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Source: https://prophecywatchers.com/feed/

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<dc:creator><![CDATA[Prophecy Watchers]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Sun, 03 Mar 2024 20:57:30 +0000</pubDate>
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<description><![CDATA[Here is the PDF for the 10 Kings presentation that Mondo gave at the Orlando 2024 Prophecy Summit. 10 KINGS PPT ORLANDO 2024 Below is […]
The post <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com/tenkings/">TenKings</a> appeared first on <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com">The Prophecy Watchers</a>.
]]></description>
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Here is the PDF for the 10 Kings presentation that Mondo gave at the Orlando 2024 Prophecy Summit.
<a href="https://prophecywatchers.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/10-KINGS-PPT-ORLANDO-2024.pdf">10 KINGS PPT ORLANDO 2024</a>
Below is an article that was 100% created from ChatGPT4. I gave it this query:
“Create an article on How Technocratic Oligarchs Are Gaining Wealth, Influence and Control.”
The following is what it spit out. Pretty amazing that the A.I. also added a section I didn’t ask for on the risks and implications of the technocratic oligarchs.
<h3> How Technocratic Oligarchs Are Gaining Wealth, Influence and Control</h3>
<h3>A Critical Analysis of the Rise of the New Elite</h3>
<h4>Introduction</h4>
The 21st century has witnessed the emergence of a new class of powerful actors in the global arena: the technocratic oligarchs. These are the billionaires who have built and dominated digital platforms, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and other cutting-edge sectors, and who have amassed enormous fortunes as a result. They are not only the richest people in the world, but also the most influential, as they shape the policies, norms, and values of the societies they operate in. They are often portrayed as visionary innovators, philanthropists, and benefactors of humanity, but they also pose serious challenges to democracy, equality, and human rights. This document analyzes how technocratic oligarchs are gaining wealth, influence and control, and what are the implications and risks of their rise for the future of humanity.
<h4>How Technocratic Oligarchs Are Gaining Wealth</h4>
The technocratic oligarchs are the main beneficiaries of the digital revolution, which has created unprecedented opportunities for wealth creation and accumulation. They have leveraged their expertise, networks, and resources to create and control the platforms and services that are essential for the functioning of the modern economy and society. These platforms and services include social media, e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, search engines, streaming, gaming, and more. They have also invested heavily in emerging and disruptive technologies, such as artificial intelligence, biotechnology, nanotechnology, robotics, and space exploration, which have the potential to transform various industries and sectors. By doing so, they have established monopolies or oligopolies in their respective domains, and have captured a large share of the value and profits generated by these technologies. They have also exploited the loopholes and gaps in the regulation and taxation of the digital economy, and have avoided or minimized their social and environmental responsibilities. As a result, they have accumulated enormous wealth, which far exceeds that of the traditional elites, such as industrialists, bankers, and politicians.
<h4>How Technocratic Oligarchs Are Gaining Influence and Control</h4>
The technocratic oligarchs are not only wealthy, but also influential and powerful. They have used their wealth to shape public opinion, the political agenda, and the policy outcomes in their favor. They have done so by funding and supporting various media outlets, think tanks, research institutions, advocacy groups, and political candidates and parties, which promote their interests and values. They have also leveraged their platforms and services to influence the behavior, preferences, and beliefs of billions of users, who depend on them for information, communication, entertainment, and education. They have used their data and algorithms to manipulate, persuade, and nudge the users, and to create echo chambers, filter bubbles, and polarized communities. They have also deployed their technologies to monitor, track, and surveil the users, and to collect and analyze their personal and behavioral data, which they use for commercial and political purposes. They have also exerted their influence and control over the innovation and regulation of the technologies they develop and deploy, and have resisted or undermined the attempts to limit or challenge their power and accountability. They have also expanded their influence and control beyond their national borders, and have become global actors, who shape international relations, the global governance, and the global development.
<h4>Implications and Risks of the Rise of the Technocratic Oligarchs</h4>
The rise of the technocratic oligarchs has profound implications and risks for the future of humanity. On the one hand, they have contributed to the advancement of science, technology, and innovation, and have created new opportunities and benefits for many people and sectors. They have also supported and funded various social and environmental causes, such as education, health, poverty, climate change, and human rights. They have also advocated for the values of openness, diversity, and inclusion, and have challenged the status quo and the established authorities. On the other hand, they have also created and exacerbated various social and environmental problems, such as inequality, polarization, disinformation, surveillance, exploitation, and manipulation. They have also threatened and undermined the values and principles of democracy, human rights, and the rule of law, and have challenged the sovereignty and legitimacy of the states and the international organizations. They have also posed existential and ethical risks to humanity, as they develop and deploy technologies that could alter the nature and destiny of the human species, such as artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and geoengineering. They have also created a new form of techno-authoritarianism, which could lead to the concentration and centralization of power and wealth in the hands of a few, and the marginalization and exclusion of the many.
<h4>Conclusion</h4>
The technocratic oligarchs are the new elite of the 21st century, who have gained wealth, influence and control through the development and domination of digital and emerging technologies. They have become the key actors and shapers of the global economy, society, and politics, and have created both opportunities and challenges for humanity. They have also raised fundamental questions and dilemmas about the role and responsibility of technology and the technologists in the world, and the need and possibility of the regulation and governance of the technology and the technologists. The future of humanity depends on how we address these questions and dilemmas, and how we balance the benefits and risks of technology and the technocracy.
 The post <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com/tenkings/">TenKings</a> appeared first on <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com">The Prophecy Watchers</a>.
]]></content:encoded>
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<title>Australia</title>
<link>https://prophecywatchers.com/australia/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Mondo Gonzales]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Fri, 02 Feb 2024 01:47:53 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://prophecywatchers.com/?p=615840</guid>
<description><![CDATA[To download the Rapture notes click HERE To download the Red Heifer notes click HERE
The post <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com/australia/">Australia</a> appeared first on <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com">The Prophecy Watchers</a>.
]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[To download the Rapture notes click <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/The-Rapture-a-Promising-Comfort-Australia.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HERE</a>
To download the Red Heifer notes click <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/AUSTRALIA-Red-Heifers.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HERE</a>
The post <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com/australia/">Australia</a> appeared first on <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com">The Prophecy Watchers</a>.
]]></content:encoded>
</item>
<item>
<title>Jews</title>
<link>https://prophecywatchers.com/jews/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Mondo Gonzales]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Sun, 24 Dec 2023 22:20:03 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
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<description><![CDATA[There is much confusion today about modern Israel and whether the people living in the state of Israel are the real Jews from ancient times. […]
The post <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com/jews/">Jews</a> appeared first on <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com">The Prophecy Watchers</a>.
]]></description>
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There is much confusion today about modern Israel and whether the people living in the state of Israel are the real Jews from ancient times. Some claim that Hebrews are different than Jews which are also different than Biblical Israel. I address these false assertions in the first article below “Who are the Hebrews…?”
The 2nd theory deals with the erroneous idea that the modern state of Israel is made up of non-ethnic Jews who descended from the Khazars. There is a short video followed by the well-written article from Dr. Tommy Ice refuting the Khazarian theory. You can access that page here: <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com/are-modern-israeli-jews-true-jews/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://prophecywatchers.com/are-modern-israeli-jews-true-jews/</a>
In addition, many ask how we can support modern Israel. I address that in another section below entitled, “What is the Spiritual Condition of National Israel Today?”
Who are the Hebrews? And are the Jews the same as Israel?
By Mondo Gonzales
Ever since the October 7, 2023, terrorist attack against Israel and their justified war to eradicate Hamas, the increase of antisemitism worldwide has skyrocketed. Now, I have believed that there will always be a certain level of antisemitism in our cultures until Jesus returns. Yet I was surprised to see how the latest murderous rampage of Hamas has allowed a far more pervasive antisemitism than believed to be exposed. There have been dozens of well attended pro-Hamas rallies around the world espousing the genocidal rant “From river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
Think of it… this chant is being picked up by people of all types which of course is rooted in blatant hypocrisy. These crowds believe that Israel is an apartheid state committing genocide against the Palestinians. These are ridiculous claims for many reasons, but they are unable to see that the exact crimes they accuse Israel of perpetuating, their mantra is publicly endorsing. I read the entire Hamas charter last week and it is crystal clear what they want. The hate filled rant undeniably has its roots in the Hamas charter. They are fully committed to removing ALL Jews from the promised land. From the Jordan river in the east all the way west to the Mediterranean Sea.
I watched a public forum question and answer last week at Oxford that featured Ben Shapiro answering questions from a hostile crowd. Over and over, he asked each antagonist, “How much of the land of Israel do you consider occupied territory?” Each one of them answered, “All of it.” He responded with the only logical conclusion to the questioners, “Thank you for being honest. Then you are definitely not for a Two state solution and most likely for genocide of all Jews living in the land of Israel.”
Many brought up the idea that Israel is an apartheid state. Yet he responded and reminded them that there are almost 2 million Arabs who have FULL Israeli citizenship living within the borders of Israel and then asked them how many Jews are allowed to live in Gaza. The answer is ZERO. And when it comes to many areas in Judea and Samaria (a.k.a. the West Bank), there are signs which I have seen personally which warn that any Jews which cross over into these areas put their own lives at risk. Wouldn’t that be the definition of apartheid? Yet the people raging against Ben Shapiro were unable or unwilling to acknowledge that the true apartheid and hypocritical actions are clearly being perpetrated by the various Palestinian leadership groups.
Unfortunately, the modern evangelical church has done a poor job of defending the Biblical promises of God granting the land of Israel to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob forever. This often is the result of creative hermeneutics and neglecting to interpret the Bible in a normal, literal, grammatical, historical method. It also is the fruit of replacement (a.k.a. fulfillment) theology which espouses that all the OT promises have been fulfilled in Jesus and therefore, there is nothing more expected in relation to the future of national Israel among other end time prophetic events.
This brings up the assertions that come in various forms that the modern state of Israel has nothing to do with biblical Israel. In addition, others try to say that biblical Israel is not the same as the Jews. Therefore, the Jews of today are not biblical Israel. These are fair questions when they are brought up in an attitude of humility wondering how to correlate the various biblical nuances of who is a Hebrew, Israelite, and Jew. When dealing with the increasing antisemitism foisting itself upon our society, it would be helpful to speak with a greater level of precision in these important matters. There are a lot of opinions, but if we simply go back to the biblical evidence, we can see that all three terms refer to the same group of people. In short, the Hebrew, Jew, and Israelite terms all refer to all the ethnic descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
This article will examine all the evidence in the Old and New Testament Scriptures.
Who is a Hebrew?
If you really want to go deep into the various names, I encourage you to check out the articles found in the Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament. It is a 15-volume lexical dictionary that covers thoroughly every major Hebrew word.
The first place that the word Hebrew (in the Hebrew language it is transliterated ivriy) appears is in Genesis and reads, “Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, who was living by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and of Aner. These were allies of Abram” (Gen 14:13).
Early on Abram is designated a Hebrew. There are various theories as to the origination (etymology) of the word Hebrew, but there isn’t a complete consensus. Exactly how or where it came from is actually irrelevant when examining the biblical data. Clearly Abram is called a Hebrew which is a good start for understanding how this designation is passed on to his specific descendants.
The next time we see the word is 5 times in connection with the story of Joseph being in Egypt and resisting the advances of Potiphar’s wife. We read, “…she called to the men of her household and said to them, ‘See, he has brought among us a Hebrew to laugh at us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice’” (Gen 39:14; see also 39:17; 40:15; 41:12). What we gain from these verses is that Joseph, a son of Jacob, grandson of Isaac and great grandson of Abraham is called a Hebrew. In addition, we observe that the entire family group of Jacob’s sons are called Hebrews as distinct from the Egyptians. The biblical text affirms, “They served him by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because the Egyptians could not eat with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the Egyptians” (Gen 43:32).
The next 13 occurrences all are contained within the Exodus story and concern the Hebrew midwives, Moses watching an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, and Moses describing Yahweh as the God of the Hebrews to Pharoah (Exodus 1:15, 16, 19; 2:6, 7, 11, 13; 3:18; 5:3; 7:16; 9:1, 13; 10:3).
An important connection is made between the designation Hebrew and the people called Israel. Notice, “And they will listen to your voice, and you and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us; and now, please let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God’” (Exodus 3:18). This passage connects that the “Hebrews” and “people of Israel” names are synonymous with no distinctions.
The last two instances in the Pentateuch/Torah appear as parallel texts and describe that once again the people of Israel are called Hebrews by God, “”If your brother, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you, he shall serve you six years, and in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you” (Deuteronomy 15:12; Ex 21:2).
The book of 1 Samuel has much to say about the connection between the terms Hebrew and Israelite. Notice the quote of the Philistines, “And when the ark of the covenant of the LORD came into the camp, all Israel shouted so loudly that the earth shook.  Now when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, “What does the sound of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews mean?” Then they understood that the ark of the LORD had come into the camp” (1 Samuel 4:5-6).
Two more examples will suffice to show that not only in the time of Joseph and the Exodus, but in the time of the judges, Israel and Hebrews as names were synonymous. “And Jonathan attacked the garrison of the Philistines that was in Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. Then Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear!” Now all Israel heard it said that Saul had attacked a garrison of the Philistines, and that Israel had also become an abomination to the Philistines. And the people were called together to Saul at Gilgal” (1 Sam 13:3-4).
“Now there was no blacksmith to be found throughout all the land of Israel, for the Philistines said, “Lest the Hebrews make swords or spears. But all the Israelites would go down to the Philistines to sharpen each man’s plowshare, his mattock, his ax, and his sickle” (1 Sam. 13:19-20; see also 14:11, 21; 29:3).
Over 500-600 years later from the time of the Judges, we get another helpful piece of information in the biblical text referencing the designation Hebrew, but this time it is with the word Jew (the Hebrew word Yehudi). Jeremiah writes, “The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem to make a proclamation of liberty to them, that everyone should set free his Hebrew slaves, male and female, so that no one should enslave a Jew, his brother” (Jer 34:8-9).
In summary, the OT clearly associates the Hebrews, the Israelites, and the Jews as synonymous terms and speaking of the ethnic descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. When we come to the New Testament it is confirmed again. We will discuss more specific details about the term Israel or Israelite in the next section, but notice what Paul says, “Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I” (2 Corinthians 11:22).
It is interesting that Paul does not buy into the concept that Israel could not be called Israel simply because much (not all) of the 10 tribes of the northern kingdom were exiled by the Assyrians in 722 BC. The so called “lost tribes of Israel” theory. The idea of Israel still being a conglomerate of all the various tribes was still maintained in the 1st century. We see that Anna knew she was from the tribe of Asher (Luke 2:36). More on this in the next section.
Paul once again uses the term Hebrew in connection with the name and people of Israel. He writes about his ancestry, “though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee” (Philippians 3:4-5).
When it comes to understanding the use of the word Hebrew in the entire Bible, we see quite clearly that whether in the Old or New Testaments, the word is connected synonymously with Israel and Jew. This makes perfect sense in that anyone who has the genetics of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob could be called a Hebrew, Israelite, or Jew.
Who is an Israelite?
The word Israel appears over 2500 times in the Old Testament and so we obviously cannot cover all the occurrences. However, it will be good to share a few examples of how the name is used in various ways. The first place in the Bible where it appears is when Jacob wrestles the angel and his name gets changed from Jacob to Israel. We read, “Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed” (Gen 32:28; also 35:10). So, the first way in which Israel is used is in reference to the person of Jacob, son of Isaac.
After this and the children are born to Jacob/Israel, his sons become known as the twelve tribes of Israel as we read, “All these are the twelve tribes of Israel. This is what their father said to them as he blessed them, blessing each with the blessing suitable to him” (Gen 49:28). This refers to ethnic descendants of Jacob and those that continue to grow into a nation during their time living in the land of Egypt. We observe this newer language in the Exodus story (Exodus 4:22) where we have God describing Himself as the “God of Israel” as a designation for the people group. Often times, we have the phrase “sons of Israel” or “children of Israel” depending on English translations. These refer to the 12 tribes of Israel and all their clans.
It is not until we come to the time and book of 1 Samuel that we see a distinction between Israel (the 10 northern tribes) and the southern distinction of the tribe of Judah (often associated to also include the tribe of Benjamin). After Saul was dead, David (from Judah) ruled over the southern “kingdom” of Judah and then eventually became king over all Israel (10 northern tribes). We read, “At Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and at Jerusalem he reigned over all Israel and Judah thirty-three years” (2 Sam 5:5).
