Externally Processing My Way Through Life

Brace yourself, this is a long one.

First off, food. I made this amazing bolognese sauce this weekend. My taste buds did a little dance afterwards. I added a little tomato paste, salt, pepper, oregano, additional carrot and omitted the parsley because I didn't have any. I also only used half the ground beef called for, and added a little beef stock to loosen it up (but I also let it simmer longer than it calls for). Try it, you won't be disappointed. In fact, go ahead and make a double batch so you have some to freeze, like I wish I would have done!

Brookies (see last post) were a HUGE hit. In fact, I plan on making mini brookies for my small group girls tomorrow night.

And tonight I am making this. Just because it's a soupy kind of night, and I was out most of the day grocery shopping with friends (which is the BEST!) so I am out brain power to come up with something snazzy.

Now, here is an e-mail I sent my bible study leader yesterday regarding some questions some of the ladies had during our Beth Moore Daniel study (which deals a lot with end times). I thought there was a chance some of my fellow theology nerds might find this interesting, so I am copying the email below.


I've been meaning to look into the question that every one had asked a while back about if, and how Jewish people get to go to Heaven. After researching it some more, I found what is below on John Piper's website from some of his sermons. He refers mainly to modern day Jewish people and their salvation. He doesn't really address OT Jews, and it's a tricky issue since there are several OT references that indicate a guarantee of a followers place in heaven (i.e. Dan. 12:13, 19:26, several Genesis references, etc.). There does not seem to be clear guidance as to why faithful OT believers are in, or when they get in, but particularly with Daniel, I cannot find any arbitrary circumstances he must go through to "get" in, other than Jesus simply says he is in. Of course, the fact that he did have contact with a theophany of Christ may have something to do with that, but that never seemed to be the case for Abraham, or Jacob, or other people that are spoke of (OT and NT) as already being in heaven. And now I am rambling.

All that to say, this may give us a little guidance as to the view on Jewish people going to heaven since the time of the birth of Christ. Also, this all appears to be taking place before the end of the tribulation and the beginning of the thousand year reign (from what I can understand of Rev. 20)

John Piper:

According to the New Testament Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of all the hopes of Israel. He is the Yes to all God's promises (2 Corinthians 1:20). He is the Messiah (Mark 14:61-62; Matthew 16:16; John 20:31; Acts 9:22; 1 John 2:22; 5:1). To reject him is to reject God the Father, and to confess him as the treasured Lord of your life is to be reconciled to God. "Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also" (1 John 2:23). John and Paul learned this from Jesus. When a non-Jewish centurion came to Jesus for the healing of his servant, Jesus opened his heart and said, "Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel. I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matthew 8:10-12).

In other words, a gentile who believes in Jesus will be at the table of inheritance with Abraham in the age to come, but a Jew who does not believe will be cast into outer darkness. This is what Jesus and the apostles taught: gentiles become heirs of Abraham's promises by faith in the Messiah Jesus, and Jews forfeit their final inheritance as Jews if they reject Jesus as the Messiah. It is a profound misunderstanding of Christianity to describe this teaching as an arrogant call for Jews to abandon their heritage. The Biblical way to say it is that "salvation is from the Jews" (John 4:22); and the promises made to Abraham are the root that supports all salvation (Romans 11:18); and the only way for any gentile to be saved is to become a fellow heir of God with Abraham by trusting in the Jewish Messiah.


Separate sermon from John Piper:

I say this clearly and forthrightly because you need to know that this is not believed by the Jewish community, nor, sadly, by some of the Christian leaders in this city. On the contrary, much of the peace and mutual respect between Jews and Christians in this city is built on a denial of Paul's teaching and on an unbiblical teaching that there are two separate ways for Jews and Christians to be saved. Listen to John Stott as he comments on the meaning of salvation in Romans 11:26.

It is understandable that since the holocaust Jews have demanded an end to the Christian missionary activity among them, and that many Christians have felt embarrassed about continuing it. It is even mooted that Jewish evangelism is an unacceptable form of anti-Semitism. So some Christians have attempted to develop a theological basis for leaving Jews alone in their Judaism. Reminding us that God's covenant with Abraham was an “everlasting covenant”, they maintain that it is still in force, and that therefore God saves Jewish people through their own covenant, without any necessity for them to believe in Jesus. This proposal is usually called a “two-covenant theology”. Bishop Krister Stendahl was one of the first scholars to argue for it, namely that there are two different salvation “tracks”—the Christian track for the believing remnant and believing Gentiles, and the track for historical Israel which relies on God's covenant with them.

Romans 11 stands in clear opposition to this trend because of its insistence on the fact that there is only one olive tree, to which Jews and Gentile believers both belong. . . “The irony of this,” writes Tom Wright, “is that the late twentieth century, in order to avoid anti-Semitism, has advocated a position (the non-evangelization of the Jews) which Paul regards precisely as anti-Semitic.” [1]

Yes, and it is not only an irony, but a tragedy. I doubt that a church that surrenders the evangelization of the Jewish people in this way can keep the gospel for long. It will be undermined by denying the necessity of faith in Christ for salvation. The apostle Paul would have found this position of a two-track salvation to be a radical denial of the work of Christ, and a profound failure of love toward Israel.

