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Repentance, part 4

One of the most urgent matters for repentance is that of Christian Zionism. This belief is relatively new in church history, rising out of the end-time theories of Darby and his spiritual successor, Scofield, from 1850-1930. Both men made the mistake of assuming that the Jews were the Israelites of Scripture and that the Jews were therefore the heirs of God’s promises to Israel. Hence, they believed that the Jews were destined to return to the old land to fulfill the prophecies to Israel.

Prior to 1948 it was widely taught that the Jews would repent and turn to Christ before God would allow them to return. When this did not happen, they proclaimed that the Jews would turn to Christ within 3 ½ years. When this did not happen, they proclaimed that surely the Jews would turn to Christ at the end of 7 years (1955). When this also failed to materialize, this teaching was quietly dropped.

The fact is that in the laws of Tribulation in Leviticus 26, God made it clear that after He would send the Israelites into exile for their persistent sin, they would not be allowed to return from exile until they repented of their “hostility” toward God (Jesus Christ). Leviticus 26:40-42 says,

⁴⁰ If they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their forefathers, in their unfaithfulness which they committed against Me— ⁴¹ I also was acting with hostility against them to bring them into the land of their enemies—or if their uncircumcised heart becomes humbled so that they then make amends for their iniquity, ⁴² then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and I will remember also My covenant with Isaac, and My covenant with Abraham as well, and I will remember the land.

The main point of this prophetic law is to show that repentance is required in order to end the exile. This condition was acknowledged by Darby and Scofield, though it was abandoned by the lawless Christian Zionists after 1948. The Jewish state called Israel was established, along with a Palestinian state, by United Nation Resolution 181. This two-state solution failed, because of two factors: (1) Palestinians did not accept the idea that the West who controlled the UN had the right to give away other people’s land; and (2) the Israelis did not accept the idea that they were entitled only to a portion of the land.

Will the Israelis Repent and Accept Jesus as the Messiah?

After the Jews failed to accept Jesus Christ from 1948-1955, they ought to have searched the Scriptures to see where they went wrong. However, they continued to be blind to the distinction between Judah and Israel, and they seemed to remain ignorant of the Law of Tribulation.

For this reason, they continued to confuse Judah (“the Jews”) with Israel that still remained lost among the nations. Likewise, they continued to espouse the idea that “the Jews are God’s chosen people,” remaining blind to Paul’s teaching that only the remnant of grace could carry the promises given to Israel. This is how we must interpret Isaiah 27:6,

⁶ In the days to come Jacob will take root, Israel will blossom and sprout, and they will fill the whole world with fruit.

It is one of the promises of God that are fulfilled in the remnant of grace alone. The promise is about bearing fruit to God that is fit to “eat,” spiritually speaking. When the prophet speaks of “Jacob” and “Israel,” he was not including the non-believers. In Elijah’s day there were only 7,000 out of more than a million biological Israelites who were Israelites as God defined the term.

Blindness, Paul tells us in Romans 11:7 KJV, is the chief characteristic of those who are not part of the remnant of grace—not only unbelieving Jews but also Christian Zionists themselves. This same blindness has sealed up other passages of Scripture which plainly dispute the Christian Zionist position.

One of the main underlying themes throughout the Bible is God’s requirement for “fruit.” This traces back to Genesis 1:28, where God commanded Adam to “be fruitful and multiply.” If Adam and Eve had borne children before they sinned, they would have brought forth children in the image of God, even as they themselves were (Genesis 1:26). Unfortunately, their children were born after sin entered the world, and so the command to be fruitful remained unfulfilled.

It is only through Christ that anyone can be fruitful in the sense of coming into His image (2 Corinthians 3:18).

The Divine Fruit Inspectors

John the Baptist was sent as a fruit inspector. He told the Pharisees and Sadducees in Matthew 3:8,

⁸ Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance, ⁹ and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, “We have Abraham for our father”; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. ¹⁰ The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

No one can “bear fruit” without repentance. John also links the “fruit” with “children,” and this shows us how to interpret the mandate to “be fruitful and multiply” in Genesis 1:28. John also tells us that these are the true children of Abraham. Paul expounds further on this in the third chapter of Galatians. Paul speaks of the children of Abraham interchangeably with the children of God (Galatians 3:7, 26, 29).

