Spiritual Israel - By Doug Batchelor & Steve Wohlberg

7/28/2019 Spiritual Israel - By Doug Batchelor & Steve Wohlberg

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Copyright 2002 byDoug Batchelor

All rights reserved.Printed in the USA.

Published byAmazing Facts, Inc.P. O. Box 1058Roseville, CA 95678-8058

Edited by Anthony LesterCover Design by Haley TrimmerLayout Design by Greg Solie


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An Amazing Fact: The European cuckoois known as a brood parasite. The females laytheir eggs in the nests of smaller bird specieslike the reed warbler. In turn, these unsuspectingmothers unwittingly incubate, feed and raisethe young impostors, typically at the expense of

their very own offspring.One of the most sorrowful tragedies ofnature is watching a reed warbler workingherself to death to satisfy the voracious hungerof a greedy cuckoo chick while her own young,already weak with starvation, are pushed out ofthe nest.

Another Brood Parasite

T he devil has successfully planted adangerous lie in modern Christiantheology, and it has been unwittinglyhatched, adopted and nurtured by mostevangelical churchesand now this parasiteis pushing out Bible truth with a bigger-than-life deception. Sadly, this adoptedfalsehood is growing fat with attention while

true interpretations of prophecy are starvingwith neglect.

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A Foundation of Sand

T his Middle East approach to prophecybecame popular among mainlinechurches in the 1980s with a series of booksfrom Hal Lindsey. In his bestsellers,including The Late Great Planet Earth andCountdown to Armageddon, Lindsey employed this very literal dispensational

approach to prophecy, making several veryspecific, and very errant, predictions. Hewrote that a secret rapture of the churchwould occur in 1981, which would befollowed by the building of a new Jewishtemple, the advent of the Antichrist, the great

tribulation, the invasion of Israel, the battleof Armageddon and the millenniumall by1988.

Despite every single one of thesepredictions falling flat, his books continue tosell, making for most a standard that all end-

time prophecy is viewable only when filteredthrough nation of Israel glasses. Worse, theseeds of error they contain have sproutedand become firmly rooted in many churches.Now millions of Christians are vigilantlyguarding a styrofoam monument with noprophetic veracity, and building on thecrumbling sand of popular evangelicaltrends.

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misapplied the prophecies regarding Hiskingdom. They eagerly waited and watchedfor Him to establish a literal, earthlykingdom. Jesus constantly explained that Hisfirst coming was to establish a spiritualkingdom. He said, The kingdom of Godcometh not with observation: Neither shallthey say, Lo here! or, lo there! for behold, the

kingdom of God is within you(Luke 17:20,21).

But because the persistent and popularteachings of the day focused on a muscularmessiah who would overthrow the Romansand seat himself on Davids throne, the

disciples brushed aside or simply ignoredJesus comments regarding His spiritualkingdom. They tried to make these spiritualprophecies literal, and the crucifixioncrushed their expectations of an Israel withdominion over all the Earth. Longing for

freedom from political oppression, theylamented, But we were hoping that it wasHe who was going to redeem Israel (Luke24:21 NKJV).

Even after His resurrection, the disciplesstill clung to these popular views that hadingrained themselves in their minds, hoping

still for an imminent, literal kingdom.When they therefore were come together,

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shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for

as a prince hast thou power with God andwith men, and hast prevailed (Genesis32:28). Thus the name Israel was at first aname of heavenly origin applied to Jacobalone. It represented his spiritual victoryover sin, through wrestling in prayer andclaiming Gods grace.

Jacob had 12 sons who later moved intoEgypt. The descendants of these sonseventually multiplied into the 12 tribes,which were later forced into slavery by theEgyptians until the time of Moses. Then Godtold Pharaoh through Moses, Israel is my

son, even my firstborn. . . . Let my son go(Exodus 4:22, 23). Note here that the nameIsrael is expanded to include Jacobsdescendants. Therefore, the name Israelfirst applied to a victorious man, then to hispeople. Youll soon see why this is a very

important point!

Israel, Gods Son

A bout 800 B.C., the Lord spoke throughthe prophet Hosea, saying, When Israelwas a child, then I loved him, and called my

son out of Egypt (Hosea 11:1). Yet by thistime, the nation of Israel had failed to live up

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application with both a literal and spiritual

fulfillment.)Here, Matthew has only touched thesurface of a truly shocking principledeveloped throughout his gospel.

Matthews Amazing Revelation

A careful study of Matthew reveals evenfurther that Christs story actuallyrepeats the history of ancient Israel, point bypointbut He overcame where they hadfailed. Notice the following amazing parallelsbetween the history of ancient Israel and

Jesus Christ: In the Old Testament, a man named

Joseph has dreams and goes into Egyptto preserve his family(Genesis 45:5). Inthe New Testament, another Josephlikewise had dreams and goes into Egypt

to preserve his family(Matthew 2:13). When the young nation of Israel comesout of Egypt, God calls it my son(Exodus 4:22). When Jesus comes out ofEgypt, God says Out of Egypt have Icalled my son(Matthew 2:15).