After the united monarchy (Saul, David, Solomon) dissolved, we know from history that Assyria came and took most (not all) of the 10 northern tribes into exile in 722 B.C. (2 Kings 17-18). The southern kingdom of Judah remained faithful to the Lord until they were exiled in 586 B.C.
Now, this is super important to notice that even after most of the northern kingdom of Israel was exiled into Assyria, there were still some Israelites from the various 10 tribes living in the land of the northern kingdom (2 Chron 31:6). After most of the northern kingdom of Israel was exiled, Hezekiah decided to have a Passover feast in which he invited all of the southern kingdom of Judah and any of the remnant of northern Israel who had escaped exile.
We read, “So couriers went throughout all Israel and Judah with letters from the king and his princes, as the king had commanded, saying, ‘O people of Israel, return to the LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, that he may turn again to the remnant of you who have escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria’” (2 Chr. 30:6). Notice the progression of the narrative, “And the people of Israel who were present at Jerusalem kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with great gladness, and the Levites and the priests praised the LORD day by day, singing with all their might to the LORD” (2 Chr. 30:21, also 30:18). There were still people of the northern kingdom of Israel (10 tribes) living in the land of Judah. We observe, “The people of Israel and Judah who lived in the cities of Judah also brought in the tithe of cattle and sheep, and the tithe of the dedicated things that had been consecrated to the LORD their God, and laid them in heaps” (2 Chronicles 31:6).
Later, after the returning descendants of Jacob arrived in the land of Israel, this returning group of people are called Israel once again. “Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the people of Israel were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth, and with earth on their heads. And the Israelites separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the LORD their God for a quarter of the day; for another quarter of it they made confession and worshiped the LORD their God” (Nehemiah 9:1-3). Also, “As soon as the people heard the law, they separated from Israel all those of foreign descent” (Neh. 13:3 and 13:15-18). We have further evidence of the ways in which “Israel” is used to describe all the remaining tribes of Jacob after their return from Babylon. “These are the chiefs of the province who lived in Jerusalem; but in the towns of Judah everyone lived on his property in their towns: Israel, the priests, the Levites, the temple servants, and the descendants of Solomon’s servants” (Neh 11:3).
We can learn from these passages that even though many of the 10 northern tribes were exiled to Assyria, they have never been truly lost. Also, even after the Babylonian exiles returned, the 12 tribes were still called Israel and not simply “Judah.”
When we come to the New Testament, Jesus ministered only to the house of Israel (Matthew 10:6, 23; 15:24). All of the people living in the land of Israel were called Israel by Jesus. Even further, Peter preached to the leaders and called them Israel (Acts 2:22, 36; 3:12; 4:10; 5:31, 35). Paul referred to the leadership and people living in the land as Israel (Acts 13:16, 23, 24). We can see that the people living in the land who were descendants of Jacob were all called Israel. This becomes important as we move to the next section and examine the phraseology of the word Jew or Jews.
In summary, what we can conclude is that even though there are some specific nuances of the word Israel or Israelite, the overarching meaning is that anyone who is an ethnic descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is considered an Israelite or Israel. Jesus and the apostles affirm this is true and that is good enough for me. This is especially true as found in Romans 9 and 11.
Who is a Jew?
The first place that the word Jew appears in the canonical text of Scripture is found in the book of 2 Kings 25:25 in reference to those living in the land of Judah. Daniel, writing somewhere between 600 B.C. and 535 B.C. uses the Aramaic word “Jew” in reference to the exiled people living in Babylon (Daniel 3:8, 12).
The Aramaic word “Jew” (Yehuday) appears throughout the book of Ezra in reference to those living in the land of Israel after they left Babylon (approximately 458 B.C.). The word Jew appears often in the book of Esther 2:5 (approximately 475 B.C.)
Even though Mordecai is called a Jew in Esther 2:5, the word actually appears earlier historically in the book of Jeremiah. He writes this section around 575 B.C. and says, “The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem to make a proclamation of liberty to them, that everyone should set free his Hebrew slaves, male and female, so that no one should enslave a Jew, his brother” (Jer. 34:8-9).
The Hebrew word for Jew is Yehudiy and is a reference to a person. The word Yehudah is a different word in reference to the land of Judah which is the area around Jerusalem or the tribe or original son of Jacob (Genesis 29:35). What we know is that the word “Jew” stems from the son of Jacob and the tribe of Judah. Eventually, because of the prominence of the tribe of Judah and the southern kingdom of Judah returning after the Babylonian exile, the people of Israel were often called Jews. However, as we saw in Jeremiah and 2 Kings, the people were called Jews even before the return of the people of Israel from the exile of Babylon.
Around 500 B.C., the prophet Zechariah uses the term “Jew” in reference to anyone descending from the 12 tribes of Israel. He writes concerning the future messianic kingdom, “Thus says the LORD of hosts: In those days ten men from the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you’” (Zech 8:23).
Later in Nehemiah’s time (approximately 446 B.C.), he uses the word Jews in reference to the returning group of people living in the land of Israel who have returned from Babylon. Once again, we know from previous passages in Chronicles that the southern kingdom of Judah which was exiled included people from all the 12 tribes of Israel. Therefore, the Jews (12 tribes) who were exiled to Babylon are the ones that came back to the land of Israel.
When we come to the New Testament we see the three words, Hebrew, Israel, and Jew come together to be used synonymously. Jesus was a descendant of Jacob (Israel) through Judah and David and Mary (Matthew 1), but allowed Himself to be called a Jew from the Samaritan woman (John 4:9). Additionally, Jesus told her that salvation was of the Jews and this clearly is in reference to the people living in the land of Israel whom He calls the “house of Israel” in Matthew 10.
The challenge we have in the New Testament is the general usage of the word “Jew” (Greek word is Ioudaios). This can either be in reference to the people living in the south (Judeans as opposed to those in Galilee to the north) or to Jews in the sense of the 12 tribes of the house of Israel. Context will determine which is the appropriate usage.
When studying the book of Acts, we see something immediate in that the word Jews is in reference to those who are of the tribes of Israel. In other words, ethnic descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We read, “Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven” (Acts 2:5). Clearly, these were not simply Judeans, but ethnic Jews from various parts of the world who were living in Jerusalem.
Paul calls himself a Jew, “I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no obscure city. I beg you, permit me to speak to the people” (Acts 21:39, 22:3). He also writes that he was a Jew according to his ethnic genetics and birth, “We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners” (Gal 2:15).
So, what can we summarize? A Jew began as one who was of the tribe of Judah, but eventually this word was associated with anyone who was a descendant of Jacob or an Israelite. Paul called himself a Jew, but also that he was an Israelite and a Hebrew.
“Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they offspring of Abraham? So am I” (2 Corinthians 11:22).
“For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh– though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee” (Phil. 3:3-5).
Additionally, Paul connects that the Jews living in the land of Israel during the 1st century are connected all the way back to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. These were his physical ethnic brothers and Jesus was born from that heritage. The 1st century Jews are Israelites and Hebrews and are descendants of the patriarchs who received the covenants.
“I am speaking the truth in Christ– I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit– that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen” (Rom. 9:1-5).
Based on the full testimony of Scripture and especially the New Testament, we can see that Paul is the perfect example. He was a Jew, an Israelite, and a Hebrew according to his own testimony.
Conclusion
Today, people are claiming that a biblical Jew is different than a biblical Hebrew and even different than a biblical Israelite. What we have observed from the evidence of Scripture is that these claims are absolutely false.
When we examine the Jews living today, especially in the land of Israel, their genetics and DNA go back to the people living in the land of Israel from ancient times. On our Prophecy Watchers website under the articles tab in the menu, we have other documentation refuting the assertions that modern Jews living in the land of Israel are not real Jews. According to the Bible (as seen in this article) and also modern genetic data, it is clear that the Jews living in the modern state of Israel are some of the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Not all of Jacob’s descendants live in the modern state of Israel. Many live in the USA and Europe and other parts of the world. Needless to say, we need to do our best to speak loud and clear that the accusations and antisemitism against modern Israel should be refuted with facts and evidence.
We know that that God has brought the nation of Israel back into existence in 1948 in order to redeem them once they repent and receive Jesus as their Messiah (Matthew 23:37-39; Zech 12:10; Hosea 5:15). What a glorious day that will be for the entire world.
“Now if the Gentiles were enriched because the people of Israel turned down God’s offer of salvation, think how much greater a blessing the world will share when they finally accept it. I am saying all this especially for you Gentiles. God has appointed me as the apostle to the Gentiles. I stress this, for I want somehow to make the people of Israel jealous of what you Gentiles have, so I might save some of them. For since their rejection meant that God offered salvation to the rest of the world, their acceptance will be even more wonderful. It will be life for those who were dead!” (Rom. 11:12-15). Let us continue to pray for their salvation through Jesus their Messiah as it will bring blessings to the entire world!
Other insights into understanding the Modern State of Israel and Biblical Jews
Recently we have seen many people make the claim about the words of Jesus in Revelation 2:9 and 3:9 and believe that these apply to modern Israel. Here is a question we answered in a recent magazine.
James asks:
I keep hearing the Jews living today are not real Jews and people quoting Jesus when He says, “I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan” (Rev 2:9). Also, “Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie– behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you” (Rev 3:9). They also use these verses to say the Jews in Israel are not true Jews. Can you please comment?
PW answers:
This has been a common misunderstanding. Firstly, the context shows that this slander was being fulfilled in the 1st century. Secondly, this was in the actual location where ethnic Jews (physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) living outside the land of Israel were persecuting Christians in Asia Minor (modern Turkey). This is well known in history. When Jesus says they are not Jews, He is alluding to the truth that began in the Old Testament. Moses revealed that the most important factor for a Jewish person was to move beyond physical circumcision only and to have their hearts circumcised (Deut 10:16; 30:6).
Paul appeals to this line of thinking in his letter to the Romans around 56 A.D. He says, “Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law. For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God” (Rom 2:27-29).  Therefore, Paul concludes that a true Jew is one who is an ethnic Jew (circumcised outwardly), but also one who is circumcised inwardly through fait (Romans 4).
Jesus said that the Jewish synagogues in the land of Turkey contained unbelieving Jews who were not living up to the spirituality they SHOULD have had through Jesus their Messiah. Because of that they are not genuine or complete Jews. Since they were not a true follower of God and His Son, they are of their father the devil as Jesus already taught in John 8:36-47 (see also 1 John 3:8-10). Revelation 2:9 and 3:9 have nothing to do specifically with true ethnic bloodlines of modern Jews today, either inside the land of Israel or outside.
<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><a>What is the Spiritual Condition of National Israel Today?</a></h2>
(This is an excerpt from my book, “The Red Heifer Ritual” where I go in to much more detail on this topic. You can find that book <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com/product/pre-sale-coming-in-september-the-red-heifer-ritual-the-october-examination-deadline-approaches-by-mondo-gonzales/">HERE</a>.)            
The title of this section is very carefully nuanced. I am talking about National Israel. Think of it as a corporate group like we find in the OT. Even when God sent National Israel into exile in the Babylonian captivity for their sin, there were faithful individuals like Daniel, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and others who simply got caught up in the judgment of the entire nation. The leadership was wicked, and God most often judged the nation according to its leadership. We often don’t understand this theological principle because today we are so individualized, but this was the way it was in the OT. Remember when David sinned by having a census in 2 Samuel 24? David was the one who sinned, but as a result of his sin, judgment came and 70,000 people died through a plague (1 Chronicles 21:14). David himself was not killed, but many of the people were. This is similar to when in the first century the Jewish leadership rejected Jesus and judgment came upon that entire generation (Matthew 11:16; 12:39, 41, 42, 45). Jerusalem and the Second Temple were destroyed, and hundreds of thousands were killed by the Romans.
Even during the destruction of Jerusalem, we know there were individuals who were saved, including some of the apostles, disciples, and others. It is the same today with National Israel. The Jewish leadership of Israel (including the religious Jews) does not embrace Jesus as Messiah, but there are individual Jews who are saved. So, as we discuss the following state of National Israel, let’s remember that even though the people may be judged according to their nation, there are individuals who have become followers of Jesus the Messiah and are saved. It’s also important to remember that even in the first century, Paul loved his Jewish brethren (Romans 9:1-5), but was still bold enough to call them lost and in need of salvation (Romans 10:1-5). This is still true today.
To further illustrate this thought, I receive questions from people all over the country every single day. Recently, I received the following question from a woman named Linda. She wrote, “I have some friends who go to a national denominational church. When I talk to them about prophecy and the nation of Israel, they say that the remaining promises to Israel were given to the church because of Israel’s disobedience and murder of Jesus. They also point out that the modern nation of Israel is far from perfect. It is socialistic, secular, promotes LGBTQ, and is unfriendly to messianic Christians. They ask me how I can support such a godless nation that rejects Jesus and hinders Christian evangelism. What can I say?”
            Here was my response:
There are two ways to respond to this question. One is theological and the other is prophetic. First, it is wise to simply acknowledge the truth of the assertions of your friends about the modern state of National Israel. It is well known that it was founded by secularist socialists who flirted with communism. If you study the history, many of the religious Jews were against the founding of the state of Israel because the founding fathers of modern Israel were so secular and atheistic. This was blasphemous to the religious Jews of the 19th and 20th centuries.
Second, we might ask the question, “In some ways how is this any different than the original founding of the nation in the book of Exodus?” Notice what God says to Israel through Moses as they were about to enter the promised land, “Do not say in your heart, after the LORD your God has thrust them out before you, ‘It is because of my righteousness that the LORD has brought me in to possess this land,’ whereas it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is driving them out before you. Not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations the LORD your God is driving them out from before you, and that He may confirm the word that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. “Know, therefore, that the LORD your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stubborn people. Remember and do not forget how you provoked the LORD your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day you came out of the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the LORD. Even at Horeb you provoked the LORD to wrath, and the LORD was so angry with you that he was ready to destroy you” (Deuteronomy 9:4-8).
Theologically, we learn that God did not give the land to Israel in ancient times because they were righteous, but to keep His promises to the patriarchs. Prophetically speaking, Israel today does not deserve the land any more than they did in ancient times. God did not bring back the people of Israel to the land in 1948 because they earned it (Ezekiel 36:24; 38:8). He brought them back into the land so He can fulfill His prophetic promises of the 70th week spoken of by Daniel (9:24-27), among other prophecies. He is going to judge them for their rebellion against His Son Jesus, purge and discipline them, but save the remnant as they call out on the name of Jesus at the end of the tribulation (Jeremiah 30:7; Hosea 5:15; Matthew 23:37-39; Zechariah 12:10; 13:8-9).
Why do we support the state of Israel today? We do not endorse everything they do. They are far from perfect as a government and a people. We support and love the state of Israel indirectly in a sense. Indirectly because we do not approve of them implicitly. More accurately, we support and endorse the Word of God, which contains promises to the nation of Israel that are still unfulfilled. Not a single time in Scripture are the promises to Israel ever transferred to the church. These promises will be fulfilled literally. Ultimately, we support and affirm the prophetic promises of God to and about Israel. God does not fully approve of Israel’s actions today and neither should we, but God has not forsaken nor abandoned Israel (Jeremiah 31;35-37; Amos 9:8; Romans 11:25-29) and again, neither should we.
It is absolutely true what Jesus said that no one can be saved apart from faith in Him (John 14:6; Acts 4:12). It is pretty obvious that secular Jews anywhere in the world today are not saved. What about religious Jews who pray, read the Bible, and are waiting for the Messiah? Paul writes with great sorrow that any Jew who does not embrace Jesus is lost and unsaved (Romans 10:1-3). Today, many religious Jews (especially in Israel) hate Jesus and Christians, sometimes aggressively.
That is how I answered Linda’s question, but it fits perfectly into how we Christians who follow Jesus as the Messiah and final sacrifice should address the prophetic developments of the red heifer and building of the Third Temple.
I get asked often about those religious Jews who read and believe the Old Testament. They claim to pray to God the Father and also believe that His promises are true, but they reject Jesus as Messiah. We should always be friendly and loving and kind, and never are we ever to persecute or speak evil of anyone that does not embrace Jesus as Messiah. This is especially true of Jewish people because of church history which had much “Christian” persecution of Jews. This was wrong then and is wrong today.
