Rather than a post from Daniel you will notice this is Reason number 8 for believing in the Pretrib Rapture of the Church.  I will endeavor to have the tenth chapter of Daniel ready for Tuesday morning.

REASON # 8 – Because Israel is Put Aside for a Time; The Lord is Working In the Church Today.

The first seven reasons we have looked at were 1) The Unfulfilled Promises of God to Israel, 2) Scriptural/Historical Evidence of Previous Raptures, 3) The Scoffers Who Disclaim the Promise of Christ’s Return, 4) Jesus Said He Would Come Again and Take Us To a Prepared Place, 5) The Church Has Not Been Appointed to Wrath, 6) This View Maintains the Imminent Return of Jesus Christ, 7) Because of The Stronger Emphasis on Evangelism and Missions, and now number 8.

 

Romans 11:1-12

 

In the reading of Scriptures we can see that the majority of Old Testament writings deal with the people who are called Israel, and Hebrews. These are the people God used to bring us His laws, His Word, His ordinances, and His Son.

The reason I said “the majority” is because the first eleven chapters of Genesis know nothing of any race or religion of people. That was until the beginning of chapter eleven when God came down, confused the languages of the people, then the people were divided, probably by races and religions.

In Chapter twelve of Genesis we see God calling out one man to begin a “People of God”. These would be of the one true God; Creator of all that is. Throughout the rest of Old Testament writings we find they deal with the people called Israel and/or Judah. It shows Abraham struggling in faith; having the promised son; offering that son to God; His grandson having sons and grandsons, and one of those great grandsons ending up in Egypt. Joseph delivering Egypt from famine, and his people as well. We can go with them through the desert deliverance from Egypt, and all the way through the Babylonian captivity, then on to the “Cutting off of Messiah”.

In all that God is working to rid His people of sin. Through this people He has promised a Deliverer who is His own and only Son Jesus Christ. Because of the unbelief of the religious leaders of Israel they go on in unbelief; their eyes being darkened (v. 9), that there might begin a new work of God. The people of Israel are still in that darkness, “that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in” (v. 25b).

The time known as “The Fulness of the Gentiles” is most likely the time when the human governments will have reached their height, and God brings mankind to its knees. For the time being we are in that time of the Gentiles, and God is working in the Body of Christ which is the Church.

 

PROPOSED OUTLINE –

 

I. GOD HAS FORMERLY WORKED THROUGH ISRAEL, AND THEY WENT ON IN UNBELIEF (Romans 11:11).

II. GOD IS NOW WORKING IN THE WORLD THROUGH THE CHURCH – THE TIME NOW HAS BEEN CALLED THE “CHURCH AGE” (11:25-28; Acts 15:14-17).

III. THE SAVIOR CAME THROUGH ISRAEL FOR ALL (11:32).

GOD HAS FORMERLY WORKED THROUGH ISRAEL, AND THEY WENT ON IN UNBELIEF (Romans 11:11). It is written by the writer of Hebrews, that unbelief kept the “children of Israel”, just delivered from Egypt out of the promised land; for that first time they approached its borders; “So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief” Heb. 3:19. YOU WOULD DO QUITE WELL TO READ ALL OF Hebrews 3.

It was God’s intention that Israel take this message of His love and grace to the world. The message of one God. Rather than Israel becoming an influence on the world; the world became an influence to them; with the exception of a remnant of the people.

It is because of this unbelief that “Darkness” has blinded them. Because of this blindness salvation has come to the world.

 

GOD IS NOW WORKING IN THE WORLD THROUGH THE CHURCH – THE TIME NOW HAS BEEN CALLED THE “CHURCH AGE” (11:25-28; Acts 15:14-17). It basically the “time of the Gentiles” which Daniel speaks of. Gentile domination of the world. All the world empires have down through the ages been Gentile in origin.

Jeremiah the prophet and Daniel speak of 70 weeks and meaning one week equals 7 years, thus a total of 490 years. From the time of the kings decree to rebuild Jerusalem to the time of the Nehemiah’s completed ministry was seven weeks of years, and the closing of the Old Testament with Malachi, totaling the seven weeks or 49 years, then to the time of the “Messiah being cut off“; equaling another 62 weeks for a total of 483 years. This gives us a total of only 69 weeks. There is a period of time between the sixty ninth and the seventieth weeks which is not accounted for. That is part of the mystery of the Church. The Church fills that time slot. It is an age of abundant grace.

It is not that God cannot work through both institutions at the same time; it is just that He has chosen to use only one at a time. He is finished with Israel until He rids them of their sin, and that will be when He is finished with sin.

 

THE SAVIOR CAME THROUGH ISRAEL FOR ALL (11:15-21, 32). We have the story of the Nativity of Jesus Christ in the gospel of Matthew, and the gospel of Luke. Joseph, the adopted father of Jesus, was Hebrew, and Mary His mother was Hebrew. I imagine that it was the longing of every Hebrew young lady to be the mother of the Messiah.

Even John speaks of this even in the twelfth chapter of Revelation. There he writes, “And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:  And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.  And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.  And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.  And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days” Rev. 12:1-6 (KJV). There in the Revelation is how Jesus came into the world as a babe from the people of the nation of Israel, represented by Mary as His mother.

The Scriptures do not tell us in vain, “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved”. It does not tell us without power, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. All of us can say with Paul the apostle, “Of whom I am chief” of sinners, that is.

 

WHY DO I BELIEVE IN THE PRETRIB RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH? Because of the previous seven answers. and the fact that God is today working in the church, and He will not be done with Israel until sin has been cleansed from them. That cannot happen until the Church is removed in Rapture to His glory.