When Israel leaves Egypt, her people go

through the Red Sea. The apostle Paulsays they were baptized unto Moses ... in

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More Striking Evidence!

The list of parallels between Jesus andIsrael goes on but consider just a few

more points.For example, after healing a group of

people, Jesus modestly charged them thatthey should not make him known: That itmight be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias

[Greek for Isaiah] the prophet, saying,Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; mybeloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: Iwill put my spirit upon him, and he shallshew judgment to the Gentiles. He shall notstrive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his

voice in the streets (Matthew 12:1619).Here the writer quotes Isaiah 42:13, apassage that originally applied to Israel, ...my servant(Isaiah 41:8). Yet Matthew againtells us it is fulfilledin Jesus Christ!

The apostle Paul also follows the

principle in his letters of applying statementsoriginally made about the nation of Israel toJesus Christ. God called Israel my firstbornin Exodus 4:22. Yet Paul said it was JesusChrist who is the firstborn of everycreature(Colossians 1:15).

The clearest example is when God calls

Israel the seed of Abraham (Isaiah 41:8).However, Paul later writes that Abrahams

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Jew) converts, And if ye be Christs, then areye Abrahams seed, and heirs according to thepromise(Galatians 3:29). Thus in the NewTestament, the name Israel not only appliesto Jesus Christ, but also to those who areborn in ChristHis Church! In other words,all true Christians are now Gods spiritualIsrael.

The church is called the body of Christ(1 Corinthians 12:27), which is one reasonwhy James, when writing to the church,addresses it as the 12 tribes that are scatteredabroad (James 1:1). From the verybeginning, the church has understood Israel

to mean a spiritual body of Christ.

Double Vision

H ave you ever been hit so hard on thehead that you start seeing double? Well,from what we have studied together, theChristian world needs a loving bonkon thehead with this New Testament truth, so thatmore people start seeing double about thesubject of Israel! According to the NewTestament, there are now two Israels. Onegroup is composed of literal Israelites

according to the flesh(Romans 9:3, 4). Theother is spiritual Israel, composed of Jews

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uncircumcision. Therefore if the uncircumcision [Gentiles] keep therighteousness of the law, shall not hisuncircumcision be counted for circumcision?... For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly;neither is that circumcision, which isoutward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which isone inwardly; and circumcision is that of the

heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter;whose praise is not of men, but of God(Romans 2:17, 25, 26, 28, 29).

Did you catch that? The implications arestaggering! Someone who is called a Jewbecause he is a physical descendant of

Abraham, and yet who lives as a lawbreaker,is not a Jewat least, not in Gods eyes.His circumcision is made uncircumcision.It is revoked. Thus to God, he is a Gentile.And a believing Gentile, who through faithkeeps the righteousness of the law, hisuncircumcision is counted for circumcision.Thus to God, he is a Jew.

John the Baptist paved the way for thisprinciple when he warned the Jews not totrust their literal ancestry for salvation.Bring forth therefore fruits meet [worthy]for repentance: And think not to say within

yourselves, We have Abraham to our father:for I say unto you, that God is able of these

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Eating with the Patriarchs

Remember also when Jesus marveled atthe faith of a Gentile soldier. He said,

Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found suchgreat faith, not even in Israel! And I say toyou that many will come from east and west,and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacobin the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the

kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness(Matthew 8:10-12).

Jesus declaration stunned the listeningcrowd. The idea of Abraham, Isaac, andJacob sitting and eating with Gentiles wastaboo, unless they had been converted to the

Jewish faith! (Acts 10:28).This is also an underlying theme in theparable of the rich man and Lazarus. TheJews feast on the Word, but they do not shareit with the Gentiles starving for truth.Therefore, they are cast out of the kingdom.But Lazarus [the Gentiles], the one who layoutside the gate hungering for the crumbs oftruth, abides in Abrahams bosom. (See Luke16:19-31.)

The Road to Building a New Temple

L ets now follow a brief but directly relatedtangent.

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means: for that day shall not come, exceptthere come a falling away first, and that manof sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Whoopposeth and exalteth himself above all thatis called God, or that is worshiped; so thatheas God sitteth in the temple of God, showinghimself that he is God(emphasis ours).

Since the Romans destroyed the last

Jewish temple in AD 70, many naturallyassume that in order for this antichrist being,a specific person in their view, to sit in thetemple, it will have to be rebuilt. But let usfollow the Biblical clues.

A Spiritual House

J ust before King David died, he wanted tobuild a permanent temple in Jerusalem.Nathan the prophet told David that hewould not be able to build this house forGod, but that his son Solomon would do it.

First Chronicles 17:11, 12 recounts,And it shall come to pass, when thy days beexpired that thou must go to be with thyfathers, that I will raise up thy seed after thee,which shall be of thy sons; and I will establishhis kingdom. He shall build me an house, and

I will establish his throne for ever.Later, David said the Lord told him,

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for to show him the buildings of thetemple. And Jesus said unto them, See yenot all these things? Verily I say unto you,There shall not be left here one stoneupon another, that shall not be throwndown(Matthew 24:1, 2).

We heard him say, I will destroy thistemple that is made with hands, and

within three days I will build anothermade without hands(Mark 14:58).