At the same time, we need to interact with a few questions:
<ol>
<li>When Jewish people who reject Jesus as Messiah pray today, does God the Father hear their prayers?</li>
<li>Can a Jewish person have a relationship with God the Father if they reject Jesus?</li>
<li>Are the Jewish people who seem sincere in their desire to build a Third Temple pleasing God if they still try to please God apart from a faith in Jesus?</li>
<li>Is Judaism a genuine religion that God accepts?</li>
</ol>
These are all very good questions, and the New Testament speaks quite boldly on these issues. In fact, as we have seen, Jesus speaks clearly on this issue. He said to the apostles and to Israel in the first century, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father, except through Me” (John 14:6). Peter said, “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). These are powerful and crystal-clear verses which answer the above questions. As difficult as it may be for some to accept, all of the answers to the 4 questions above are an unequivocal “NO.”
A true and genuine religion is one that provides salvation, and any religion that does not embrace Jesus is false and cannot provide or secure salvation. I don’t intend this to sound harsh, but it is true. Judaism, as a religion, does not nor cannot provide salvation because it rejects Jesus. Therefore, all the efforts by the religious Jews to fully reestablish Judaism and the Third Temple sacrifices are all fruitless efforts and do not honor the Son. Therefore, God cannot lie and accept their efforts when they reject His one and only Son whom He gave to die.
So, when a religious Jew prays, his prayers are not accepted by the Father unless they are prayed in the context of having a relationship with Jesus which they clearly do not. Jesus said, “Whatever you ask in My name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (John 14:13; see also 15:16; 16:23, 24, 26). Notice the consistent theme of the following verses:
John 5:23 “That all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.”
John 15:23 “Whoever hates Me hates My Father also.”
 Luke 10:16 “Whoever listens to you listens to Me, and whoever rejects you rejects Me, and whoever rejects Me rejects the one who sent Me.”
1 John 2:23 “No one who denies the Son has the Father; everyone who confesses the Son has the Father also.”
John 5:45-46 “Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote of Me.”
1 John 2:21-23 “I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Messiah? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also.”
John 15:18-21 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of My name, because they do not know Him who sent Me.”
As you can observe from the above verses, these present a very stark and clear picture of the situation in the first century as well as today. It is impossible to honor the Father through prayer, Torah study, sacrifices, or building a Third Temple if it does not include honoring Jesus the Son. In addition, if anyone rejects Jesus, they reject the Father who sent Jesus. If someone hates Jesus, they hate the Father. Even more bold, the above Scripture is saying that anyone who denies Jesus as the Messiah is a liar and is associated with the spirit of the antichrist. When the antichrist comes on the scene to deceive the Jews in making a covenant (Daniel 9:27), I believe that part of his covenant message will be to encourage the Jewish leadership to reaffirm a denial of Jesus as the Messiah.
When Paul was outlining the plan of God in seeking to reach the Gentiles, he writes, “As far as the gospel is concerned, [the Jews] are enemies for your sake; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable” (Romans 11:28). This concept is important. Paul says that any Jewish person who rejects the gospel is an enemy in one sense, but God still loves them and has a plan for them in the future. We should love them also and pray for their eyes to be opened to God’s only plan of salvation. This plan includes coming to faith in Jesus, but just because God loves them doesn’t mean that God is going allow a separate way to come to Him. Jesus is the only WAY. If we have these truths in the back of our mind, we can begin to formulate some solid Biblical answers to the questions that were asked in the previous chapter.
The post <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com/jews/">Jews</a> appeared first on <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com">The Prophecy Watchers</a>.
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<title>The Reason for Errors in Prophecy Understanding</title>
<link>https://prophecywatchers.com/the-reason-for-errors-in-prophecy-understanding/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Mondo Gonzales]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 09 Nov 2023 19:03:30 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://prophecywatchers.com/?p=594846</guid>
<description><![CDATA[No doubt there are dozens (or more) various interpretations of how the end times happen. We call this area of study eschatology and it can […]
The post <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com/the-reason-for-errors-in-prophecy-understanding/">The Reason for Errors in Prophecy Understanding</a> appeared first on <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com">The Prophecy Watchers</a>.
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No doubt there are dozens (or more) various interpretations of how the end times happen. We call this area of study eschatology and it can be quite complex. Even among true Christians there are many different schools of thought. One might ask, “How can we have so many opposing views when it comes to eschatology?” I have been thinking about this for a while and wanted to give a presentation showing that if we are inconsistent in how we interpret the Bible, the result will be that we can end up almost anywhere we want. One of the easist ways to show this is to simply compare what the Bible says about the regathering of the state of Israel in the last days and then examine that in light of history. Israel became a nation in 1948 and so this is a fact. How did Christians and theologians before 1948 seek to understand those passages? We will see that the more those who sought to spiritualize or make figurative a passage, the more in error they were. Yet if they took the prophecies at face value, they were vindicated.
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<iframe title="Israel in Bible Prophecy (Session 4 - Mondo Gonzales)" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DQhbFncdgj0?list=PLFRtcZUaLr_HkvejASTTaNjNqCDrN09FM" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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The post <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com/the-reason-for-errors-in-prophecy-understanding/">The Reason for Errors in Prophecy Understanding</a> appeared first on <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com">The Prophecy Watchers</a>.
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<title>Are Modern Israeli Jews True Jews?</title>
<link>https://prophecywatchers.com/are-modern-israeli-jews-true-jews/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Prophecy Watchers]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Mon, 23 Oct 2023 19:46:00 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://prophecywatchers.com/?p=590225</guid>
<description><![CDATA[There is much confusion and antisemitism rising to the surface. Please see this short video refuting the myth that all Israeli Jews are descendants of […]
The post <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com/are-modern-israeli-jews-true-jews/">Are Modern Israeli Jews True Jews?</a> appeared first on <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com">The Prophecy Watchers</a>.
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There is much confusion and antisemitism rising to the surface. Please see this short video refuting the myth that all Israeli Jews are descendants of the Khazars. Also, make sure to read the article below the video by Dr. Tommy Ice also refuting this error.
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<iframe title="The Khazar Myth Debunked - Thirteenth Tribe - Arthur Koestler Refuted" width="500" height="375" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MXFUkvqnk9c?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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Chapter 6 excerpt from the book, Zionism by Dr. Tommy Ice. <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com/product/case-zionism-christians-support-israel-dr-thomas-ice/">https://prophecywatchers.com/product/case-zionism-christians-support-israel-dr-thomas-ice/</a>
Are Modern Jews Descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?
“Modern Jews are a separate nation of people with a self-identity, spread out among many other nations. The closest analogy to them are the Gypsies. The only difference between Modern Jews and Gypsies is that the Modern Jews claim to have a relation to the Bible Jews, a claim I maintain is false. . . . Modern Jews think of themselves as Jews, but they are not Jews. They are counterfeits of Biblical Jews. I say this not to disparage them, but to be accurate.”<a href="#_edn1" id="_ednref1">[1]</a> — James Jordan, Replacement Theology Theologian
 “In summary . . . the largest, and most influential, proportion of Eastern European Jews came from Central Europe. By this analysis we can show that the dominate ethnic element among Eastern European Jews is Judean — the ancient Jewish people of Judea in the Middle East.”<a href="#_edn2" id="_ednref2">[2]</a> — Kevin Alan Brook, Jewish Researcher
Some people contend that modern Jews do not have the blood of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in their veins. They contend that modern Jews, whether in or out of the land of Israel, have no genetic basis from which to claim that they are Jews, let alone the chosen descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Some say that since they are not true Jews then they are not descendants of those who were scattered across the globe in a.d. 70, and they cannot return to what they never really left, which is the land of Israel. Is this true or just another effort to disinherit God’s ancient chosen people?
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Are Modern Jews Frauds?</h3>
The conviction that modern Jews are fraudulent has been clearly expressed by Presbyterian replacement theologian James B. Jordan.<a href="#_edn3" id="_ednref3">[3]</a> “With the passing away of the Old Covenant, there is no longer any such a thing as a Jew in the Biblical sense,” declares Jordan. I wonder, “Is there any other sense in which one could be a Jew except for the biblical sense?” “Unless by ‘True Jews’ we mean Christians. There is no covenant, and therefore there is no nation, no ‘race.’ ”<a href="#_edn4" id="_ednref4">[4]</a> Nowhere does the New Testament call Gentile Christians “True Jews,” “Jews,” “Israel,” or any such term. New Testament believers are called the seed of Abraham because he was the father of those who believe. Abraham was the only Gentile in the history of the world who became a Jew or Israelite, since the Jewish race descended from him, Isaac, and Jacob. Thus, all Christian believers in the current Church Age, whether Jew or Gentile, are offspring of the spiritual seed of Abraham (Rom. 4:1–5; Gal. 3:6–7, 14, 16–18). Abraham is both the father of physical Israel, known as the Jews, and father of spiritual descendants, that is, everyone who believes in Jesus as the Messiah, whether Jew or Gentile (Gen. 15:6).
Jordan makes one of the most outlandish statements possible on this topic when he declares: “It is entirely possible that there is not one drop of Abraham’s blood in any modern Jew.”<a href="#_edn5" id="_ednref5">[5]</a> One might think that only a radical Islamic terrorist would publicly write such things, but Jordan is an Evangelical Christian. He does not stop with the preceding comment, he continues with the following pontification:
Modern Jews are a separate nation of people with a self-identity, spread out among many other nations. The closest analogy to them are the Gypsies. The only difference between Modern Jews and Gypsies is that the Modern Jews claim to have a relation to the Bible Jews, a claim I maintain is false. . . . Modern Jews think of themselves as Jews, but they are not Jews. They are counterfeits of Biblical Jews. I say this not to disparage them, but to be accurate.<a href="#_edn6" id="_ednref6">[6]</a>
Jordan’s “scholarship” leads him to believe that today’s Jews (he even coins a special term for the Jews of today — “modern Jews”) are fraudulent, merely posing as Jews. History would be totally different if Hitler had thought this way, or if the Muslims of today would come to learn of Jordan’s discovery. “Modern Jews are people who choose to think of themselves as descendants of Israel,” insists Jordan. “Most modern Jews are not semites, but are descended from Eastern European tribes converted to Judaism in the middle ages.”<a href="#_edn7" id="_ednref7">[7]</a> So Jordan believes that the true Jews of the Bible and history lost their identity in the Middle Ages in relation to a nation called Khazaria.
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">The Khazar Theory</h3>
One of the tactics used by some anti-Zionists is to say that most modern Jews are not true descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This errant theory is based upon wrong conclusions they have drawn from the history of a medieval nation named Khazaria in which some of the Gentiles converted to Judaism. This is alleged to have diluted the stock of Jewish progeny through a great influx of Gentiles into Judaism. Through racial inflation, the Jews are said to have lost their genetic descent from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, resulting in the loss of genuine Jewish DNA in those who call themselves Jews today.
The Khazar theory was introduced to the broader public in 1976 by Arthur Koestler, a Jewish communist and novelist in his book entitled The Thirteenth Tribe.<a href="#_edn8" id="_ednref8">[8]</a> The theory had been floating around various Arab and anti-Semitic groups for a number of years before Koestler’s book.<a href="#_edn9" id="_ednref9">[9]</a> It is not surprising to learn that his theory has been very attractive to Arabs, Muslims, Holocaust deniers, skinheads, Nazis, Christian Identity, some within Evangelical Christian circles who hold to replacement theology, and even a number of leftist Jews. The Khazar theory is a convenient way for some to simply dismiss the modern state of Israel, since according to this view the Jewish people in the land are not really descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Therefore, the so-called “Jews” do not have legitimate claim to the land of Israel. Robert B. Thieme Jr. outlines the implications of the Khazar theory:
If the Khazars, not the biblical Israelites, are indeed the ancestors of European Jews, then European Jews have no connection with God’s people of the Old Testament, and do not fall under the protective auspices of Genesis 12:1–3. Since European Jews constitute the largest group of immigrants in present day Israel and in the United States, how much easier for anti-Semites to discredit and persecute those whom they consider to be impostors, disconnected with the elect, Old Testament race of people. Anti-Semites sometimes cite this “loophole” to justify their hatred and persecution of Jews. Also, Middle Eastern Arabs can reject the Semitic background of Jewish immigrants to Palestine and thereby preserve the concocted view that gives sanction for conquest of the Land.<a href="#_edn10" id="_ednref10">[10]</a>
Since Khazar theory teaches that the Jews are largely a people who are now extinct as an ethic people, therefore, it renders mute, in their minds, the issue of the land of Israel as a future promise that will be fulfilled by God to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. When people, especially those within Christendom, start thinking this way, it usually does not take long for anti-Semitic pogroms to arise. Today, with the re-established state of Israel, the Jew-hatred will increasingly be directed toward the national collective — the nation of Israel, which constitutes the new anti-Semitism.
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Growth of the Khazar Theory</h3>
Many who traffic in Jew-hatred or anti-Zionism have taken Koestler’s thesis and run with it. They have developed a whole school of thought revolving around the notion that “Jews are such imposters to begin with and I can prove that they are not even really Jews at all.” Thus, many influenced by the Khazar theory expand its horizons far beyond Koestler’s intentions, as misguided as they were to begin with. In fact, Koestler concludes, “The problem of the Khazar infusion a thousand years ago, however fascinating, is irrelevant to modern Israel.” Again he declares, “I am aware of the danger that it may be maliciously misinterpreted as a denial of the State of Israel’s right to exist.”<a href="#_edn11" id="_ednref11">[11]</a> This is exactly what is now taking place! Israel’s opponents use these claims in an attempt to justify their enmity to individual Jews and especially against the modern state of Israel, especially in the Muslim world. Princeton scholar Bernard Lewis tells us, “This theory, first put forward by an Austrian anthropologist in the early years of this century [20th], is supported by no evidence whatsoever. It has long since been abandoned by all serious scholars in the field, including those in Arab countries, where the Khazar theory is little used except in occasional political polemics.”<a href="#_edn12" id="_ednref12">[12]</a>
Just as Hitler’s Mein Kampf and The Protocols of The Learned Elders of Zion have become popular reading in much of the radical Muslim world, so too has the Khazar theory made significant inroads onto the radical Muslim must-read list. One Muslim writer in an article on Aljazeera.com said,
The irony of “the law of return” is that many of today’s jews have no direct ancestral link to the jews of the Old Testament. Many, perhaps even most jewish people are descended from the Khazars, a people whose rulers converted to Judaism sometime during the 800’s a.d. The Khazars never even set foot in Palestine!<a href="#_edn13" id="_ednref13">[13]</a>
James Jordan spews forth an invective when he speaks of “the heresy of Christian Zionism.”<a href="#_edn14" id="_ednref14">[14]</a> He then concludes “that most modern Jews are not Jews at all: They are Khazars.”<a href="#_edn15" id="_ednref15">[15]</a> Jordan continues as follows:
The Khazari race seems to lie behind the Ashkenazik Jews of Eastern Europe. This kind of assertion can, of course, be debated. The real problem in the discussion is the notion that Jewishness is a blood or racial phenomenon. It is not.
Biblically speaking, a Jew is someone who is covenanted into the people of Jews by circumcision. . . .
All these people were Jew, but only a small fraction actually had any of Abraham’s blood in them. . . . What this demonstrates is that covenant, not race, has always been the defining mark of a Jew.<a href="#_edn16" id="_ednref16">[16]</a>
Following Jordan’s lead, another replacement theologian, Southern Baptist John L. Bray, asserts that “the pure fact is that many of the Jews of the world are not only not pure Jews, but not even Jews at all.”<a href="#_edn17" id="_ednref17">[17]</a> “In addition to findings about the Khazar Jewish beginnings, we need to consider also that because of intermarriage, cross-breeding, etc.,” declares Bray, “there is very little that can be called ‘Jewish race’ today.”<a href="#_edn18" id="_ednref18">[18]</a>
Evangelical Theodore Winston Pike, another militant anti-Zionist, also is attracted to the Khazar theory in his polemics against the legitimacy of the modern state of Israel. Pike tells us:
The truth is, the majority of Jews living in Palestine highhandedly expelling Arabs from their homes are no more the descendants of Abraham than such Jewish converts as Sammy Davis Jr., Marilyn Monroe, or for that matter, the rest of us.
The Jewish encyclopedias admit, of course, that the kingdom of Khazaria was converted to Judaism, but they do not pursue the implications of that fact as does the Jewish author, Koestler. It was Nesta Webster in the 1920s who first perceived the Khazar origins of most Eastern European Jews. Her deduction, however, was dismissed as “anti-Semitic” until Koestler, a liberal Jew of equal scholarship, has made the same claim with even greater insistence.<a href="#_edn19" id="_ednref19">[19]</a>
Application of the Khazar theory can lead to a significant distortion of a Christian understanding of God’s Word. Jordon wonders: “Are Bible-believing Christians supposed to support a Jewish State, for theological reasons? Such is the assertion of Jerry Falwell, and of the heresy of Christian Zionism.”<a id="_ednref20" href="#_edn20">[20]</a> I will now examine the veracity of such claims.
