Fulfillment Supports Jews and Is Not Anti-Semetic
Because of the traditional view most followers of Yeshua maintain about Israel (that she is perched and waiting for the Messiah to come back to and save) a natural reaction to what we call fulfillment (which is also interpreted by some as Full-Preterism) is the accusation that Fulfillment is somehow “anti-Semitic.” The thinking behind this accusation goes something like this:
- Going back to the earliest books of the Tanakh (Old Testament) readers can clearly see that the Living God elected the Nation of Israel to be His covenant people. He made eternal promises to them that cannot ever be taken away.
- God prophetically described events that would happen in the future (because dispensationalists cannot for the life of them admit that these prophesies and promises were either fulfilled entirely by Christ or they have not happened yet or because of disobedience God chose to not honor them) and therefore we are living in an age where Israel/Jerusalem is still the focal point in the world of faith.
- Because of this many people believe that for a person to be a “true disciple of Christ,” they must support the State of Israel today with all their heart mind and strength – almost as much as they pursue and follow after God Himself.
- For these reasons most American Evangelicals are “pro-Israel,” hanging on the belief that the Messiah is going to come back to His own, split the Mount of Olives in two with His heel, wipe out the anti-Christ and inaugurate both the apocalypse and/or His Millennial reign on earth.
- In the end, and as a means to help Israel prepare for His return (which, depending on the individual or denomination includes helping them
- Defend themselves against intruders.
- Build a third temple.
- Find a red heifer.
Therefore, to be a true devout Christian, there must be political support for present-day Israel as a close ally, the could be financial support to help them meet their needs, and in the end there must be a belief that Jesus is coming back to saved them and reveal Himself as the real Messiah.
Fulfillment (also known by some as full-preterism, which, by the way, is not what we maintain for numerous reasons) but fulfillment maintains the following which in most ways stand opposite dispensational or futurist views regarding Israel, and these things include,
- The Living God, called the Nation of Israel out to be His covenant people and gave them promises that were almost always conditioned on their obedience; if they refused to submit, He refused to bless and all promises and blessings were based on this standard.
- By the time we get to the second temple period most of Israel had turned in some way from Him and made themselves Jews, making and following the Law as much their God as anything else.
- In Jeremiah God gave her (once-Israel now Jews) a bill of divorce because of her unfaithful ways to Him but promised to someday gather the faithful from that people and rescue them from an approaching Great and Dreadful day.
- When Yeshua entered the scene some 500 years later, introduced and baptized by John the Baptist, the axe was already laid at the root of the tree and the call on that nation of Jews in that day was to repent and receive Him who was promised – or be destroyed.
- John the Baptist, Yeshua and His elected Apostles then went out calling for the members of that specific Nation to look to Him in faith and live. Paul came and took their good news out to the Gentile nations (as was prophesied) and all of them gave repeated warnings that the “end” of that age (or the world under the Law of Moses with all of its material appeals and applications was going to come to an end.
- Of course, the Jews of that day, filled with the Spirit of their Father the Devil, put Yeshua to death, and then most of his apostles. All the while the Apostles were telling the people to watch and look for both the signs of His coming and then His coming itself, which would occur amidst great upheavals and trials going on all around them.
- History shows that all of the signs and signals that the end of that age occurred and we suggest that Yeshua returned to His faithful and holy Bride as promised, took her up to the New Jerusalem (which is above) and let the invading Roman legions utterly destroy the material religion of that Nation forever more.
- The scripture plainly teaches that once this was accomplished, the faith would be entirely between individuals and God, that all the shakable vestiges of material religion was over, and the only thing that would remain on earth and His relationship with the Living God would be by and through His Spirit.
When the traditional view (described above) is assumed and believed, the fulfilled view is seen as utterly contemptable to those people who actually descended from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob because it suggests that God does not love them anymore. But nothing could be further from the truth. The fact of the matter is since Christ came and fulfilled all that was required by God of Israel, and God has been reconciled to the whole world, and now there is no difference between Jew and Gentile, bond and free, male and female. The whole world is at the same place before the living God, no person can come to Him through works of righteousness, and His love through the Spirit cries out to all irrespective of heritage, history, genealogies or status.
To continue to prop-up a people (we don’t even know who is from what tribe in most cases) and to support them in their rejection of the Messiah, to to discount all that God has done for them and the rest of the world is truly the biggest expression of anti-Semitism! Because we cater to a tradition that refuses to support and share His Great News.
The best thing any believer/follower of Christ could ever do for any neighbor, or any history or background, is to share the love God has extended to all in spirit and truth, instead of keeping non-biblical traditions alive that do not hold water.
Jew or Gentile, believer or not, male or female have all been the recipients of Gods love and are now in a position to choose whom they will worship and serve and how. Should someone choose to worship God from a synagogue, they are free! From a kubutz – free. From a Mosque, a church, a temple – free, free, free. Encouraging the notion that ancient Israel is still a nation God recognizes goes counter to exegetical truth and His unconditional love given to all.
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