So let the point be made clearly and soberly today: Salvation comes to Israel and to Gentiles in the same way—through faith in the Deliverer, Jesus the Christ, or it doesn't come at all.

Now the point of today's text is wonderfully more than that. Not only is salvation for Israel only through the Deliverer, Jesus Christ, but this salvation for Israel also is certainly coming. The salvation of Israel is not just a possibility but a certainty. God has given the promise, and God has called Israel for his own, and Paul says in verse 29, “The gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.” So let's read the promise in Romans 11:25-26, “Lest you [Gentiles] be wise in your own conceits, I want you to understand this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel [we saw that back in verse 7], until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, ‘The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob.'”

Not: all Israel may be saved, but: all Israel will be saved. Not everyone agrees that “all Israel” refers to the nation as a whole alive in some future generation. Some take “all Israel” to refer to the true spiritual Israel including Jews and Gentiles. Others take it to refer to the remnant of believing ethnic Israel that is being saved all along through faith in Christ. Both of these views deny what I have been arguing for—that there will be a great and stupendous national conversion of Israel some day.

Five Reasons Why I Believe Romans 11:26 Refers to the Nation of Israel as a Whole:
So let me draw out several reasons again why I believe verse 26 (“And in this way all Israel will be saved”) means that someday the nation as a whole (not necessarily every individual; see 1 Kings 12:1; 2 Chronicles 12:1) will be converted to Christ and join the Christian church and be saved. And then we will conclude with some implications.

1. I think the term “Israel” in verse 25 and 26 most naturally refer to the same thing. Verse 25: “Lest you be wise in your own conceits, I want you to understand this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel. . . .” That must refer to the nation as a whole from generation to generation. He continues, “. . . until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And in this way all Israel will be saved.” I don't think the meaning of Israel changes between verse 25 and 26. The hardened Israel (the nation as a whole) will be the saved Israel (the nation as a whole).

2. The reference in verse 26 to banishing ungodliness from Jacob fits with the national view of “all Israel.” Verse 26: “And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, ‘The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob.'” This seems most naturally to be a picture of Christ's return at the second coming, and banishing ungodliness from Jacob refers most naturally to the removal of the hardening referred to in verse 25. “Jacob” is not a natural or typical reference to the elect remnant of Israel. The hardening lasts until the full number of the Gentiles comes in (the climax of world missions), and then Christ comes and lifts the veil and removes the hardening—he banishes ungodliness from Jacob, from “all Israel.”

3. The parallel between the two halves of verse 28 point to all Israel as the nation as a whole. Verse 28: “As regards the gospel, they are enemies of God for your sake.” Now that half of the verse surely refers to the nation as a whole—they are enemies of God. So the second half of the verse surely refers to the nation as a whole as well: “But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers.” The point of this verse is to show that even though Israel now is a covenant-breaking, unbelieving nation, that is going to change. The nation that are enemies now, will be converted later because of election and love.

4. The parallels in verse 12 point in the same direction. Verse 12: “Now if their [the Jewish nation's] trespass means riches for the world [salvation for the Gentiles], and if their [the Jewish nation's] failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion!” Here “their full inclusion” most naturally refers to the same nation as “their trespass” and “their failure.” So “their full inclusion” refers to the salvation of “all Israel” and is national. 5. The same thing is true about the parallels in verse 1

5. “For if their [Jewish nation's] rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their [Jewish nation's] acceptance mean but life from the dead?” The nation now rejected will be accepted. So the “acceptance” of the Jewish nation most naturally refers to the salvation of “all Israel”—the salvation of the nation as a whole some day.

Implications
Now how is this going to happen? I don't know the details, but it seems to me that Paul does mean that in connection with the second coming of Christ there will be a great turning of Israel to Christ. Just how it works, I don't know. But I find certain prophecies very suggestive. For example, Zechariah 12:10, “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.” And Isaiah 6:8, “Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall a land be born in one day? Shall a nation be brought forth in one moment? For as soon as Zion was in labor she brought forth her children.” And Matthew 23:39, where Jesus says to the hardened nation: “I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”

I don't want to go beyond what is clear. So I say that I am not sure about the precise when and how of Israel's conversion. But that it is coming and that it will be given by Jesus Christ, the deliverer who banishes ungodliness and forgives sins—of that I feel sure. We should pray for it—that the full number of the Gentiles comes in and that the hardening be lifted from Israel. We should work for it with missions to the nations and witness to Israel.

We should put away all conceit and presumption over Jewish unbelievers but realize that God is aiming to save them through our salvation. And we should think clearly and carefully about the land of Israel today—which is what I want to try to do next week.

For now, then, let us give ourselves to prayer and to the great work of gathering the fullness of the Gentiles, if by any means we might make Israel jealous of her treasures in Christ so that they believe and be saved.