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">The Khazar Theory Explained and Examined</h3>
No informed person on these issues questions the existence of a country in the Middle Ages composed largely of Turkish stock, between the Black and Caspian Seas during the seventh to tenth centuries named Khazaria, where the royal family only converted to Judaism. Khazaria was an actual nation in history.<a href="#_edn21" id="_ednref21">[21]</a> However, it is still an unproved theory, as attractive as it may appear to some, lacking any scientific evidence that Ashkenazi Jews (about 85 percent of world Jewry) are primarily descended from the Khazars.
In 1976, when Koestler, a non-specialist in this field, put forth this theory it was never taken seriously by linguists and most other scientists. This explains why the most vigorous promotion of his views are usually found within the circles of propagandists who have an ideological axe to grind and not by the scientific community. Like the Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion, the forged document supporting a supposed Jewish world conspiracy, they so much want their theories to be real history, when they are not. Thieme provides an overview of the Khazars as follows:
Who were the Khazars? They were semi-nomadic, Tataric in origin, a Turkic-speaking people who first appeared north of the Caucuses in the late second century a.d. In the fifth century they were subjugated by the Huns but rose to power two centuries later. Charging across the Russian steppes, these legendary warriors conquered the Crimea and extended their empire from the western shores of the Caspian Sea to the River Don, from the southern Ukraine to the region north of the Black Sea and as far as Kiev. They fought the Persians and Armenians; they battled Arab expansion, which was inspired by the advent of Islam after the death of Mohammed in 632. In addition, they fought the Byzantine Empire, which forcibly tried to make them Christian.
The “khakan” or ruler was also the religious head of state of the Khazars. Tolerant of other religions, the khakan welcomed thousands of Jews from Asia Minor and the Byzantine Empire as well as Mohammedans and Christians. These three religious groups vied to convert the Khazars who practiced a primitive idolatrous religion.
In a.d. 740 after considering the various religious viewpoints among these groups, the khakan embraced Judaism for himself and his people. His conversion was a compromise between Christianity and the religion of Islam. While Judaism was accepted as the official religion of the empire, the Khazar state still maintained tolerance toward other religious groups. The empire continued until a.d. 965 when it was overthrown by a coalition of Christian Russians and the Byzantines.<a href="#_edn22" id="_ednref22">[22]</a>
Why did the khakan convert to Judaism and not Christianity or Islam? It is commonly thought that had the Khazars converted to Islam then they would have been swallowed up into the growing Islamic empire and lost their national identity and their autonomous authority as rulers. The same would have been true had they converted to Christianity. Khazaria would have been likely become part of the Byzantine Empire as well. By converting to Judaism, the khakan was able to maintain complete independence for the territory that he ruled. “But it could only maintain its independence by accepting neither Christianity nor Islam,” notes Koestler of the Khazarian rulers, “for either choice would have automatically subordinated it to the authority of the Roman Emperor or the Caliph of Baghdad.”<a href="#_edn23" id="_ednref23">[23]</a>
Some scholars in this field of study think that it was primarily the elite of the Khazars that converted to Judaism<a href="#_edn24" id="_ednref24">[24]</a> since “Khazar Judaism was never very strong.”<a href="#_edn25" id="_ednref25">[25]</a> Some think a primary reason for the national conversion is because some of the advisors were already Jewish, having immigrated there years earlier and worked their way up into governmental positions. Steven Collins, quoting from The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia tells us, “It was chiefly due to the cultural superiority of the Daghestan Jews that the ‘Kahan’ (king) of the mighty state of Khazars was converted to Judaism together with his court and part of the Khazar population between the 8th and 9th centuries.”<a href="#_edn26" id="_ednref26">[26]</a> Besides the rulers, only a part of the Gentile Khazar population adopted Judaism over the next century, which means the Khazars were a majority Jewish state. Other than the Jewish leadership, only a sizeable minority of Jews resided within Khazaria. “A total of only 4,000 new conversions to Judaism in a large nation was actually a small number of converts. The requirement of circumcision was likely a disincentive for most Khazar men to convert to Judaism.”<a href="#_edn27" id="_ednref27">[27]</a>
It is clear that there were already a great number of Jews who lived in Khazaria in the 8th century. “Large numbers of Jewish refugees had settled in what became Khazaria long before the Khazars were even a recognizable people,” notes Collins. “The Jews had seen the Caucasus region as a hospitable refuge for centuries, and they went there in large numbers.”<a href="#_edn28" id="_ednref28">[28]</a>
When word began to circulate that the nation of Khazaria had converted to Judaism we learn that many Jews, especially from the Byzantine Empire and the Muslim world immigrated to Khazaria since Jews were commonly persecuted in those Empires. They migrated to Khazaria for sanctuary and religious freedom. “Khazaria itself was full of Jewish immigrants from Constantinople . . . and these immigrants actually outnumbered the converts according to some sources,”<a href="#_edn29" id="_ednref29">[29]</a> says Cameron Sawyer. This immigration greatly increased the number of Jews in the nation and it was known to have a very large population of Jews migrating in from many other counties in those days. Sawyer makes the following point:
Also, if the Ashkenazis are supposed to be Khazars, what happened to all the “real” Jews of Europe? The Khazars were only converted to Judaism in the 8th century. Jews — descendants of Jews from biblical Israel — have been living on the Black Sea coast, Southern Russia, and the Caucasus since before the birth of Christ . . . not to mention Germany, France, Italy, and Spain. So all these people just disappeared one day, to be suddenly replaced by Khazar converts?<a href="#_edn30" id="_ednref30">[30]</a>
Since Khazaria was one of the few nations on earth at that time practicing religious freedom, this explains why the nation also had large populations of Christians, Muslims, and pagans who never converted to Judaism. The notion that multitudes of Gentiles simply overwhelmed Jewish bloodlines is simply not the case. The Jews of Khazaria appear to have had Jewish bloodlines just as strong as other Jews of their day.
When the nation was conquered, the Jews fled to other countries, and most of the population of Khazaria which were not Jewish were killed in these battles, immigrated elsewhere, or joined up with the Muslims and Christians. We are told, “The Jews of Khazaria migrated to Kiev and parts of Russia, while the remaining Khazars joined the Magyars and migrated to modern Hungary, becoming Christians.”<a href="#_edn31" id="_ednref31">[31]</a> Those converting to Christianity would not come into play when analyzing the modern Jewish gene pool. Here is a summary of what happened after the breakup of Khazaria:
Most of the East European Jews migrated from the west to the east of the continent, and were not descended from the inhabitants of the Khazar Empire. They are actually a fusion of Balkan-Greek Jews from the Byzantine Empire, Babylonian Jews from the Abbasid Caliphate, Yiddish-speaking Jews from Germany, Sephardic Jews fleeing the Spanish inquisition, and Khazars. All these groups intermarried over the centuries, so that the Khazar converts disappeared as a distinguishable ethnical entity and their descendants became fully Jewish with Israelite ancestry. . . .
If Khazarian ethnicity may be considered in any way of relevant influence among Russian Jews, the same is not valid for those of Poland; which is confirmed also by the following facts:
Polish life is completely extraneous to the Khazars.
The majority of Polish Jews came from the west, not the east.
There are no places in Poland that may recall Khazar origin.
Most Ashkenazi Jews have Germanic, not Khazar, surnames and customs.
There’s not any relevant trace of the Khazarian language among Jews; on the contrary, the Ashkenazim’s tongue, Yiddisch, is evidently of German origin.<a href="#_edn32" id="_ednref32">[32]</a>
It seems clear, based upon the historical records of the matter that the Khazar aspect of Ashkenazi Jewish history provided a very small contribution to the makeup of their gene pool. Based upon the historical records alone, there is precious little support to actually think that about 85 percent of Jews in the world today are not descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The Khazar theory falls to the ground due to lack of evidence to support its conclusions based upon sifting the historical evidence.
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">DNA and the Khazars</h3>
The opinion previously reached by historians and ethnologists concerning the Khazars is now confirmed with the development of the modern science of DNA analysis as a reliable way to discover one’s genealogical heritage. Kevin Alan Brook<a href="#_edn33" id="_ednref33">[33]</a> is a leading researcher on the Khazars and tells us the following:
We no longer need to rely on speculation. It is now a known FACT that German Jews mingled with other Jews when they came east. It is also clear that the ancient Israelites possessed those Y-DNA patterns that are found in common among Sephardic Jews, Ashkenazic Jews, Kurdish Jews, and Indian Jews, despite the fact that ultimately those patters may have earlier stemmed, in part, from somewhere in Kurdistan or Armenia or Iraq. The Middle Eastern Y-DNA patterns in the J and E haplogroups cannot be explained by Khazars.<a href="#_edn34" id="_ednref34">[34]</a>
Brook’s overall conclusion of Khazar origins is as follows:
In summary, Eastern European Jews are descended from a mixture of German and Austrian Jews, Czech Jews, and East Slavic Jews. The East Slavic Jews may have roots in both the Khazar and Byzantine empires, hence necessitating our further study of Jewish life in those lands. But the largest and most influential proportion of Eastern European Jews came from Central Europe. By this analysis we can show that the dominant ethnic element among Eastern European Jews is Judean — the ancient Jewish people of Judea in the Middle East.<a href="#_edn35" id="_ednref35">[35]</a>
Cameron Sawyer, based upon examination of DNA analysis, comes to a similar conclusion about the authenticity of the ethnic descent of the Jewish group under investigation.
In any case, modern genetic analysis now gives us very precise information about bloodlines, migrations, and the genetic relationships between peoples, and has settled the matter once and for all. Ashkenazi Jews are, in fact, close relatives of Sephardic and other Jews (except, apparently, the Ethiopian Jews), somewhat less close but still very close relatives of the Arabs and other Eastern Mediterranean peoples, and are predominantly descended from the Hebrews who lived in Israel 2,000 years ago, with a notably small admixture of European, Slavic, and other blood. Tracing direct paternal lines of descent (based on analysis of the “Y” chromosome), researchers found that the most common direct paternal ancestors of modern Ashkenazi Jews are the Judeans of ancient Israel, with more than 50% of modern Ashkenazi Jews being so descended. 12.7% of modern Ashkenazi Jews have direct paternal lines of descent from either Eastern Europeans (including Slavs) or Khazars.<a href="#_edn36" id="_ednref36">[36]</a>
DNA analysis is able to establish with certainty what history has already demonstrated: the Jews of modern Israel really are descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as concluded by Rabbi Yaakov Kleiman:
The genetic studies of Jewish men from all of the major communities of the Jewish Diaspora confirm that the original Jewish population originated in the Middle East, and from there, spread throughout the world. As the Bible predicted, the Hebrews who lived in the Land of Israel for over one thousand years were dispersed and scattered literally to the four corners of the earth. . . .
Also predicted and prophesized was that, despite worldwide dispersal, the Jewish nation would not become lost among the nations. Scriptures prophesized and promised that the Jewish People would retain their unique identity, and eventually be restored to their ancient homeland. The genetics studies have shown that this most unlikely scenario has in fact come true as well.<a href="#_edn37" id="_ednref37">[37]</a>
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Khazar Conclusions</h3>
The Khazar theory has been completely refuted by both scholarly research into the history of the Khazars and, more recently, by ethnologist evidence showing that Jews from all parts of the world are genetically closely related to Middle Eastern Jews and not so closely related to non-Jewish Russians, Eastern Europeans, or others from that region. “Dr. Michael Hammer showed that based exclusively on the Y-chromosome (parental) shows that Ashkenazi Jews are more closely related to Yemenite Jews, Iraqi Jews, Sephardic Jews, Kurdish Jews, and Arabs than they are to European Christian populations,”<a href="#_edn38" id="_ednref38">[38]</a> notes Joel Bainerman. True research on the matter reveals that only a small percentage of Jews have any descent through the Khazars. So it appears that the Khazar theory is just that, a theory, and not a very good one.
The Khazar theory canard was developed last century by individuals and groups that were already predisposed toward anti-Semitism. When the self-hating Jew, Arthur Koestler, penned his book in the 1970s, these groups were attracted to his work like a bee to honey. Driven by anti-Zionist impulses, many of these biased “researchers” exaggerated Koestler’s claims. Even Koestler did not claim that Ashkenazi or Khazar Jews have no Middle Easter ancestry. Koestler did not want his research, flawed as it may have been, taken to extreme conclusions.
In the first place, I am aware of the danger that it may be maliciously misinterpreted as a denial of the State of Israel’s right to exist. But that right is not based on the hypothetical origins of the Jewish people, nor on the mythological covenant of Abraham with God; it is based on international law — i.e., on the United Nations’ decision in 1947 to partition Palestine, once Turkish province, then a British Mandated Territory, into an Arab and a Jewish State. Whatever the Israeli citizens’ racial origins, and whatever illusions they entertain about them, their State exists de jure and de facto, and cannot be undone, except by genocide. Without entering into controversial issues, one may add, as a matter of historical fact, that the partition of Palestine was the result of a century of peaceful Jewish immigration and pioneering effort, which provide the ethical justification for the State’s legal existence. Whether the chromosomes of its people contain genes of Khazar or Semitic, Roman or Spanish origin, is irrelevant, and cannot affect Israel’s right to exist — nor the moral obligation of any civilized person, Gentile or Jew, to defend that right. Even the geographical origin of the native Israeli’s parents or grandparents tends to be forgotten in the bubbling racial melting pot. The problem of the Khazar infusion a thousand years ago, however fascinating, is irrelevant to modern Israel.<a href="#_edn39" id="_ednref39">[39]</a>
“The results support the hypothesis that the paternal gene pools of Jewish communities from Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East descended from a common Middle Eastern ancestral population,” concludes Sawyer, “and suggests that most Jewish communities have remained relatively isolated from neighboring non-Jewish communities during and after the Diaspora.”<a href="#_edn40" id="_ednref40">[40]</a> It is safe to conclude that most of the Jews living today in Israel and still in the Diaspora are clear descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Are Modern Jews Really of Jewish Descent?</h3>
In addition to advocating the Khazar theory, James Jordan tells us: “The real problem in the discussion is the notion that Jewishness is a blood or racial phenomenon. It is not.” Jordan continues, “Biblically speaking, a Jew is someone who is covenanted into the people of the Jews by circumcision. . . . What this demonstrates is that covenant, not race, has always been the defining mark of a Jew.”<a href="#_edn41" id="_ednref41">[41]</a> Jordan does not stop with these remarks; he was just warming up. He states further, “Modern apostate Jews have absolutely no theological, and therefore no historical and legal right to the land of Palestine.”<a href="#_edn42" id="_ednref42">[42]</a> “Christian Zionism is blasphemy. It is heresy. Christians have no theological stake whatsoever in the modern State of Israel. It is an anti-God, anti-Christ nation.”<a href="#_edn43" id="_ednref43">[43]</a> So those who think like Jordan believe that Israel either never had a Jewish racial identity or lost it over time.
It is the Bible that divides mankind into Jew and Gentile, denoting one’s descent by birth. One may repudiate the religious aspects of Judaism, but they cannot escape the genealogical fact that they were born within the Jewish race. The same is true of a Gentile. One may be born of Chinese descent but there is nothing they can say or do to change the fact that they are Chinese. The Nazis during the Holocaust made little distinction between deeply religious Jews and secular Jews. They killed them all when they had the opportunity. The same is true today. The Muslims kill Jews today whether they are religious or secular. It does not matter to them.
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">The Biblical Definition of Jewishness</h3>
Since the Bible is God’s inerrant revelation, it is the supreme authority on which to settle any matter to which it speaks. God’s viewpoint on any issue is how we know ultimately what is true or false. The Bible speaks clearly and loudly concerning the issue of Jewishness. Scripture teaches that those who are descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob make up the people or nation we call Israel (Gen. 12:1–3, 13:15–16, 15:4–5, 26:2–5, 24, 28:13–15). Jewishness is a nationality based upon descent, whether one obeys God or not. Hebrew Christian Arnold Fruchtenbaum correctly summaries Israel as “all descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, also known as the Jews, the Jewish people, Israelites, Hebrews, etc. The term is not limited to the present political and national state in the Middle East, which is merely a part of the whole; nor is it limited to those who adhere to the religion of Judaism only.”<a href="#_edn44" id="_ednref44">[44]</a> British postmillennialist Erroll Hulse provides an excellent overview of the biblical use of the word Jew.
