not (like punishment for rebellion, keeping of feasts, sacrifices). To set the record straight: the church did not yet exist when those promises were given, and they were not given to Israel as a "type" of the church until the church should inherit them. The Old Testament promises were given to Israel, and they apply to Israel. Many of them ALSO apply to the church in a general way, and many of them apply to all nations in a general way, and many of them apply only to Israel. We have got to quit assuming that just because some teacher of the Word says the Bible says something is ours, that it is. We must understand the situation and context in which the promises were given -- promises of blessing and/or cursing, of redemption, et-cetera -- before we can understand the promises themselves.
Let's take as an example 2 Chronicles 7:14. Most people today are familiar with that verse, but unfortunately the vast majority of the church in America seems to have gotten the idea somewhere -- not from God -- that the promise is to America. It most assuredly is not. Let us read the passage in its context (2 Chronicles 7:11-20):
Thus Solomon finished the house of the Lord and the king's palace, and successfully completed all that he had planned on doing in the house of the Lord and in his palace. Then the Lord appeared to Solomon at night and said to him, "I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people, and My people who are called by My Name [over whom My Name is called] humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. Now My eyes shall be open and My ears attentive the prayer of this place. For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that My Name may be there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually."
The context here is the completion and dedication of the temple in Israel. Note God's promise concerning "this house". Speaking to Israel, the Lord promised to forgive the nation and heal the land if the nation would repent. The entire nation is called "My people". Israel is called by God's Name. This promise was NOT given to Japan, Albania, or the United States, none of which is a nation "called by My Name". Unfortunately, we in western society have twisted the meaning for our own supposed benefit to allegedly say, "If My people which are called by My Name (the Christians within the country) ..." But it does not say that. Now the promise CAN apply to a nation other than Israel in a general way: certainly if any nation (America included) will repent, God will restore the nation and forgive the sin and heal the land. The key is the distinction between who is Israel and who is not. If the church is Israel, then one can truly say, "If the believers will repent and pray, I'll restore their land." But believers have already repented, or else they wouldn't be believers! The confusion comes from erroneously assuming the church is modern "spiritual Israel", having replaced national Israel. It does not say "If the Christians will pray and intercede and repent". Repent of what? The believers are already the righteousness of God in Jesus, and it's not for the righteousness of the believing 1% that America will be judged, but for the sin of the wicked 99% who refuse to repent. The promise concerns a NATION repenting, not God's people WITHIN A NATION repenting and praying. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit, it is true, but our repentance does not nullify the justice and righteousness of God. He cannot leave America unjudged and remain a righteous judge!
Elsewhere in the Bible we find the answer to how God deals with a wicked nation where a few people are righteous. This is one of those passages the modern Word of Faith and Kingdom Now people like to avoid, because it pretty well debunks their misinterpretation of 2 Chronicles 7:14. This is found in Ezekiel 14:13-20, and it is one of those places which speaks of all nations in general (starting with verse 21 -- not quoted here -- the Lord starts to apply it directly to Israel):
"Son of man, if a country sins against Me by committing unfaithfulness, and I stretch out My hand against it, destroy its supply of bread, send famine against it, and cut off from it both man and beast, even though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job were in its midst, by their own righteousness they could only deliver themselves," declares the Lord God. "If I were to cause wild beasts to pass through the land, and they bereave of children, and it became desolate so that no one would pass through it because of the beasts, though these three men were in its midst, as I live," declares the Lord God, "they could not deliver either their sons or their daughters. They alone would be delivered, but the country would be desolate. Or if I should bring a sword on that country and say, 'Let the sword pass through the country and cut off man and beast from it,' even though these three men were in its midst, as I live," declares the Lord God, "they could not deliver either their sons or their daughters, but they alone would be delivered. Or if I should send a plague against that country and pour out My wrath in blood on it, to cut off man and beast from it, even though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in its midst, as I live," declares the Lord God, "they could not deliver either their son or their daughter. They would deliver only themselves by their righteousness."
Can our righteousness deliver America? What does God say about it? The only people who will be delivered are the righteous, and we've got to quit praying out of God's will and asking Him to deliver the wicked, because He is a righteous and just God and He will judge sin. The smart thing is to get your sin judged on the cross so you're free of it and you don't get judged yourself. We need to pray for people to get saved, and for wisdom for our leaders, and whatever else the Word tells us to do. But know this: God is about to judge this nation. It is His will to do so, indeed, He MUST do so. It is NOT His will that any perish, but that all be saved. Nevertheless, Scripture is clear that God hates sin, and He will destroy the nation that continues to sin. He will also leave a righteous remnant.
The next time you hear someone quoting 2 Chronicles 7:14 over America and admonishing you to pray for restoration of America, just remember God isn't going to restore America. God is restoring Israel now, and human government is coming to an end, because the Messiah is about to return as King of kings and Lord of lords; and soon the Word will be fulfilled which says, "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and He shall reign forever and ever." Why should God put off Messiah's return so Americans could enjoy a few more years of materialism and debauchery? We need to get in on what God is doing, not try to make Him conform to American Christianity and an American Jesus.
Replacement Theology by Anonymous, 1989
There is a lot of confusion going around these days about God's promises, even among our own ranks here at (unnamed organization). I'd like to take this opportunity to dispel a little of the confusion.