And the veil of the temple was rent intwain from the top to the bottom(Mark15:38).And even as Jesus hung on the cross, His

mockers reminded Him of His teachings.Thou that destroyest the temple, andbuildest it in three days, save thyself. If thoube the Son of God, come down from the cross(Matthew 27:40). But of course, Jesus wasnot speaking of rebuilding the physicaltemple. He meant to build a spiritual one.

The New Testament Perspective

A fter the veil in the temple ripped fromtop to bottom and the early discipleswere excommunicated, we find an unusual

indifference among the early believers,nearly all Jews, regarding the Jewish temple.

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spiritual house, an holy priesthood, tooffer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable toGod by Jesus Christ(1 Peter 2:5).Sadly, even after God provides all this

clear biblical evidence that His temple today isa spiritual one, the church, many Christiansare waiting for the Jews to rebuild a physicaltemple on the site where the mosque of Omar

(Dome of the Rock) now sitsalso known asthe Temple Mount. Yet there is no prophecy,promise, or commandment in the Bible thatsays the temple would be rebuilt again afterthe Romans destroyed it. Though it mightvery well be rebuilt, Jesus prophecy that not

one stone would sit upon another seemed tobe of an extremely final tone.So what does the verse in 2 Thessalonians

2:4 mean? Simply this: This antichrist powerwould seat itself over the church of Godclaiming the worship that belongs only toJesus Christ. Historically, Protestant scholarshave consistantly applied Pauls words to thepapal power, and to its influence withinChristianity.*

But now, lets return to the nation ofIsrael.

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*For more information about this prophecy, order SteveWohlbergs book, The Antichrist Chronicles: What ProphecyTeachers Arent Telling You!


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The new covenant is made with thehouse of Israel! God never makes asalvation covenant with Gentiles. In fact,nowhere in Scripture do you find any savingcovenant made with anyone but Israelites! Soif you want to be saved, you must be bornagain as a spiritual Jew. This is not to say thatall Christians must now be circumcised and

sacrifice lambs, but we must have thespiritual equivalent of these thingsJesus,the Lamb of God (the final sacrifice), andcircumcision of the heart.

God does not have one method ofsalvation for Jews and a different one for

non-Jews. Everyone is saved the same wayunder the same programby grace throughfaith. Paul uses the analogy of an olive tree toexplain that all Gentiles who are saved aregrafted into the stock of Israel. And if someof the branches be broken off, and thou, beinga wild olive tree, wert grafted in among them,and with them partakest of the root andfatness of the olive tree; Boast not against thebranches. But if thou boast, thou bearest notthe root, but the root [supports] thee(Romans 11:17, 18).

The Christian religion is based on a

Jewish manual called the Bible. (In this light,it is difficult to understand how any

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(Romans 3:2). And in Acts 2:5, And therewere dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men,out of every nation under heaven. Theseconverted Jews then took the truth back totheir respective countries.

Jesus was also very concerned that theearly ministry of His apostles was to focusspecifically on the literal house of Israel.

These twelve Jesus sent out and commandedthem, saying: Do not go into the way of theGentiles, and do not enter a city of theSamaritans. But go rather to the lost sheep ofthe house of Israel(Matthew 10:5, 6).

But after Jesus death, the Jewish

Sanhedrin (supreme court) officially rejectedthe message of the gospel through the Spirit-filled preaching of Stephen. They evenexecuted him. From that point on (AD 34),God opened the doors to the Gentiles. Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold,

and said, It was necessary that the wordof God should first have been spoken toyou: but seeing ye put it from you, andjudge yourselves unworthy of everlastinglife, lo, we turn to the Gentiles (Acts13:46).

For so hath the Lord commanded us,

saying, I have set thee to be a light of theGentiles, that thou shouldest be for

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And with this correct understanding ofspiritual Israel, suddenly other prophecies inthe New Testament take on a whole newmeaning! Its now easy to see that the144,000 ofRevelation 7 and 14 are not literalJews and the new temple will not be earthly,but rather the Body of Jesus and the church(John 2:19, 20).

An Amazing Fact: Fools Gold, or ironpyrites, a mineral composed of iron sulfide,actually contains no gold at all. The mineral isbrass yellow and has a metallic luster. Theresemblance of pyrite to gold caused many

prospectors to mistake it for gold, which is howit became known as fool's gold. Even though it isoften found in the vicinity of gold, it is easilydistinguished from the real thing by itsbrittleness.

Conclusion

T his counterfeit gold dynamic is alsofound prevalent in the area of spiritualtruth. The Bible teaches that even gold comesin varying degrees of purity: And the gold ofthat land is good(Genesis 2:12). Millions aretoting around heavy bags bulging with

spiritual fools gold. They are rejoicing,believing they have discovered something to

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For more eye-opening information,

order Steve Wohlbergs book,

Exploding the Israel Deception,or Doug Batchelors new booklet,

Who Will Sing the Song? -

Understanding the 144,000.

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P. O. Box 1058 Roseville, CA 95678-8058

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Spiritual Israel - By Doug Batchelor & Steve Wohlberg