Most references to the Jews (Yehudiim) made in the Old Testament are to be found in the book of Esther, but frequently also in Jeremiah, Nehemiah, and Ezra. In Babylon, the word Jew in the strict sense signified someone of Judah. Almost every reference (and there are about two hundred) in the New Testament refer to the Jews in a general sense whether they lived in the South, the North or abroad. The terms “children of Israel” and “sons of Jacob” are often used in the Old Testament to describe the Jews.<a href="#_edn45" id="_ednref45">[45]</a>
The broader term Israel “appears over two thousand times in the Old Testament and seventy times in the New Testament. This term refers to a specific ethnic group. . . . The name Yisra’el was conferred on Jacob (Ge 32:28), Abraham’s grandson, and means ‘solider of God’ or ‘God persists.’ ”<a href="#_edn46" id="_ednref46">[46]</a> Israel began as a patriarchal clan when Abraham came out of Babylon, went to Egypt, and 400 years later returned to the Promised Land as a true nation of two or three million. Yet Jordan imagines a problem in that Israel did indeed incorporate into the nation many non-Jews down through her history.
When Abraham was commanded to circumcise, he was told to circumcise his entire household, including his 318 fighting men and his other domestic servants (Gen. 14:14, 17:10–14). Competent scholars imagine that Sheik Abraham’s household probably included at the very least 3,000 persons. These servants multiplied as the years went by, and Jacob inherited them all (Gen. 27:37). Although only 70 from the loins of Jacob went down into Egypt, so many servants went along that they had to be given the whole land of Goshen in which to live.<a href="#_edn47" id="_ednref47">[47]</a>
Is this supposed to be a problem? Over time it appears that the Gentiles who became part of Abraham’s clan integrated with his descendants so that by the time of the Exodus that nation was indeed Jewish — descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. At least this is the view that the Bible takes toward this matter. The Lord promised Abraham: “To your descendants I will give this land” (Gen. 12:7). “I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can number the dust of the earth, then your descendants can also be numbered” (Gen. 13:16). “And He took him outside and said, ‘Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.’ And He said to him, ‘So shall your descendants be’ ” (Gen. 15:5). “God said to Abram, ‘Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years’ ” (Gen. 15:13). “Moreover, the angel of the Lord said to her, ‘I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count’ ” (Gen. 16:10). “I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you” (Gen. 17:7). I could go on with many more similar passages that indicate that God thought of all of those in the line of descent as the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Even though the Jews surely have intermarried with Gentiles, that does not invalidate their Jewishness any more than intermarriage that was practiced in the Old Testament did not invalidate their Jewishness. Jesus Himself had a number of Gentiles within His genealogical line, yet He was certainly Jewish. In the time of the New Testament these people were still known as Jews — the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jesus referred to the residents of Israel in His day as Jews. When reading the New Testament, there does not appear to be a problem identifying who the Jews were in Christ’s day. The notion that Jews cannot have the blood of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob flowing through their veins is purely one manufactured by those with an anti-Semitic bias.
Since there was about a 2,000-year period from the call of Abraham until the time of Christ, and Jesus referred to the residents of Israel as Jews, then we have a precedent to do so today. It has been about another 2,000 years since the time of Christ until our present day. If the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were considered Jews after 2,000 years by Jesus in His day, then why should they not be considered descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob today, after another 2,000 years have passed? In fact, the last 2,000 years have seen some Gentile intermarriage, but for the most part, the nations have shut up the Jewish people into their own ghettos and not allowed them to intermingle with Gentiles. Even though an unintended result by perpetrators, anti-Semitism has helped to keep the blood of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob flowing through the veins of modern Jewry. Also, those Jews that have repeatedly married Gentiles have lost their Jewish identity and are no longer part of the Jewish race and indeed are not considered Jews after a while.
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Future Biblical References to Jews</h3>
Since the Bible is the ultimate authority on any matter, it is significant to realize that both the Old and New Testaments speak of a specific destiny for Israel or the Jewish people in a day future to our own time. Since God’s Word tells us that there will be Jewish people in the world even beyond our own day, then Divine viewpoint should trump the imaginations of human viewpoint any day. This means that there has to be Jewish people who have the blood of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob flowing through their veins for these prophecies to occur. When has God ever failed to bring to pass what He has decreed? Never! What are some of these passages?
About 3,400 years ago Moses predicted a future time when the nation of Israel “will seek the Lord . . . with all your heart and all your soul. When you are in distress . . . in the latter days, you will return to the Lord your God and listen to His voice” (Deut. 4:29–30). No biblically literate person would say that the nation of Israel has ever fulfilled this passage at any time in their past, thus, it is still a future event. So there must me a nation of Israel in the future, which would mean that the Jews of today would have to be actual Jews in order to provide a bridge to this future time.
God spoke through Jeremiah about 2,600 years ago and said, “ ‘For, behold, days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will restore the fortunes of My people Israel and Judah.’ The Lord says, ‘I will also bring them back to the land that I gave to their forefathers, and they shall possess it’ ” (Jer. 30:3). “ ‘Alas! for that day is great, there is none like it; and it is the time of Jacob’s distress, but he will be saved from it’ ” (Jer. 30:7). “ ‘Fear not, O Jacob My servant,’ declares the Lord, ‘and do not be dismayed, O Israel; for behold, I will save you from afar and your offspring from the land of their captivity. And Jacob will return,and will be quiet and at ease, and no one will make him afraid. For I am with you,’ declares the Lord, ‘to save you; for I will destroy completely all the nations where I have scattered you, only I will not destroy you completely. But I will chasten you justly and will by no means leave you unpunished’ ” (Jer. 30:10–11). “ ‘You shall be My people, and I will be your God’ ” (Jer. 30:22). “In the latter days you will understand this.” (Jer. 30:24). When has this ever occurred in the past? Like the passage in Deuteronomy, we see that Israel will go through a time of tribulation or distress, which will be in the latter days, leading to the spiritual restoration of the nation. Once again, no one would say that national Israel has ever in history arisen to such a spiritual level. It can only be in the future, which means the Jews have to exist as Jews future to our own day in order for this to occur.
Many other Old Testament passages could be cited which speak of Jewish existence beyond our current day, but one final example from Daniel will be noted. “Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued” (Dan. 12:1). “He said, ‘Go your way, Daniel, for these words are concealed and sealed up until the end time.’ ” (Dan. 12:9). As in the two previous passages, we see that same pattern in Daniel. There will be a time of tribulation or distress for “your people,” which are Daniel’s people (i.e., the Jewish people). This will take place in the end time and Israel will come into a new spiritual relationship with the Lord.
The Bible anticipates a future time in which God will interact with His people Israel. Such a future period is also expected in the New Testament. Paul speaks of future plans for Israel in Romans when he says, “For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery — so that you will not be wise in your own estimation — that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, ‘The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob. This is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins.’ From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God’s choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers; for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” (Rom. 11:25–29). We see in this passage that current Jewish rejection of the gospel by most, not all, is temporary and will come to an end when the full number of elect Gentiles are added to the Church through faith in Christ. It will be after that time that every Jewish person alive, when the Deliverer will come from Zion, will come to faith in the Messiahship of Jesus. No one would say that this has yet to occur in history. Thus, Jews must exist as descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the future for this to occur. This means that there has to be Jewish people alive and well on planet Earth today.
The Apostle John, in his well-known and final book of the New Testament canon, speaks of future events in Revelation 4 through 22. It is clear that the Jewish people will be around when these events unfold since they are referenced throughout the book. Revelation 12 is an entire chapter that speaks of their persecution during the second half of that seven-year period. However, Revelation 7 not only speaks of a multitude of the bond-servants of God, but that they are said to be “one hundred and forty-four thousand sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel” (Rev. 7:4). If that is not clear enough, the biblical text tells us the specific tribes of Israel from which 12,000 males are taken from as follows: “from the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand, from the tribe of Gad twelve thousand, from the tribe of Asher twelve thousand, from the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand, from the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand, from the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand, from the tribe of Levi twelve thousand, from the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand, from the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand, from the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand, from the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand were sealed” (Rev. 7:5–8). Even if Israel’s tribal records were lost to human beings 2,000 years ago, it does not mean that God cannot keep track of one’s nationality. After all, He is the one who will seal the 144,000 Jewish servants via a supernatural act.
Revelation 7 not only demonstrates that Jewish men will exist in the future, but that God Himself can identify who they are. Such implications mean that not only are Jews viewed by the Bible as a distinct race in contrast to Gentiles, but they will remain so throughout history. Not only does the Bible teach that Jewish descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob can be identified as a distinct race after almost 4,000 years, but that God will even be able to distinguish their tribal identity into the future. This can only mean that there is a distinct Jewish race today.
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Conclusion</h3>
Israel, during her 4,000 years of existence, has been by far the most literate people in the history of the world, unlike the Gypsies. Rabbi Kleman’s DNA studies demonstrate that, “Genetics research as described has clearly shown that the Jewish people today are the descendants of the ancient biblical Hebrews.”<a href="#_edn48" id="_ednref48">[48]</a> In addition, no nation has kept better records of her own history, whether through divinely inspired Scripture or mere human writings than the Jewish people. These records provide ample evidence that the Jews of today have had continual existence, even though they were often scattered around the world for much of their existence. We see that not only do recent DNA studies provide a scientific basis for verifying that modern Jewry really are descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, this view is also supported by biblical logic and the testimony of history. Jews are a racial class that stands in contrast with Gentiles, according to the Bible. Only bias or prejudice would lead one to a contrary opinion when examined in the light of Scripture. Therefore, it is with utmost certainty that anyone examining the record should conclude that those who are Jews today, whether in or out of the land of Israel, have the blood of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob flowing through their veins. This fact provides a basis for their Zionistic claim that the land of Israel belongs to the Jews because God gave it to them.
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<a href="#_ednref1" id="_edn1">[1]</a> James B. Jordan, “The Future of Israel Reexamined” (Part 1), Biblical Horizons, no. 27, July 1991, p. 4.
<a href="#_ednref2" id="_edn2">[2]</a> Kevin Alan Brook, “From the East, West, and South: Documenting the Foundation of Jewish Communities in Eastern Europe” in Roots-Key, Newsletter of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Los Angeles, vol. 24: no. 1, Spring 2004, p. 6.
<a href="#_ednref3" id="_edn3">[3]</a> James B. Jordan is a Presbyterian replacement theologian coming from the preterist, postmillennial, and covenant theology orientation.
<a href="#_ednref4" id="_edn4">[4]</a> Jordan, “Future of Israel” (Part 1), p. 4.
<a href="#_ednref5" id="_edn5">[5]</a> Ibid., p. 4.
<a href="#_ednref6" id="_edn6">[6]</a> Ibid., p. 4.
<a href="#_ednref7" id="_edn7">[7]</a> Ibid., p. 4.
<a href="#_ednref8" id="_edn8">[8]</a> Arthur Koestler, The Thirteenth Tribe (New York: Random House, 1976).
<a href="#_ednref9" id="_edn9">[9]</a> For a history of the rise of the Khazar theory see Robert Singerman, “Contemporary Racist and Judeophobic Ideology Discovers the Khazars, or, Who Really Are the Jews?” on the website of the National Foundation for Jewish Culture located at the following: www2.jewishculture.org/jewish_scholarship/feinstein/singerman.html.
<a href="#_ednref10" id="_edn10">[10]</a> Robert B. Thieme Jr., Anti-Semitism (Houston, TX: Robert B. Thieme, Jr., Bible Ministries, 1991), p. 77.
<a href="#_ednref11" id="_edn11">[11]</a> Koestler, Thirteenth Tribe, p. 223.
<a href="#_ednref12" id="_edn12">[12]</a> Bernard Lewis, Semites and Anti-Semites: An Inquiry into Conflict and Prejudice (New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1999), p. 48.
<a href="#_ednref13" id="_edn13">[13]</a> Albert D. Pastore, The Dancing Israelis: An Unprecedented Honest Analysis of 9/11 and Bush’s War on Terror” from the website Aljazerra.com; www.aljazeera.com/cgi-bin/conspiracy_theory/fullstory.asp?id=303.
<a href="#_ednref14" id="_edn14">[14]</a> James B. Jordan, “Christian Zionism and Messianic Judaism,” in The Sociology of the Church: Essays in Reconstruction (Tyler, TX: Geneva Ministries, 1986), p. 176.
<a href="#_ednref15" id="_edn15">[15]</a> Jordan, “Christian Zionism,” p. 176–77.
<a href="#_ednref16" id="_edn16">[16]</a> Ibid., p. 177.
<a href="#_ednref17" id="_edn17">[17]</a> John L. Bray, Israel in Bible Prophecy (Lakeland, FL: John L. Bray Ministry, 1983), p. 44.
<a href="#_ednref18" id="_edn18">[18]</a> Bray, Israel, p. 44.
<a href="#_ednref19" id="_edn19">[19]</a> Theodore Winston Pike, Israel: Our Duty . . . Our Dilemma (Oregon City, OR: Big Sky Press, 1984), p. 328.
<a href="#_ednref20" id="_edn20">[20]</a> Jordan, “Christian Zionism,” p. 178.
<a href="#_ednref21" id="_edn21">[21]</a> Encyclopaedia Judaica, Vol. 10, reference to “Khazars,” p. 944–54.
<a href="#_ednref22" id="_edn22">[22]</a> Thieme, Anti-Semitism, p. 76–77.
<a href="#_ednref23" id="_edn23">[23]</a> Koestler, Thirteenth Tribe, p. 58.
<a href="#_ednref24" id="_edn24">[24]</a> Kevin Alan Brook, The Jews of Khazaria (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2002), p. 136–39.
<a href="#_ednref25" id="_edn25">[25]</a> Encyclopaedia Judaica, Vol. 10, reference to “Khazars,” p. 949.
<a href="#_ednref26" id="_edn26">[26]</a> Steven M. Collins, “The Khazars and The Modern Jews,” posted at www.britam.org/steven-collins-khazars.html.
<a href="#_ednref27" id="_edn27">[27]</a> Collins, “The Khazars.”
<a href="#_ednref28" id="_edn28">[28]</a> Ibid.
<a href="#_ednref29" id="_edn29">[29]</a> Sawyer, “Zionism and the Talmud,” World Association of International Studies, Blog Archive at cgi. stanford.edu/group/wais/cgi-bin/index.php?p=108.
<a href="#_ednref30" id="_edn30">[30]</a> Sawyer, “Zionism and the Talmud.”
<a href="#_ednref31" id="_edn31">[31]</a> Collins, “The Khazars.”
<a href="#_ednref32" id="_edn32">[32]</a> Anonymous, “The Khazars: Who were the Khazars, and with whom should they be identified today?” http://www.imninalu.net/Khazars.htm.
<a href="#_ednref33" id="_edn33">[33]</a> Brook, The Jews of Khazaria.
<a href="#_ednref34" id="_edn34">[34]</a> Kevin Alan Brook, “Re: Jews and the Khazars,” on the Jewish Genealogy Forum, <a href="http://www.genealogy.com">www.genealogy.com</a>, posted on Aug. 4, 2004.
<a href="#_ednref35" id="_edn35">[35]</a> Brook, “From the East, West, and South,” p. 6.
<a href="#_ednref36" id="_edn36">[36]</a> Sawyer, “Zionism and the Talmud.”
<a href="#_ednref37" id="_edn37">[37]</a> Rabbi Yaakov Kleiman, DNA & Tradition: The Genetic Link to the Ancient Hebrews (Jerusalem: Devora Publishing Co., 2004), p. 169.
<a href="#_ednref38" id="_edn38">[38]</a> Joel Bainerman, “So What If a Small Portion of World Jewry Are Descendants Of Khazars!” Jan. 3, 2003, www.rense.com/general33/sowhat.htm.
<a href="#_ednref39" id="_edn39">[39]</a> Koestler, Thirteenth Tribe, p.223.
<a href="#_ednref40" id="_edn40">[40]</a> Sawyer, “Zionism and the Talmud.”
<a href="#_ednref41" id="_edn41">[41]</a> Jordan, “Christian Zionism,” p. 177.
<a href="#_ednref42" id="_edn42">[42]</a> Ibid. p. 183.
<a href="#_ednref43" id="_edn43">[43]</a> Ibid. p. 184.
<a href="#_ednref44" id="_edn44">[44]</a> Arnold Fruchtenbaum, Israelology: The Missing Link in Systematic Theology, rev. ed.(Tustin, CA: Ariel Ministries Press, 1992), p. 2
<a href="#_ednref45" id="_edn45">[45]</a> Erroll Hulse, The Restoration of Israel (Worthing, England: Henry E. Walter, Ltd., 1982), p. 175.