There is a powerful movement afoot called Replacement Theology which states that the church is Israel and the promises given to Israel were primarily for the church. This movement is incurring the wrath of God, as it increasingly condemns the nation of Israel as illegitimate, which is natural for folks who believe the church has replaced Israel. Even among those who still hold to Israel to one degree or another, there seems to be a propensity for yanking Old Testament promises out of the Bible -- and, I might add, out of context -- and indiscriminately applying them to modern church situations. The tendency is to select those promises which fit church theology (like healing, prosperity, victory) and ignore those which do not (like punishment for rebellion, keeping of feasts, sacrifices). To set the record straight: the church did not yet exist when those promises were given, and they were not given to Israel as a "type" of the church until the church should inherit them. The Old Testament promises were given to Israel, and they apply to Israel. Many of them ALSO apply to the church in a general way, and many of them apply to all nations in a general way, and many of them apply only to Israel. We have got to quit assuming that just because some teacher of the Word says the Bible says something is ours, that it is. We must understand the situation and context in which the promises were given -- promises of blessing and/or cursing, of redemption, et-cetera -- before we can understand the promises themselves.
Let's take as an example 2 Chronicles 7:14. Most people today are familiar with that verse, but unfortunately the vast majority of the church in America seems to have gotten the idea somewhere -- not from God -- that the promise is to America. It most assuredly is not. Let us read the passage in its context (2 Chronicles 7:11-20):
Thus Solomon finished the house of the Lord and the king's palace, and successfully completed all that he had planned on doing in the house of the Lord and in his palace. Then the Lord appeared to Solomon at night and said to him, "I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people, and My people who are called by My Name [over whom My Name is called] humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. Now My eyes shall be open and My ears attentive the prayer of this place. For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that My Name may be there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually."
The context here is the completion and dedication of the temple in Israel. Note God's promise concerning "this house". Speaking to Israel, the Lord promised to forgive the nation and heal the land if the nation would repent. The entire nation is called "My people". Israel is called by God's Name. This promise was NOT given to Japan, Albania, or the United States, none of which is a nation "called by My Name". Unfortunately, we in western society have twisted the meaning for our own supposed benefit to allegedly say, "If My people which are called by My Name (the Christians within the country) ..." But it does not say that. Now the promise CAN apply to a nation other than Israel in a general way: certainly if any nation (America included) will repent, God will restore the nation and forgive the sin and heal the land. The key is the distinction between who is Israel and who is not. If the church is Israel, then one can truly say, "If the believers will repent and pray, I'll restore their land." But believers have already repented, or else they wouldn't be believers! The confusion comes from erroneously assuming the church is modern "spiritual Israel", having replaced national Israel. It does not say "If the Christians will pray and intercede and repent". Repent of what? The believers are already the righteousness of God in Jesus, and it's not for the righteousness of the believing 1% that America will be judged, but for the sin of the wicked 99% who refuse to repent. The promise concerns a NATION repenting, not God's people WITHIN A NATION repenting and praying. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit, it is true, but our repentance does not nullify the justice and righteousness of God. He cannot leave America unjudged and remain a righteous judge!
Elsewhere in the Bible we find the answer to how God deals with a wicked nation where a few people are righteous. This is one of those passages the modern Word of Faith and Kingdom Now people like to avoid, because it pretty well debunks their misinterpretation of 2 Chronicles 7:14. This is found in Ezekiel 14:13-20, and it is one of those places which speaks of all nations in general (starting with verse 21 -- not quoted here -- the Lord starts to apply it directly to Israel):
"Son of man, if a country sins against Me by committing unfaithfulness, and I stretch out My hand against it, destroy its supply of bread, send famine against it, and cut off from it both man and beast, even though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job were in its midst, by their own righteousness they could only deliver themselves," declares the Lord God. "If I were to cause wild beasts to pass through the land, and they bereave of children, and it became desolate so that no one would pass through it because of the beasts, though these three men were in its midst, as I live," declares the Lord God, "they could not deliver either their sons or their daughters. They alone would be delivered, but the country would be desolate. Or if I should bring a sword on that country and say, 'Let the sword pass through the country and cut off man and beast from it,' even though these three men were in its midst, as I live," declares the Lord God, "they could not deliver either their sons or their daughters, but they alone would be delivered. Or if I should send a plague against that country and pour out My wrath in blood on it, to cut off man and beast from it, even though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in its midst, as I live," declares the Lord God, "they could not deliver either their son or their daughter. They would deliver only themselves by their righteousness."
Can our righteousness deliver America? What does God say about it? The only people who will be delivered are the righteous, and we've got to quit praying out of God's will and asking Him to deliver the wicked, because He is a righteous and just God and He will judge sin. The smart thing is to get your sin judged on the cross so you're free of it and you don't get judged yourself. We need to pray for people to get saved, and for wisdom for our leaders, and whatever else the Word tells us to do. But know this: God is about to judge this nation. It is His will to do so, indeed, He MUST do so. It is NOT His will that any perish, but that all be saved. Nevertheless, Scripture is clear that God hates sin, and He will destroy the nation that continues to sin. He will also leave a righteous remnant.
The next time you hear someone quoting 2 Chronicles 7:14 over America and admonishing you to pray for restoration of America, just remember God isn't going to restore America. God is restoring Israel now, and human government is coming to an end, because the Messiah is about to return as King of kings and Lord of lords; and soon the Word will be fulfilled which says, "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and He shall reign forever and ever." Why should God put off Messiah's return so Americans could enjoy a few more years of materialism and debauchery? We need to get in on what God is doing, not try to make Him conform to American Christianity and an American Jesus.
posted by Napoleon at 6:22 PM
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