After John was executed by Herod, Jesus took up the mantle as the divine fruit inspector. In Luke 13:6-9 we read this:

⁶ And He began telling this parable: “A man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and did not find any. ⁷ And he said to the vineyard-keeper, ‘Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground’. ⁸ And he answered and said to him, ‘Let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer, ⁹ and if it bears fruit next year, fine, but if not, cut it down’.”

Jesus ministered for three years looking for the fig tree to bear fruit. The fig tree was the biblical symbol of Judah as a nation. After three years, the fig tree was given one more opportunity to bear fruit, and the outcome in the parable remained uncertain. However, later we read of another encounter during the last week of Jesus’ earthly ministry.

The Fruitless Fig Tree

In Matthew 21:18, 19 we read,

¹⁸ Now in the morning, when He was returning to the city, He became hungry. ¹⁹ Seeing a lone fig tree by the road, he came to it and found nothing on it except leaves only; and He said to it, “No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you.” And at once the fig tree withered.

Jesus’ prophetic curse on the fig tree of Judah stated clearly that this tree would never again bear fruit. Judah “withered” 40 years later when the Roman army destroyed Jerusalem and conquered the rest of the nation from 70-73 A.D. This prophecy was explained further in Matthew 24:32-34,

³² Now learn the parable from the fig tree; when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; ³³ so you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door. ³⁴ Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.

Christian Zionism itself understands that this prophesied of the Jewish state in 1948. I agree. Where we disagree is in the nature of the “fig tree” that came to life at that time. Christian Zionists fail to see that the fig tree would still fail to bring forth fruit. It had the ability only to put forth its leaves. This was no different from the original fig tree that Jesus cursed, which had “leaves only.” Leaves are no substitute for fruit. A tree with “leaves only” may be cut down.

So if the Jewish state is the “fig tree” in this prophecy, it is clear that Jesus’ curse also applies to it, saying, “No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you.” In other words, the Israelis will not repent, nor will they bear fruit fit for God’s consumption, nor are the unbelieving Jews the true children of Abraham, nor are they the chosen people. Instead, the tree will again be cut down for its lack of fruit.

The Jewish state is moving steadily toward destruction, according to Jeremiah’s prophecy of the two jars. The first jar represents the house of Israel in Jeremiah 18:1-10. The prophet was shown a jar of wet clay in the hand of a potter. It was defective, so the potter beat it down and remade it into a new vessel that was fit for use. This prophesied of Israel.

Then, beginning with Jeremiah 18:11, the prophet turns his attention to Judah. After a long indictment for the sin of the nation, the prophet was told to “buy a potter’s earthenware jar” (Jeremiah 19:1), take it to the valley of Ben-hinnom (Greek: Gehenna, the city dump), and smash the jar. We read in Jeremiah 19:10, 11,

¹⁰ Then you are to break the jar in the sight of the men who accompany you, ¹¹ and say to them, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘just so will I break this people and this city, even as one breaks a potter’s vessel, which cannot again be repaired; and they will bury in Topheth because there is no other place for burial’.”

This is a direct prophecy against Jerusalem and its people. Far from being a jar of wet clay that can be repaired, the “jar” of Judah will be broken so completely that it “cannot again be repaired.” The Babylonians destroyed the city in 586 B.C., but it was later repaired. The Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70 A.D., but again it was repaired, and it exists even today.

So Jeremiah’s prophecy has yet to be fulfilled, and this is a prophecy that seems to be hidden from Christian Zionists, who believe that the earthly Jerusalem will be the capital of Christ’s kingdom. But if that were true, then Christ would rule from Gehenna, the city dump, where Jeremiah smashed the jar.

Christian Zionists will be greatly disappointed when their expectations of repentance fail. They will be horrified when they see the utter destruction of Jerusalem. It would be far better that their eyes would be opened to see the truth of Scripture so that their faith is not shaken.