<a href="#_ednref46" id="_edn46">[46]</a> Ronald E. Diprose, Israel in the Development of Christian Thought (Rome: Istitutio Biblico Evangelico Italiano, 2000), p. 7.
<a href="#_ednref47" id="_edn47">[47]</a> Jordan, “Christian Zionism,” p. 177.
<a href="#_ednref48" id="_edn48">[48]</a> Kleiman, DNA & Tradition, p. 173.
The post <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com/are-modern-israeli-jews-true-jews/">Are Modern Israeli Jews True Jews?</a> appeared first on <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com">The Prophecy Watchers</a>.
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<title>Revelation 3:10 notes-</title>
<link>https://prophecywatchers.com/revelation-310-notes/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Prophecy Watchers]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Tue, 10 Oct 2023 00:14:21 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://prophecywatchers.com/?p=587212</guid>
<description><![CDATA[These are the PPT notes from Mondo’s message on whether Revelation 3:10 can be understood as applying to the rapture. Download PDF notes below. Revelation-3.10-Notes
The post <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com/revelation-310-notes/">Revelation 3:10 notes-</a> appeared first on <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com">The Prophecy Watchers</a>.
]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[
These are the PPT notes from Mondo’s message on whether Revelation 3:10 can be understood as applying to the rapture. Download PDF notes below.
<a href="https://prophecywatchers.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Revelation-3.10-NORMAN.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Revelation-3.10-Notes</a>
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 







The post <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com/revelation-310-notes/">Revelation 3:10 notes-</a> appeared first on <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com">The Prophecy Watchers</a>.
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<title>Red-Heifer</title>
<link>https://prophecywatchers.com/red-heifer/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Prophecy Watchers]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Mon, 21 Aug 2023 04:25:01 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://prophecywatchers.com/?p=574601</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Check out Mondo’s new book on the Red Heifer! ARE WE ABOUT TO WITNESS THE BUILDING OF THE 3RD TEMPLE? The Red Heifer Ritual is […]
The post <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com/red-heifer/">Red-Heifer</a> appeared first on <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com">The Prophecy Watchers</a>.
]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[
Check out Mondo’s new book on the Red Heifer!
ARE WE ABOUT TO WITNESS THE BUILDING OF THE 3RD TEMPLE?
The Red Heifer Ritual is set to be the definitive guidebook on understanding the enigmatic ceremony involving a pure red heifer to be slaughtered and burned on the slopes of the Mount of Olives. Biblical prophecy is unfolding at a rapid pace and the book you hold in your hands will help you understand fully all the Third Temple preparations of the religious Jews in the land of Israel and around the world. After almost 2000 years, Jewish rabbis have all the pieces in place to erect this temple on the Temple Mount… except for one last piece of the puzzle.
<ul>
<li>What does Daniel, Jesus, Paul and John have to say about a coming Third Temple?</li>
<li>Why do the Jewish rabbis believe that they need to slaughter a red heifer?</li>
<li>How does the New Testament correlate the red heifer with the ministry of Jesus?</li>
<li>When will the rabbis choose to conduct the red heifer ceremony?</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Should Christians support the red heifer and Third Temple movements? Find out inside what your favorite prophecy teachers think about this question.</li>
<li>And much more!</li>
</ul>
It is available now! <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com/product/pre-sale-coming-in-september-the-red-heifer-ritual-the-october-examination-deadline-approaches-by-mondo-gonzales/">https://prophecywatchers.com/product/pre-sale-coming-in-september-the-red-heifer-ritual-the-october-examination-deadline-approaches-by-mondo-gonzales/</a>
<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><a href="https://prophecywatchers.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Red-Heifer-3D-Cover.png"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" width="680" height="900" src="https://prophecywatchers.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Red-Heifer-3D-Cover.png" alt="" class="wp-image-576472" srcset="https://prophecywatchers.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Red-Heifer-3D-Cover.png 680w, https://prophecywatchers.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Red-Heifer-3D-Cover-227x300.png 227w, https://prophecywatchers.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Red-Heifer-3D-Cover-200x265.png 200w, https://prophecywatchers.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Red-Heifer-3D-Cover-500x662.png 500w" sizes="(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px" /></a></figure>
The post <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com/red-heifer/">Red-Heifer</a> appeared first on <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com">The Prophecy Watchers</a>.
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<title>Salvation in the Old Testament</title>
<link>https://prophecywatchers.com/salvation-in-the-old-testament/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Mondo Gonzales]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Fri, 11 Aug 2023 04:02:03 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://prophecywatchers.com/?p=572554</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Were people saved by works in the Old Testament and by faith in the New Testament? In this PDF, I explore and show that people […]
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Were people saved by works in the Old Testament and by faith in the New Testament? In this PDF, I explore and show that people have always been saved by faith through grace since the beginning of time. Click <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/A-Paper-on-Salvation-in-the-Old-Testament.pdf">HERE</a>
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The post <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com/salvation-in-the-old-testament/">Salvation in the Old Testament</a> appeared first on <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com">The Prophecy Watchers</a>.
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<title>Rise of the Technocratic Oligarchs (10 Kings?)</title>
<link>https://prophecywatchers.com/rise-of-the-technocratic-oligarchs-10-kings/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Prophecy Watchers]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 09 Aug 2023 20:33:03 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://prophecywatchers.com/?p=572158</guid>
<description><![CDATA[By Mondo Gonzales It is not often when the world media agrees with biblical eschatology. I read an article recently put out by Axios entitled, […]
The post <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com/rise-of-the-technocratic-oligarchs-10-kings/">Rise of the Technocratic Oligarchs (10 Kings?)</a> appeared first on <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com">The Prophecy Watchers</a>.
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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><a href="https://prophecywatchers.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Rise-of-the-oligarchs.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="576" data-id="572159" src="https://prophecywatchers.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Rise-of-the-oligarchs-1024x576.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-572159" srcset="https://prophecywatchers.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Rise-of-the-oligarchs-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://prophecywatchers.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Rise-of-the-oligarchs-300x169.jpg 300w, https://prophecywatchers.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Rise-of-the-oligarchs-768x432.jpg 768w, https://prophecywatchers.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Rise-of-the-oligarchs-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://prophecywatchers.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Rise-of-the-oligarchs-720x405.jpg 720w, https://prophecywatchers.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Rise-of-the-oligarchs-200x113.jpg 200w, https://prophecywatchers.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Rise-of-the-oligarchs-500x281.jpg 500w, https://prophecywatchers.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Rise-of-the-oligarchs.jpg 1920w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a></figure>
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By Mondo Gonzales
It is not often when the world media agrees with biblical eschatology. I read an article recently put out by Axios entitled, “Elon the self-employed diplomat” which was written by Miriam Kramer and Alison Snyder. I want to unpack some of the details of that article, but before I do, it might be good to remind our readers (and some who are new) about some foundational biblical ideas concerning the 10 kings.
In the November 2020 Prophecy Watcher magazine, Gary wrote an article discussing the need for the discerning Christian to be on the lookout for the rise of 10 kings. There is no doubt the antichrist figure will arrive at the proper time, but biblically speaking, he is preceded by a group known as the 10 kings. If you missed that issue, this article can also be found on our prophecywatchers.com website under articles.  
Gary recognized that we need to keep a lookout for those that might fit the descriptions as found in Scripture. One of the terms that has become common in potentially describing these figures is oligarch. An oligarch, by definition, is one of a few who rule. Gary writes:
Oligarchs are in a constant competition for world domination, and the old political ties of the twentieth century are being steadily altered to fit a “New World Order.” That’s an old term, but now, it is buttressed by high-level digital technology that was only a dream a decade ago. A number of dark figures have quietly risen to power, backed by super-technology and incalculable wealth. At the moment, they operate in the background, but their names continually pop up. They are the technocrats, innovators of new technologies in transportation, communications, shipping and the daily transfer of coded information in trillions of daily transactions. Information controls the world. It is power. Once, it was common for those who went before us to honor God as all-powerful. Our nation prayed for God’s blessing. He brought us through earthquakes, famine, pestilence and horrific wars. It was recognized that He saves us from spiritual death. But now, technology is seen as the world’s savior. Without referring to any of them by name, just think of the billionaires of the digital world, who are publicly linked to a new order of science, genetic transformation, digitized global politics and any of a variety of technologies. They are now hailed as the ones who will save the world through their new methodologies.
In this quote, Gary also used the word technocrat. That would be important to define also. A technocrat is a proponent of technocracy which is defined as: “a theory and movement, prominent about 1932, advocating control of industrial resources, reform of financial institutions, and reorganization of the social system, based on the findings of technologists and engineers.” Ultimately, a technocrat seeks to influence all areas of society and need not be in a governmental position to wield power. In fact, we will see that they often get more done outside the bounds of governmental positions.
When we think of the “ten kings” we need to remind ourselves of the Scriptures that speak of these figures.
Daniel 7:19-20 “Then I desired to know the exact meaning of the fourth beast, which was different from all the others, exceedingly dreadful, with its teeth of iron and its claws of bronze, and which devoured, crushed and trampled down the remainder with its feet, and the meaning of the ten horns that were on its head and the other horn which came up, and before which three of them fell, namely, that horn which had eyes and a mouth uttering great boasts and which was larger in appearance than its associates.”
Daniel 7:24 “As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings will arise; and another will arise after them, and he will be different from the previous ones and will subdue three kings.”
Revelation 17:12-13 “The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings with the beast for one hour. “These have one purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast.”
From these Biblical passages we learn several characteristics of these ten “kings”:
<ol type="1">
<li>The first is that the Greek word for king (basileus) in Revelation 17:12 can have a wider nuance that just what we understand in the word “king.” One of the best Greek lexicons (BDAG) has the following as its second entry: one who possesses unusual or transcendent power. This meaning seems consistent with Revelation 17:12 where we are told that these 10 figures do not have a kingdom as of yet, but will receive authority to rule as kings for the final “hour” of antichrist’s (beast’s) reign in the seven-year tribulation period. We will call them the TEN INFLUENCERS because they do have some valuable level of authority and power that the antichrist would seek to leverage (Rev 17:13). In other words, they exhibit “unusual power” or influence as the BDAG lexicon mentions.</li>
<li>They are not required to be in governmental or ruling positions at the time of their arrangement with the antichrist.</li>
<li>Additionally, when the time comes, they will give their significant influence or power over to the beast and in return are given the ability to rule with him for a short period in his final kingdom (Rev 17:13).</li>
</ol>
I wrote a follow up article in the Prophecy Watcher in April 2022 which can also be found on our website (“Are the Ten Kings Actually Ten Oligarchs?”). In that article I spent time discussing the various sectors that these oligarchs and technocrats are developing and advancing technologies at a blistering pace. These areas involve finance, satellites, surveillance, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, biotechnology, censorship, and innovation zones among others.
As we watch prophecy unfold, I find it encouraging and also inspiring when unbelievers, who have no biblically prophetic worldview, come to the place of seeing things as we predicted they would come to be. Case in point is Elon Musk. He is worth $221 billion dollars and is number one on the world’s richest. Number two sits at $159 billion. That’s quite a difference. As was mentioned in my previous article noted above, Elon Musk is on the cutting edge of several industries. Just very recently, his acquisition of Twitter has become finalized. Almost all the previous executives have been fired or left. Musk has made it clear that the new Twitter will be far different than what it had become. Before we get too excited that Musk seems to be for a censorship free Twitter, we should be very cautious. Musk has shown himself to be no friend of Bible believing Christians. Just because we share a couple common goals for free speech does not mean he is a friend of the gospel. Interestingly, if you saw his recent costume for Halloween which was filled with Satanic symbols, we might be wisely cautious in giving him too much credence.
His Neuralink research seeks to develop ultra high bandwidth brain-machine interfaces to connect humans and computers. There was supposed to be a big demonstration of this in October but has been pushed back to later November. This is a development that we will definitely keep our eyes on. Especially, as it relates to control. I can envision quite easily a future time when Musk (a potential as one of the ten kings) could give even more sophisticated advancements of this technology over to the antichrist.
Another of Musk’s technological endeavors is Tesla Motors and its advanced research into artificial intelligence, but we must also remember that Space X and the subsidiary Starlink are changing the world. As we ponder this background, let us now address the article.
The Axios article begins with these comments:
Billionaire businessman Elon Musk is wielding significant geopolitical power with his global internet Starlink satellites.
Why it matters: Private spacecompanies are meeting — and often exceeding — the capabilities of governments, giving not just technological but also geopolitical power to those who operate them.
<ul>
<li>“It’s not just states in space making these decisions anymore,” Kaitlyn Johnson, a space policy expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), tells Axios.</li>
</ul>
After Russia invaded Ukraine and knocked out much of their communication capabilities, Elon Musk stepped in and unilaterally changed the course of events by offering freely his internet options through his Starlink Satellite network. There are over 20,000 Starlink terminals currently operating in Ukraine and has been used by the military to increase its artillery effectiveness. Elon Musk is donating the services at a cost of over $20 million per month.  When you think in terms of the success of Musk’s goals in Ukraine specifically, the US government is not capable of duplicating his achievements. Yes, they are providing other forms of military equipment, but one man was able to accomplish more in this particular area than the largest super power in the world. This should cause all of us to make connections between the ten kings and the influence (power/authority) that will be handed over to a single one world dictator (the antichrist) at a future time.
The Axios authors go on further to describe the influence and ramifications of Musk’s actions in the Ukraine war. They write:
The impact: Musk’s moves related to Ukraine show just how much global influence he now wields.
<ul>
<li>Activating Starlink in Ukraine was “a policy decision that the U.S. government didn’t make,” Johnson says.</li>
<li>Starlink is being used by Ukrainian forces for situational awareness on the battlefield and, as Secure World Foundation’s Brian Weeden puts it bluntly, is “helping kill a lot of Russians.”</li>
<li>SpaceX was “trying to strong arm the U.S. government into paying for this service that they chose to send there in the first place,” Johnson says.</li>
<li>The Pentagon is reportedly considering paying for Starlink’s service.</li>
</ul>
It is not just in Ukraine where Musk is flexing his technological muscle, but now with Russia and the USA demonstrating very strained relations, the US space industry has taken a decidedly narrow turn towards Musk. NASA has been very reliant on the Russians to transport its astronauts to the International Space Station. Since the sanctions on Russia by the US due to Ukrainian invasion, Russia has officially stopped all cooperation with NASA.
Enter Elon Musk and Space X to fill the void left by another world super power (Russia). Are we getting the picture? Concerning this development, Axios writes:
Between the lines: Years of U.S. policy accelerating and supporting private space companies have led to this moment, where these companies are starting to exceed the government in their capabilities.
<ul>
<li>As a result, the U.S. government has become increasingly reliant on Musk and SpaceX to launch people to the International Space Station and satellites to orbit that underpin military communications and intelligence gathering.</li>
<li>“Over time, the list of space activities that only the U.S. government does or that primarily serve the government has really shrunk, and the list of things the commercial sector is doing has grown,” says Gregory Allen, a senior fellow in the Strategic Technologies Program at CSIS said. “SpaceX is at the forefront of the trend but by no means is the only one.”</li>
<li>Space companies are increasingly providing satellite remote sensing and high-bandwidth satellite communications.</li>
</ul>
As turmoil between nations continues to increase as Jesus said it would (Luke 21:25), poor planning and governmental failure (like much of NASA’s space program) will increasingly give people like Elon Musk power and influence on an even greater global scale. What happens if there is an emergency on the Space Station (similar to what happened recently with a gas leak) and an American astronaut needs to be rescued? Musk could theoretically hold his services at bay unless the government was willing to make behind the door deals allowing him even greater implementations of his technology. So far, he has approval by the FCC for approximately 12,000 satellites in low earth orbit with 3,000 already there. However, he has said he wants up to 42,000 and will need FCC permission. It is obvious that Musk is in a great leveraging position when the time comes as he is currently the front runner to provide services to NASA. And he knows this quite well.
Elon Musk also needs to play his cards carefully. By providing free internet in Ukraine, he has made himself an enemy of Russia. These developments have not gone unnoticed. Axios writes:
What to watch: As commercial satellites take on more national security and military importance, what could be considered a military target in space is also shifting.
