Synopsis
There is one area of theology, eschatology (the study of latter day predictive prophecy), where believers are so cautious, because of the presence of so many competing claims and interpretations, that they are afraid to take any particular stand. Some, who are strict elsewhere, adopt the liberal theory that all believers' prophetic views are equally valid and should not be challenged. Individuals and congregations therefore remain confused, susceptible to every wind of change and at the mercy of the persuasive preacher, author or hymnologist. This ought not to be. Indeed, it need not be. Some conscientious and caring pastors and teachers are, on the one hand, eager to preach about the Lord's return and other key end-time matters, but are, on the other hand, hesitant to enter contentious territory. Consequently churches are perceived as sending out mixed messages. This inevitably undermines the authority of Scripture in the eyes of the world outside. The author believes there is a unique, God-given key to help us unravel the conflicting prophetic programmes which abound. We might define this key as Israel's guaranteed future as a nation and race, based upon God's faithful promises. This does not disallow Jews from becoming Church members in the present age. God's promises to Israel include both conditional and unconditional, both short term and long term, both fulfilled and unfulfilled, both blessings and cursings. These classifications are of course significant, and we will have to differentiate between them. But what is paramount is God's faithfulness. That cannot be negotiated. Any scheme which does not allow God to fulfil His unconditional promises is fatally flawed. Where God has promised ultimate forgiveness and restoration, let no man dare to know better! This book examines what the Bible says about Israel and the future, then applies this to different teachings, demonstrating that those schools of prophecy which selectively deny God's promises to Israel effectively invalidate themselves. If we fail to recognise the significance of the vast number of prophetic passages in Scripture which refer to Israel, we will fail to perceive the overall programme of latter day events. Such terms as "The Four Horses of the Apocalypse", "The Mark of the Beast" and "The Battle of Armageddon" tend to be better known to film directors than to churchmen. There is a need to rectify this imbalance and to address two dangerous extremes. One is the teaching that such things are the province of pessimists, and that predicted calamities were deliberate exaggerations on the part of prophets to drive lessons home. The other is the scoffing attitude foretold by Peter, leading to apathy akin to that of Jesus' First Coming. None should willingly share the condemnation of the two disciples returning to Emmaus on the evening of the Resurrection day: "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken" (Luke 24:25). Their folly had led to unnecessary heartbreak. A further need is for enquiring Jews to receive assurances that there are Christians who do not believe that they as a nation have been for ever dismissed from God's future plans, as some teach, and that their displacement from the centre of God's purposes over the centuries by the largely Gentile Church has a strict time limit. They need to be re-assured that God has beautifully co-ordinated plans for all His people. In the meantime they may be individually welcomed into the Church on the same basis as everyone else. There never has been, never will be and never can be any means of salvation for sinners than through the blood of the Lamb, Christ Jesus, shed on Calvary's Cross. Jesus is described as the Lamb more often in Revelation than in any other book of the Bible. God has never saved by any other means. Whether one is Jew or Gentile, repentance and faith are required in order that this redeeming blood may be applied.
