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THE HIDDEN IRONY - IN CHRISTIAN REPLACEMENT THEOLOGY
(Christian Replacement Theology article)

The Christian church for over 1,700 years has embraced 'Replacement Theology'.
According to this doctrine the Church rivals Israel by claiming that she is the "New Israel of the Spirit" superseding the "old Israel of the flesh". This incredibly arrogant claim of the Church found its legal expressions in the "Codex Justinian", which subsequently spawned the Inquisition, the Crusades, as well as multiple expulsions and pogroms. Whereas, today we see this theory manifest itself by calling for "even-handedness" in the Arab/Israel controversy.  According to this theory all of G-d's promises to 'physical' Israel have been cancelled, as they have been transferred to 'spiritual' Israel - i.e. the Church. Thus they have tried to make this theory fit with literally hundreds, if not thousands, of prophecies and inspired statements in the Bible that refer to the ultimate "Restoration of Israel". Even though the contexts in which many of these inspired statements are set clearly indicate reference to a 'literal' and 'physical' restoration of the Whole House of Israel, they have tried to rationalize this by 'spiritualizing' them away. For centuries the church has tried to impose its own interpretation on scripture. The Bible, however, is a book about Israel , and Israel alone! The reason Christianity has largely ignored the prophecies about the House of Israel is because they totally mess up her theology. While Christians have a concept of 'personal redemption', 'national redemption' is something that is foreign to them. Yet nearly ninety percent of the prophetic books of the Bible are about the redemption of the House/Nation of Israel . If the established Christian Church today were to recognize that all these prophecies refer to a 'literal' and 'physical' Israel after all, her entire theological card house would collapse. With this crucial vested interest at stake, it should not surprise us that their leaders are wholly opposed to any idea of a physical, literal Israel playing any role in end-time eschatology.

Nevertheless, there is a great deal of irony attached to this 'Christian' doctrine of 'Replacement Theology', as by usurping the position of the Covenant people of Israel, they are unwittingly associating themselves with the ancient Hebrews. Whereas the original impetus for their replacement teaching was to steal the spiritual clothes of the Jews, they have in practice paid them a backhanded compliment. The early proponents of this Replacement Theology clearly thought that Israel 's spiritual heritage was well worth stealing!

The point here is that people often tend to believe instinctively in something that they feel to be true, no matter how irrational. Their heart tells them that Israel 's covenant heritage belongs to them, yet they cannot justify their entitlement with their head. It is something that they intuitively feel in their subconscious mind. Intuition has frequently served as a
powerful tool for discovery and invention, and many scientific and other research breakthroughs have their origin in just such intuitive feelings.

The question is why do these Christians want to equate themselves with
Israel ? Why do Christians want to make that connection? Could it possibly be
that, even in this very widespread theory that the Christian Church has replaced Israel in G-d's scheme of things we are in fact seeing a further subliminal indicator of the Israelite origins of many of its believers? Maybe it is a question of their own hidden Hebrew roots somehow telling them they are entitled to Israel 's heritage. When looked upon it this way, we see that in embracing this pernicious 'replacement theology,' these Christians may actually unwittingly be revealing their own Israelite origins as the Lost Tribes of Israel. Is that not highly ironic?

THE JUDAH CONNECTION

A remarkable indicator of a connection between the British and American people and Israel is their historic involvement with the establishment of the State of Israel. The fact is that these two leading nations have helped to re-establish their Jewish brothers back into the Land of Promise . Incredibly it was at the Jewish Feast of Hanukkah that the British, together with the Australian and New Zealand Anzac forces, led by General Edmund Allenby liberated the city of Jerusalem on December 9, 1917 . Just one month prior to this, Great Britain had published the by now famous Balfour Declaration, in which the greatest empire in the world recognised the right of the Jews to have their own homeland in Palestine . Then in 1920 the League of Nations gave the Mandate to rule Palestine to Great Britain . From here on the Jewish people were on a countdown to the establishment of their own State. In all of this we can see the hand of providence at work.

THE REBIRTH OF ISRAEL FORETOLD IN PROPHECY

The prophet Isaiah prophesied the rebirth of the State of Israel some 2,700 years ago, when he pronounced the following:

"Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion was in labour, she gave birth to her children" (Isaiah 66:8).

This prophecy was fulfilled on May 14, 1948, when ' in one day' the State of Israel came into being. America in turn has ever since 1948 consistently protected the Jewish nation.

It is wonderful to see the outworking of prophecy in history, as these two 'Birthright' sons of Joseph are used by G-d to help their older brother Judah back on his feet as an independent nation. History itself testifies that without Great Britain 's initial assistance, the Jews would never have got their national independence. It is also a fact of life, that without the continued protection and support of the United States it is doubtful whether the State of Israel would still exist today.

PARTIAL CHRISTIAN REPENTANCE

Thus when the Jews, after nearly 2,000 years of exile, re-established an independent state in Palestine in 1948, in direct fulfillment of hundreds of Bible prophecies, it did produce a startling shock to some Christian churches. This was especially so in the smaller Protestant evangelical denominations. Then, when the Jews in the Six Day War of 1967 routed their Arab enemies and conquered East Jerusalem , thus bringing their sacred capital once again under Jewish control, it provided a further jolt to Christian thinking. The result was that some in the Protestant wing of the Christian Church started to reject 'Replacement Theology', as they began to rethink their doctrines and beliefs about Israel . They began to acknowledge that G-d had a divine purpose for Israel as well as for the Church. They came to see 'Replacement Theology' as a Christian form of anti-Semitism and started to preach against it by advocating Christian repentance. They have met with considerable success especially in the United States in Protestant Evangelical, Pentecostal and Charismatic circles. The last 30 years have seen a dramatic change in Christian attitudes towards Israel , with scores of Christian organizations around the world heavily emphasizing the special importance of Israel and the Jewish people. Christian Zionism is experiencing a major resurgence especially in the English speaking world. Another more recent phenomenon is the worldwide growth of the Hebrew Roots movement with literally millions of Christians being drawn to observing the Torah. Many of these have a desire to return to Eretz Israel , which they believe to be the land of their patriarchal Fathers. In this we have yet another indicator that something very big is afoot. This awakening of many Christians to their Hebrew roots is a sign that we truly live in the age of Maschiach, and that the reunification of the Two Houses of Israel cannot now be far away! Worldwide some sixty million Christians are unreservedly standing with Israel against the rising global tide of virulent hatred coming especially from the world of Islam. The encouraging news is that their numbers are growing day by day.

Stephen J Spykerman

Extract from: The Hidden Ancestry of America and Great Britain

MOUNT EPHRAIM PUBLISHING

Christian Replacement Theology (End)

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