<ul>
<li>The fact that Starlink satellites are being used in wartime could also make the privately operated spacecraft targets for enemy forces, and they’re already being targeted with cyberattacks, according to Musk.</li>
<li>A Russian official also opened the door to the idea, saying private satellites used for military purposes could be a “legitimate target for retaliation”during a recent UN working group.</li>
<li>“If Elon is providing Starlink on his own dime and not reimbursed by the Pentagon, what does it mean for Russia to attack those assets?” Allen added. “If it is paid for by the Pentagon, is attacking [the satellites] equivalent to attacking the U.S.? There are norms of practice developed over the history of the Cold War, but there are areas where norms are being written right now.”</li>
</ul>
Other journalists are reporting that China is already well entrenched in creating anti-satellite weapons and they are certainly considering the potential weaponized use of the Starlink network. China is researching how to use a multi-megaton nuclear detonation in near-earth orbit to cause interruptions to Elon Musk’s Starlink web of satellites.
One article described it as creating a “radioactive “debris cloud” that could “cause failures of spacecraft moving in it, such as satellites, or even cause direct damage that can lead to destruction.” This article goes on to write, “China’s military has also noted its serious concerns: “The Starlink project has decided to increase the planned 12,000 satellites to 42,000, underscoring that it is widely distributed, flexible, and could be reconfigured quickly,” according to a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) publication just last week.
“The ambition to militarize Starlink and its barbaric expansion,” it added, “deserve high alert from the international community.”
I could write an article like this on each of the top 20 billionaires worldwide. Most billionaires did not receive their wealth from being idle, but instead through ingenuity and aggressive implementation of their technological vision. As we watch these technocratic oligarchs continue to increase their global geopolitical influence, it is no surprise that the time is coming when a deal will be made with one man. This one man receives their technological prowess and he gives them the right to rule with him for a short period of time.
Revelation 17:12-13 The ten horns of the beast are ten kings who have not yet risen to power. They will be appointed to their kingdoms for one brief moment to reign with the beast.  They will all agree to give him their power and authority.
We live in exciting times and whether Elon Musk is actually one of the final ten influencers who aligns himself with the coming one world leader will only be seen in time. Nevertheless, he is well on his way to positioning himself for an offer of world dominating power by the antichrist.
Jesus told us to watch (Mark 13:37) and to be actively doing kingdom work (Luke 19:13). Our redemption is drawing ever closer. Let’s evangelize and bring as many people with us when the Lord rescues us before the day of His wrath arrives (Luke 17:26-37)!
The post <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com/rise-of-the-technocratic-oligarchs-10-kings/">Rise of the Technocratic Oligarchs (10 Kings?)</a> appeared first on <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com">The Prophecy Watchers</a>.
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<title>Apostasy of the Church or of the Jews?</title>
<link>https://prophecywatchers.com/apostasy-of-the-church-or-of-the-jews/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Mondo Gonzales]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Fri, 23 Jun 2023 04:36:56 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://prophecywatchers.com/?p=562399</guid>
<description><![CDATA[By Mondo Gonzales This topic has been on my mind for quite some time. There are various ramifications that come from getting this section of […]
The post <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com/apostasy-of-the-church-or-of-the-jews/">Apostasy of the Church or of the Jews?</a> appeared first on <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com">The Prophecy Watchers</a>.
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By Mondo Gonzales
This topic has been on my mind for quite some time. There are various ramifications that come from getting this section of Scripture accurately interpreted. There are basically two views when it comes to understanding the apostasy as found in 2 Thessalonians 2:3. Most believe that before the tribulation begins, there is an apostasy of the church that happens at some point in the future. My contention in this article is that the apostasy is not referring to the church, but instead to the leaders of the Jewish nation. No doubt, there is an apostasy of the church that happens which is in accordance with 1 Timothy 4:1, but 2 Thessalonians 2:3 is not referring to the church, but to national Jewish apostasy.
Getting this section of Scripture correct contributes to our understanding of the timing of the rapture, the nature and start of the Day of the Lord (DOTL), the arrival of the antichrist, the coming apostasy, and navigating the waters of potential pre-tribulational church persecution. In addition, there are some technical details in the Greek that contribute to where someone lands when understanding the transition between the church age and the start of the tribulation. Before jumping into 2 Thessalonians 2, it would be good to review the context and history of Paul’s interactions with the church at Thessalonica in order to have confidence in the interpretation of this section.
After Paul was beaten and imprisoned in Philippi, he departed and came to the city of Thessalonica (Acts 17:1-12). He preached for only 3 sabbaths. So, this could be as little as 15 days or as much as 27 days of teaching the Thessalonians about the gospel which included prophecies related to Jesus’s second coming. The important element here is to recognize that after Paul founded the church, he was not there very long. Even in the short time Paul was sharing the fundamentals of the gospel, he believed teaching eschatology was so vital that he taught them many complex details of the nature of the antichrist and the future tribulation period (2 Thess 2:5). This should speak volumes to those pastors that do not feel eschatology is important enough to teach new believers.
Understanding the frame of mind of the Thessalonian believers is important. The founding of the church was surrounded by controversy and resistance from the beginning. Paul, having just been physically assaulted and imprisoned in Philippi, came to the synagogue at Thessalonica preaching about Jesus. Many of the Thessalonians who came to believe did it under the threat of persecution themselves, which they eventually suffered. We know this is true because not long after Paul left Thessalonica, he wrote his first epistle to them. Paul writes, “And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit” (1 Thess 1:6). We learn also that Paul was concerned about their new faith and sent Timothy back to check on them. Paul reminded them to stay true in the midst of trouble. He instructs, “that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this. For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, just as it has come to pass, and just as you know” (1 Thess 3:3-4; see also 2:14; 3:7).
When we come to his second epistle, we learn that their afflictions and persecutions were still happening. Paul says, “Therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring” (2 Thess 1:4). It is fair to say that two of the biggest themes in these two epistles are understanding the prophetic end times and also how to persevere in suffering/affliction. This leads us to understanding specifically the background of 2 Thessalonians 2.
It would be helpful to outline the section that interests us for the purpose of this article (2:1-12). Before we do that, it is wise to remember that Paul addressed the theological truth that the church will not be subject to the eschatological wrath to come (1 Thess 1:10; 5:9). The wrath in context is clearly a reference to the day of the Lord (DOTL) which is also known as the 7-year tribulation (1 Thess 5:2-9). This is one of the many reasons that we believe in a pre-tribulational rapture. Paul teaches believers to, “wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come” (1 Thess 1:10).
After encouraging the Thessalonians that they did not need any more instruction about the times and seasons, he again comforts them (5:1, 11). He tells them that the unbelieving world which is saying “peace and safety” will not escape judgment. He specifically says that this judgment will come upon them (the wicked) which denotes that it will not come upon the church.
Since we are children of the light, we will be always be ready for His return. It is with this encouragement that we know, in addition to being delivered from the wrath to come (1:10), we are saved from the future 7-year tribulation DOTL as Paul writes, “But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.  For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess. 5:8-9). It is no surprise then to acknowledge that Paul wrote about the details of the rapture in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 which is clearly before discussing the DOTL in chapter 5.
Think back to when you were a new believer. You were learning about the many doctrines of the Bible. Now, add on some persecution and affliction because of your new faith. It is a lot to take in. This was the situation with the Thessalonians. In addition, Paul had been teaching them about the rescue of the rapture prior to the DOTL, the arrival of the antichrist, his coming to the temple in Jerusalem, the increased worldwide trouble and affliction. Things were getting even more intense for them, and this led to much confusion. For example, in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, Paul clarifies some issues concerning the rapture. They thought their loved ones who were believers and died would miss out on the rapture. They were grieved over this. Instead, Paul taught them that those that died would not miss out on the rapture at all, but in fact be raised from the dead first.
This same type of confusion was happening again. Paul got news that they were confused about some of the details concerning the rapture and the start of the DOTL. Since the persecution was continuing, they began to hear rumors from an unknown source that the DOTL had started. Naturally, this would have confused the Thessalonians since Paul taught them that they would be raptured prior to the start of the DOTL. Paul chose to write them another letter of encouragement (2 Thessalonians) to remind them of details that he had already taught them.
The summary of the section could be like this. In 2:1-3 the main point is that Paul seeks to correct the confusion about the end of the age scenario. In verse 1, he brings up the rapture (“our gathering together to Him”) letting them know that he understands why it was possible for them to be confused. He also asks them not to be shaken or alarmed that the day of the Lord was already present (2:2). In verse 3, he reminds them not to be deceived and that the DOTL cannot be present because the apostasy and the revelation of the antichrist had not occurred. In verse 4, he discussed the very act of the antichrist declaring himself to be god in the temple itself. He then reminds them in verse 5 that he had already explained these things to them. Verses 6-8 discuss the work of the restrainer and how the antichrist will be revealed. Verses 9-12 discuss the supernatural arrival and work of the antichrist and the deception that will ensue because people reject the gospel and the truth.
Now that we have covered the background and introduction, it will be helpful to zoom in on some specifics in 2:1-3. If we do not see the flow of these verses, we will be confused as we discuss the details of verse 3 concerning the meaning of the apostasy. Let’s do this one verse at a time with some commentary.
2 Thessalonians 2:1
“Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers…”
Just prior to this Paul had been speaking in general terms about the revealing of Jesus and the day of His coming (1:7, 10). It is in 2:1 that he transitions to specifics about the relationship between the rapture and the day of the Lord’s arrival. As we see in 2:5, all these things in verses 1-4 had already been taught by Paul previously. This was either in written form (the epistle of 1 Thessalonians) or in person or both. It is crystal clear in 2:1 that Paul brings up the topic of the rapture. This intimate language of “being gathered together to Him” is reminiscent of John 14:1-3 (“receive you to myself”) as well as “and so we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Thess 4:17). Both of these passages are a clear reference to the rapture concept. The final thing to note that comes from this verse is that Paul is going to ask something of the Thessalonian believers which connects with the rapture.
2 Thessalonians 2:2
“…not to be easily shaken from your composure or frightened neither by any kind of spirit nor message nor letter allegedly from us, <a>to the effect that the day of the Lord is already present</a>.”
The first phrase is what Paul begins to ask in the previous verse. He is asking the Thessalonians not to be shaken or frightened to the effect that the day of the Lord (DOTL) was already present. Why would they think the DOTL was already present? There are two things which could have contributed to this error. The first is that a rumor had come to Thessalonica that the DOTL was already present. Paul was not sure whether this rumor began through someone claiming a spiritual revelation or whether it was an oral message or through a written letter allegedly sent by Paul. The second thing which could have contributed to their being misled and becoming frightened was that they were still experiencing affliction. These two items caused the Thessalonians to become worried, frightened, and alarmed. Paul writes to them and asks them not to lose their composure nor to think that the DOTL was already present. In fact, they should know better based on his previous teachings (cf. 2:5).
Before moving on from verse 2, there is an extremely important phrase that must be addressed, and it has to do with the last words of the verse. Some versions introduce some unnecessary confusion into the mix. For example, the KJV reads, “as that the day of Christ is at hand” (2 Thess 2:2). The ESV and NASB says, “to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.” Let’s summarize what Paul is communicating. He is arguing against a false rumor that the Thessalonians were at risk to believe in this verse. There are three options as to what this wrong thinking entails:
<ol type="1">
<li>If we follow the KJV, Paul would be asking the Thessalonians not to believe the rumor that the day of the Lord (Christ) is at hand. This is an unfortunate translation because the very nature of the rapture and the start of the DOTL in all other NT teaching is that it is always at hand (see Rom 13:12; Phil 4:5; 1 Thess 5:2; 1 Peter 4:7; 2 Peter 3:10; Rev 1:3; 22:10). Paul would be saying to them, “The idea that the day of the Lord is at hand is false. Do not believe this.” Yet we know this translation cannot be accurate because of the above Scriptures. More on this below.</li>
<li>According to the ESV and NASB in verses 2-3, the argument Paul would be making is not to believe the rumor that the DOTL has come because the apostasy must happen first and the man of sin be revealed. This leads to the conclusion that these two items must precede the start of the DOTL. This causes unnecessary complications as I will show below.</li>
<li>The other more literal translation which is found in most exegetical commentaries says “to the effect that the day of the Lord is already present.” If we look at the Greek words here and compare them with other Pauline writing it becomes crystal clear that this is the best translation (Rom 8:38; 1 Cor 3:22; 7:26; Gal 1:14; Heb 9:9). Paul would then be saying that the Thessalonians should not be worried about the rumor that the DOTL was present. In fact, if it was present and they were living in the DOTL, the apostasy would have happened first and the man of sin would be revealed. Since neither of these have occurred in the present, then there is no worry at all that the DOTL has started.</li>
</ol>
It would be good to examine each of these options in order and to develop the thinking as we see in the English translations. Looking at Number 1, The KJV creates problems because to say that the DOTL is not at hand is contradictory to many other passages (including Paul himself) as I listed above. Here is a quote from the Zondervan Exegetical Commentary where Gary Shogren writes what he believes Paul was arguing against which fits in line with the KJV translation. “Therefore, as nearly as we can tell, rumor had it that the signs of the end are upon us already! They fulfill the predictions made by the prophets and the Lord Jesus. Therefore, the day of the Lord and return of Christ are imminent. Paul refutes this by showing that, based on what they already know, the day of the Lord and thus the Parousia cannot be imminent. If the Man of Lawlessness has not appeared, the “restrainer” is still in place. Ipso facto, the day of the Lord has not come, nor is it even necessarily close; thus, they should not be in distress” (p. 277). This cannot be the proper translation and interpretation because as I mentioned above, the Bible clearly teaches in many places that the DOTL will come like a thief in the night.
For example, “For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night” (1 Thess 5:2). The thief in the night language shows that the DOTL will come as a surprise to those not prepared. This is consistent with Luke 21:34-35 which reads, “But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth.”
In another section, Gary Shogren recognizes the potential contradiction of the KJV translation with other New Testament theology when he pens, “In 1 Thess 5:2, the day is like a thief in the night; yet according to 2 Thess 2 the believers can know that the day is not at hand. Some scholars have wondered how Paul could have taught two programs that were apparently at variance with each other: in the first, the day of the Lord comes suddenly and surprises everyone; in the second, the day of the Lord cannot come now, because there are signs that must first take place” (p. 36). If we acknowledge that “at hand” is not the proper translation of 2 Thess 2:2, then the whole potential contradiction disappears. I will show why this is the case.
As we examine Number 2 and put it in the context of the verses 2-3, Paul would we be saying that the DOTL cannot come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of sin be revealed. This has led many Bible teachers to make the conclusion that these two events must precede the start of the tribulation and occur in the church age or after in a gap period before the start of the DOTL. For example, Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum in his book, Footsteps of the Messiah deduces from this translation that there will be two revelations of the antichrist. One that precedes the tribulation and will be given somehow to the believers who are alive at that time (p. 566-567). This revealing could occur to the church or to believers who get saved after the rapture in the gap. The second revelation of the antichrist, according to Fruchtenbaum, will be to Israel at the midpoint of the tribulation when he declares himself to be god (2 Thess 2:4). The other event which precedes the DOTL for Dr. Fruchtenbaum is the apostasy. This certainly could be possible, but it creates some other complications which we will address subsequently.
Looking at Number 3, this translation (“already present” from v. 2) has the best and most solid credibility and also creates far less complications. In addition, it helps bring out some increased clarity as it relates to the apostasy which is the main topic of this article. There are some technical details here from the Greek, but it is worth discussing. We will return to the specifics of the last phrase of verse 2 (“already present”) after examining the flow from verse 2 into 3. Here is the NASB, “that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. 3 Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction” (2 Thess 2:2-3).
The reason I chose the NASB here is that it is the more literal translation. You can see the topic of verse 2 is the DOTL and then leads into verse 3. But notice in verse 3 that the phrase “it will come” is in italics. Most other translations say something like “for that day will not come” (ESV, NKJV, NIV). This phrase in italics in the NASB is not in the Greek at all and these translations simply add these clarifying words in the text to try and help. The other versions do not italicize these words and so they don’t let us know they are doing this. For those that do not read Greek, I recommend consulting the Young’s Literal Translation (YLT) which is very strict and literal but can seem awkward to modern readers. Notice how rough verse 3 reads, “let not anyone deceive you in any manner, because — if the falling away may not come first, and the man of sin be revealed — the son of the destruction.” There is no “then” ending. What scholars recognize is that Paul begins verse 3 with a conditional “if” or “unless” (Greek ean) which is called a protasis. Generally, it almost always contains the apodosis (the then clause).
