{"id":182,"date":"2011-07-30T08:41:28","date_gmt":"2011-07-30T12:41:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/isittheendoftheworld\/?p=182"},"modified":"2011-07-30T08:41:28","modified_gmt":"2011-07-30T12:41:28","slug":"the-fortress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/isittheendoftheworld\/2011\/07\/the-fortress.html","title":{"rendered":"The Fortress"},"content":{"rendered":"

Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me. (Isaiah 49:16)<\/p>\n

A lot of people don’t like Jews, and a whole lot of nations loathe Israel, but I admit to a sense of satisfaction over that reality.<\/p>\n

In the American Church today, an idea known as Replacement Theology is rampant. This view says that because of past sins of the Jews, God has “replaced” them with the Church in his overall plan for humanity. The Old Testament have been “transferred” to the Church.<\/p>\n

Right.<\/p>\n

This kind of arrogance is really breathtaking, and notice that the Church doesn’t embrace the punishments also promised to ancient Israel. It’s only the blessings that the Church tries on like a mink coat in a full-length mirror.<\/p>\n

I’m happy to disappoint those Christians who hold to this view. Repeatedly\u2014repeatedly\u2014the Lord tells Israel and the Jews that He has never forgotten them, that He sees them all through history. The walls of the nation are ever before him.<\/p>\n

In Jeremiah 31, He goes to great and soaring lengths to say that if the sun and moon stop giving their light, He will forgot Israel. In other words, it will never happen.<\/p>\n

This particular prophecy is one I find so delicious. Israel’s enemies rage, but they are not long for this world.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, the Church should take the proper stance and see that in Israel’s supernatural preservation, us Gentiles can see that God will also take care of us as individuals. The Church presently has it backwards.<\/p>\n

The walls of Jerusalem\u2014Israel’s eternal capitol\u2014face the sun every morning. At night, as her enemies plot, the moon hangs like a sentinel.<\/p>\n

I like that a lot.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me. (Isaiah 49:16) A lot of people don’t like Jews, and a whole lot of nations loathe Israel, but I admit to a sense of satisfaction over that reality. In the American Church today, an idea known as Replacement…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":392,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Fortress - Is it the End of the World?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/isittheendoftheworld\/2011\/07\/the-fortress.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Fortress - Is it the End of the World?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me. 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