This is not as complicated as it sounds so hang with me. We use these all the time in normal language and generally call them “if/then” clauses. However, there are other times when we leave out details in the then statement. Robert Thomas, in his article, “The Rapture and the Biblical Teaching of Imminence” which is in the book, Evidence for the Rapture, writes, “We might say, ‘I am going to the store, then home.’ In the last clause, we need to supply the verb from the first clause, ‘then I am going home’” (p. 38).
Going back to verse 3, we see that Paul uses an if, but never supplies a then statement. So, the translators are seeking to help us understand that the then statement is about the day of the Lord which appears explicitly at the end of verse 2. The translation of verse 3 in the NASB says, “Let no one in any way deceive you for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first…” The “it” is the “day of the Lord” phrase from verse 2. The NASB is including the noun “it” and the verb “will not come” in verse 3, even though it is not there, but it certainly is implied. I have included all this precision in order to establish where we are going next with the best translation of verse 2.
The Importance of the phrase “already present.”
To refresh our memory as was shown in number 3 above, 2 Thessalonians 2:2 should read, “…not to be easily shaken from your composure or frightened neither by any kind of spirit nor message nor letter allegedly from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already present.” This might not seem very important, but it is extremely important as I will explain. Paul is telling the Thessalonians they should not be disturbed, worried, or to have any anxiety in thinking that the day of the Lord is present. This means being present as Paul is writing his letter to them. Henry Alford, in his Exegetical Critical Commentary is very adamant about this. He agrees with the above translation noting that the Greek word enistemi occurs six times in the New Testament and always in the sense of “being present” (p. 289). In fact, in Romans 8:38 and 1 Corinthians 3:22 the phrase “things present” (Greek verb enistemi) and “things about to come” (Greek mellonta) are used side by side. Therefore, the absolute best translation of this word in verse 2 should be read as above, but what does it mean?
Robert Thomas does an excellent job of showing the importance of this phraseology. In the same article referenced above, he writes, “The issue involved in his correction of the false information to which the readers [Thessalonians] had been exposed is not the future coming of the day of the Lord; it is rather the current non-presence of that day at the time he writes and they read his words. If that day were not present, then they could not be in that day. For example, suppose I say, ‘In the northern states, the fall season will not come unless the weather gets colder first and the tree leaves change their colors.’ This sentence might imply that the weather gets colder and the tree leaves change their colors before the fall season comes. But this is not true. These changes do not occur before the fall but are part of the fall season. But if I say, ‘The fall season is not present (is not here) unless the weather gets colder first and the tree leaves change their colors,’ this implies something different. The cooler weather happens first, and then the colors of the leaves change. These two factors take place within the fall season and indicate its arrival. They do not occur before the fall season arrives” (emphases mine).
To summarize this important phrase, we are going to be discussing the apostasy (rebellion) coming first and the man of lawlessness being revealed. What this means is that the apostasy which arrives first and the man of sin being revealed happens within the 7-year tribulation period (DOTL) and does not precede it. Robert Thomas gives more grammatical evidence and parallels (John 7:51; Mark 3:27) in his article as to why these two items are considered to be within the tribulation period and not outside of it in any way.
With this understanding we can remove the Number 2 translation above as being an option. It also would eliminate the need to say that the apostasy and revelation of the man of sin precedes the start of the DOTL. It is rare that I disagree with Dr. Fruchtenbaum, but in this instance, if we translate it accurately, there is no need to look for a revelation of the antichrist before the start of the DOTL. In addition, this also means that the apostasy we are looking for does not precede the start of the DOTL either.
Another unintended consequence for those maintaining the Number 2 translation is that it gives those espousing a pre-wrath position footing in proposing that the day of the Lord only entails the 2nd half of the tribulation (3.5 years). For them, they will say that those two items must precede the beginning of the 3.5 years DOTL. No matter the merits of this assertion, if we recognize that Number 3 above is the most reflective of the Greek verb enistemi it immediately removes their claim as an option.
Based on Number 3, we can easily recognize that the first event that happens within the tribulation period is the apostasy happening at the start. This can only happen within the DOTL. These are the beginning stages of the 7-year DOTL. This phraseology reveals additional aspects of the timing and also helps shape our understanding to uncover who is involved in THE apostasy of 2:3.
In closing this section, it might be helpful to say that this translation of “already present” is not so unconventional. FF Bruce, Robert Thomas, Charles Wanamaker, Ernest Best, among others, recognize that this is the best translation. The NET translation, from the scholars at Dallas Theological Seminary have something very close in words, but the exact same meaning.
It reads, “…not to be easily shaken from your composure or disturbed by any kind of spirit or message or letter allegedly from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here.  Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not arrive until the rebellion comes and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction” (2 Thess 2:2-3 NET). The NET is known for bringing out the exact nuances of the Greek. Their rendition “already here” is the same meaning as “already present.”
It is interesting that in verse 3 they left out the word “first” which is clearly in the Greek, but instead they included the thought by using the word “until” as a connector. Therefore, the DOTL will not arrive (be present) until the rebellion comes first. These translators recognize that the first stage for the DOTL to arrive (be present) is the rebellion/apostasy happening first.
2 Thessalonians 2:2-3
“…not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already present. 3 Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day is not present, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction.”
One comment should be noted right up front which will help blunt the assertion that 2:1-3 is evidence of a pre-wrath rapture. Some people recognize that the rapture is being discussed in verse 1 and since verse 2-3 say that “that day cannot come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of sin revealed,” they think this proves a mid-trib position. But “that day” does not refer to the day of the rapture of verse 1, but instead very specifically to the “day of the Lord” as found in verse 2. Paul introduces the topic of the rapture as noting the topic of end time events in verse 1, but then in verse 2 he specifically transitions to the topic of the 7-year tribulation and the DOTL. This makes great sense that he would introduce the topic of the rapture prior to discussing the DOTL and its beginning because the rapture precedes the start of the DOTL.
So, what is the apostasy mentioned in 2:3? Without getting into the full debate, I will mention that some people see the apostasy as a physical departure (the rapture) while others see it as a spiritual rebellion against God. There are godly people on both sides, but I think Lee Brainard’s book, The Apostasia handles all the assertions and objections masterfully. He shows through a variety of arguments that far and away the best translation for apostasia is “spiritual rebellion.” Therefore, I am going to be addressing the apostasy from that angle of spiritual rebellion or spiritual apostasy.
The title of this article and the question before us remains: Is this the spiritual apostasy of the church or of the Jews/Israel? Let me address this from the context. The context from verse 2 and into verse 3 immediately preceding the apostasy is the Day of the Lord. The 7-year tribulation period.
Here are some questions to ponder as we dive a little deeper.
<ol type="1">
<li>What is the focus of the Day of the Lord (Jer 30:7; Dan 9:24, 27; Hosea 5:15)?</li>
<li>What is the tell-tale sign that the 7-year tribulation has begun and is present (Daniel 9:27)?</li>
<li>Who is Jesus is talking about in John 5:43? What does it mean for the Jews to receive this other person?  (As Messiah or Christ?)</li>
<li>When will the Jews receive this other person as Christ?</li>
<li>In 2 Thess 2:3 it says THE apostasy. If this is the apostasy of the church, how will we know exactly when it happens?</li>
<li>If 2 Thess 2:3 is in reference to THE apostasy of the Jews, how will we know exactly when it happens?</li>
</ol>
I think it would be helpful to interact with the above questions one by one.
1) All dispensational prophecy teachers believe that the primary focus of the DOTL is Israel. It is known as the time of Jacob’s trouble (Jer 30:7). Indeed, the whole earth is involved and being judged (Rev 3:10; Isaiah 24:21), but we also know that the tribulation is the 70th week of Daniel which is labeled specifically to apply to the Jewish people and the holy city of Jerusalem (Daniel 9:24-27). It is prophesied that the Jewish people will seek their Messiah after being in a period of distress (Hosea 5:15).
Some people might object and say that Paul is giving information about the apostasy of the future end time church to the Thessalonian church. This is possible, but it interrupts the flow from what he started in verse 2, the DOTL. The church is not in the DOTL so why would the apostasy be about the church? In fact, after introducing the two items which are the beginning stages of the DOTL, he proceeds to describe the future activities of the antichrist as polluting the temple of God which we know is in Jerusalem (2:4). Again… Jewish context.
2) Based on Daniel 9:27, we know that the beginning of the 70th week of Daniel (DOTL) is the confirmation or strengthening of a covenant. We do not have all the details of this covenant, but it says, “he will confirm a covenant with many for one week.” The underlined phrase appears only twice in Daniel (9:27; 11:33) and is the same in Hebrew and the Greek Septuagint. The 11:33 passage refers to the people of Israel historically. So, the tell-tale sign is an agreement or covenant that is confirmed by the antichrist with the Jewish people. Some Bible teachers see Isaiah 28:15, 18 as reference to this covenant. It reads, “For you say, ‘We have made a covenant with death, with Sheol we have made an agreement. When the overwhelming judgment sweeps by it will not reach us. For we have made a lie our refuge, we have hidden ourselves in a deceitful word… Your covenant with death will be dissolved; your agreement with Sheol will not last. When the overwhelming judgment sweeps by, you will be overrun by it.”
My observation based on this passage about a covenant is that this agreement to put their trust in a human messianic figure is not good. Think of it in different terms. Would we consider a covenant made by the Jewish people to put their confidence for security in a false human Messiah/Christ figure as an act of apostasy? Let’s see the connection with John 5:43.
3) “I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him” (John 5:43). If we follow the flow of the narrative in the gospel of John, we see that John writes that Jesus admits that He is the Messiah to the woman at the well (John 4:25-26). This admission was quite rare and sets the stage for John’s writing in the very next chapter. Jesus says another will come in his own name and they will receive that person. What does it mean for the Jews to receive this other person? It shouldn’t be that difficult because the fact that they didn’t receive Jesus as Messiah is obvious. So, the Jewish people who in the first century rejected Jesus as Messiah will receive another who comes in his own name as Messiah or Christ… AKA… the antichrist which can mean against Christ or pseudo/false Christ. Either one works.
            The question before us in understanding John 5:43 is when does this receiving event happen? I imagine most prophecy teachers would agree that the reception of this antichrist most likely happens at the time when the covenant is arranged between the Jewish people and the antichrist (cf. Daniel 9:27).
It is my contention that this event of the Jews confirming a covenant with the antichrist is the Apostasy as spoken of in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 which we have seen already is the first event of the 7-year DOTL. The timing, context, and the parties involved all match up perfectly.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this article. Some people see the Greek word apostasia as referring to a spiritual rebellion while others see it as a physical departure (rapture). One of the arguments against apostasia being a spiritual rebellion is that the phrase in Greek contains the definite article (THE). It is not just an apostasy, but THE apostasy. Dr. Andy Woods, who I have solid respect for writes,
“There is a definite article in front of the noun ‘apostasy.’ Notice the definite article translated “the” in front of both “apostasy” and “man of sin.” By providing these two definite articles, essentially Paul is indicating that the apostasy will be something that has specific, time-bound qualities just like the man of sin’s coming has such qualities. In other words, just like the advent of the man of sin will be a specific and instantaneous event in future history, the coming apostasia, or departure, will similarly be specific and time-bound. The advent of the coming lawless one or Antichrist will take place at a specified point in time and instantaneously, with the opening of the first seal judgment (Rev. 6:1-2). The definite article, also before the apostasia, indicates that in the same way the apostasia will also take place instantaneously. Such an instantaneous manifestation does not fit well with the notion of a spiritual departure [rebellion], which typically transpires gradually over an elongated process. Spiritual departures are not instantaneous events. After all, it took the church at Ephesus three decades to spiritually depart from Christ by leaving its first love” (emphasis mine).
Now I want to be clear. I am not saying Dr. Woods agrees with me. In fact, he is making this argument for a physical departure of the rapture for the word apostasia in 2 Thess 2:3. I don’t agree with him on that point, but I do agree with him in his argumentation here. He is correct in disputing those that see this as a spiritual apostasy of the Church. In addition, there is no singular leader or body of leaders which speak for the entirety of Christendom. If there was, then maybe you could have a singular apostasy of the Church at a specific moment of time which the context requires. He lays out the ramifications of the argument quite well.
But, if we take Dr. Andy Wood’s comments and put them in the context of the Jewish leadership making a covenant with antichrist (receiving him- John 5:43), then the issue is resolved. Another interesting angle which I do not know whether Dr. Woods intended this or not is the clear connection of the singular advent or arrival of the antichrist as the first seal of Revelation is opened (Rev 6:1-2). The 7-year tribulation DOTL begins with the advent of the antichrist and we also know that he is involved in the confirming of the covenant. This fits perfectly with what I see Paul saying in 2 Thessalonians 2:3. The DOTL cannot be present unless the apostasy comes first (the Jews agreeing to the covenant) and the man of sin be revealed as the one who strengthens the covenant. These two items happen simultaneously as we match up Daniel 9:27; John 5:43; Rev 6:1-2; and 2 Thess 2:3.
            4) When will the Jews receive this other person as Christ? We have already answered this in that they receive the one coming in his own name (John 5:43) when they receive his authority and protection in the confirmation of the covenant (Dan 9:27).
5) As mentioned above, the definite article causes much confusion when trying to connect this to the church, but poses no problem when connecting it with a Jewish apostasy. Robert Thomas does not address the nature of the apostasy specifically in his article. This makes sense since his article was focused on the teaching of imminency. In his Thessalonians commentary in the Expositors Bible Commentary, he does not get specific about what the apostasy involves. He suggests it could be a rebellion by those who professed Christianity but were left behind in the rapture. Based on his clear understanding of the text, he says that whatever the apostasy involves, it happens within the DOTL. Therefore, Thomas knows that this cannot be an apostasy of the church. The church is removed in the rapture prior to the DOTL. This apostasy happens within the DOTL and must be some other group which he surmises will be professing Christians who were left behind. This is plausible but doesn’t fit the context of the DOTL specifically when we see it bleed over into verse 4 discussing the temple which is very Jewish in context as all would agree.
6) If 2 Thess 2:3 is in reference to THE apostasy of the Jews, how will we know exactly when it happens? It will be easy for the post rapture people to recognize this singular act of apostasy by the Jewish leadership as they make a covenant with the antichrist. Charles Wanamaker, in The Epistles to the Thessalonians: A Commentary on the Greek Text, sees the apostasy as a Jewish rebellion. He writes, “In the apocalyptic context of 2 Thessalonians 2, the rebellion referred to is a religious one directed against God. In all probability we may identify those whose rebellion is mentioned in v. 3 with those who are to be deceived in vv. 10–12. While Paul may have thought of certain Christians being involved (elsewhere he questioned the bona fides of some who purported to be Christians: cf. Gal. 2:4; 2 Cor. 11:12–15; Phil. 1:15–18), the reference to the temple in v. 4 suggests that he is working with a traditional apocalyptic understanding in which it was maintained that many of the people of God, that is the Jews, would rebel against God and the Law at the time of the end (cf. Jub. 23:14–23; 2 Esdr. 5:1–13; 1 Enoch 91:3–10; 93:8–10; 1QpHab 2:1ff and Mk. 13:5f.)” (p. 243-245).
In Conclusion
It is important to say that there is no doubt that we are currently living in the age of the Laodicean church (Rev 3:14-22) which has become apostate. We also know that 1 Timothy 4:1 says, “Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons.” This is undeniable, but we do know that it did not happen in a singular specified event as 2 Thessalonians 2:3 requires. It began in the mid-1800s when the seminaries and Christian universities began to embrace theologically liberal doctrines. We have watched as it has become more pervasive over the last century and now all the mainline churches have become almost totally corrupt.
If we take this understanding of the apostasy into consideration, we will not be looking for some specific singular instantaneous apostasy of the church, but rather recognizing that the apostasy refers to the Jewish reception of the antichrist and their entering into a covenant with him.
Christians in England, Canada and America are entering into a time of increased hostility, censorship, harassment, ostracization, arrest and potential physical persecution. Just like with the Thessalonians, none of this should convince us that we are in the tribulation period (day of the Lord). We know that the day of the Lord cannot be present because the Jewish Apostasy and the revealing of the antichrist have not occurred. Praise the Lord that we have the promises of being rescued prior to the arrival of the day of the Lord (Luke 17:22-37; Luke 21:34-36; Rev 3:10). In the meantime, we are to remain watching (Mark 13:37) and to be busy about the kingdom (Luke 19:13) appreciating that God is allowing more time for people to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). Amen and Amen!
The post <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com/apostasy-of-the-church-or-of-the-jews/">Apostasy of the Church or of the Jews?</a> appeared first on <a href="https://prophecywatchers.com">The Prophecy Watchers</a>.
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