Speaker 1: 0:01

Hello and welcome to the Waking Up To Grace podcast, where we celebrate and explore the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ. Tune in to the Waking Up To Grace podcast on every major platform. You can also listen to our episodes and read our full transcripts at wakinguptogracecom. And now here's Lenny.

Speaker 2: 0:23

Welcome back to the Waking Up to Grace podcast everyone. In today's message I'm going to give you 10 reasons. Futurism is destructive. Futurism is a Christian eschatological view that sees portions of John's Revelation and other apocalyptic sections of the Bible as future end-time events. Futurism is premillennial future end time events. Futurism is pre-millennial. Pre-millennialism thinking tells us that Christ will return to earth, bind Satan and reign for a literal thousand years on earth with Jerusalem as his capital. According to this understanding, christ returns before the thousand years mentioned in Revelation, chapter 20.

Speaker 2: 1:02

Futurist beliefs also have a close association with dispensationalism and Zionism. Much of the futurist belief rests on the assumption that God has never given Israel all the land promised through Abraham and that the complete fulfillment of this promise is still in our future. These views ignore the prophesied final judgment that fell on first century Israel. These views ignore the prophesied final judgment that fell on first century Israel. They imagine that a temple needs to be rebuilt and that the Jewish people who dwell in Israel today are God's holy people, even despite there being no context to support the concept in scripture. The Christian Zionists of our generation lead our country as we speak and will support the fabricated nation Israel that was created in 1948 and well established by the 1960s. In whatever they do, they don't support any truly holy motive, but stand with the wicked government of Israel and all their war crimes. Make no mistake there's no connection with today's so-called holy land in ancient Israel, religiously or ethnically. They have no temple, nor do they offer any required animal sacrifices. They have no Levite lineage to operate a temple and never will. According to gene testing, they have no ethnic DNA. In other words, there are no real Jews. They don't keep the Law of Moses. Instead, they go by rabbinic tradition in their Talmud and, of course, as Christians.

Speaker 2: 2:34

How do you call a person holy who rejects Christ? The full preterist doctrine is the only source of teaching that proclaims Christ as returning in the first century, when he proclaimed that he would. Futurism is the most popular theological view today. If you're uncertain whether or not you hold to futurist views, you probably do. Apparently, futurist views make up about 99% of Christianity. Today we're going to break down the dangers of following the calf path of the 99% and why you might want to consider rethinking what you believe about the return of Christ.

Speaker 2: 3:04

10 Reasons Futurism is Destructive From my vantage point. Futurism is destructive in many ways. Let's kick off our 10 reasons. Futurism is destructive. With reason number one Futurist prophetic predictions are always wrong.

Speaker 2: 3:21

If you're a teacher or young adult, it's possible that you've not experienced a false prediction of the end times and return of Christ until more recently. There are certainly a lot of people parodying the phrase we're living in the end times coming from mainstream theology, but is this the first time that a large number of people believed the end of the world was coming? Is this the first time that the return of Christ was said to be coming soon? If we go simply by odds, how much of a chance do we have that today's so-called prophets are correct about the end of the age?

Speaker 2: 3:55

I would actually love to see a statistical probability done on this To get an idea of the true odds. We might first count up all the times that the event has been proclaimed after the first century apostles. We could then factor in how many times it's been true. The number of false claims here would be quite large as we go back in time, but the number of times it's been correct remain at a whopping zero To anyone paying attention. Proclaiming the return of Christ as coming soon has made Christians look a lot like the boy who cried wolf or Chicken Little, crying out that the sky is falling and, like all things, it's become a way of bringing in large amounts of revenue for many. We even have politicians playing the game. You know, there's gotta be some good money being passed around when politicians are suddenly following the narrative the way I see it the odds are completely against this event actually occurring, you might say.

Speaker 2: 4:50

But anything is possible with the Lord and you'd be right. But the Lord already told us that he was coming in the first century. In Matthew 24, yeshua says Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. So do we think we're going to outwit the greatest prophet of all time, or do we just suppose he fibbed a little bit to make his audience feel better? Sadly, that's actually being said by people who are considered great leaders in Christianity. I'm honestly too embarrassed for them to put their names on it. But if you dig around a little you'll find it said more than once. But, all probability aside, our Bibles teach us that the return of Christ is not going to happen in our generation. It couldn't be more clear. When Yeshua said this generation will not pass away, he's referring to the generation they were living in at that time. This alone completely rules out the possibility of our generation having this experience. But, as we've covered in my last several messages, there's much more evidence than just that Case in point. If you follow the end times, fear mongering or simply long for the rapture that you're being promised by today's theology. You're going to end up disappointed. It's not going to happen. Whatever happens in our future, we can count on the fact that it's not written in the book of Revelation.

Speaker 2: 6:13

That letter was written to seven churches that existed in the first century and it applied to them directly. Let's read the introduction to be sure. In the Revelation of John, chapter 1, we read Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy and blessed are those who hear and who keep what is written in it. For the time is near. John to the seven churches that are in Asia grace to you and peace from him who is and was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne. In his letter, john addresses each church individually. The seven churches were Ephesus, smyrna, pergamum, thyatira, sardis, philadelphia and Laodicea. Then, a few verses later, we read Behold, he's coming with the clouds and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him and all the tribes of Christ in the first century. John's letter to seven specific churches in that first century further confirms this fact.

Speaker 2: 7:20

As we discussed in my last several messages, coming in the clouds was judgment. As we discussed in my last several messages coming in the clouds was judgment. The final judgment would bring life and salvation to the faithful and death to the unfaithful. Who would see this judgment? According to our Revelation passage, every eye will see, right. But specifically we read even those who pierced him, who pierced Christ Yeshua? Who was responsible for his death. It was the Jewish leaders, right? Would it not be the same Jewish leaders who Yeshua spoke to when he was brought before the Sanhedrin? In Mark 14, we read, but he remained silent and made no answer. Again, the high priest asked him Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? And Jesus said I am, and you will see the Son of man seated at the right hand of power and coming with the clouds of heaven.

Speaker 2: 8:13

If the event did not come to fruition, how can we still trust this writing today? How can we see any of these first century apostles, or even Christ Yeshua, as trustworthy if their prophecies failed to become reality when they were supposed to? And further, how can we be so comfortable with leaders today who declare false prophecy when, according to their own book, they deserve death for such behavior? This brings us to the second of my 10 reasons. Futurism is destructive.

Speaker 2: 8:39

According to scripture, a false prophet deserves death. As we discussed in reason number one, since the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, we've had more proclamations of the end times coming than we could possibly count. How would Yahweh feel about these false proclamations? Let's see what it says in Deuteronomy 18. But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of the other gods, that same prophet shall die. And if you say in your heart, how may we know that the Lord has not spoken? When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken. This prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You don't need to be afraid of him.

Speaker 2: 9:29

Do you think today's church leaders ever stop to consider this? What's changed about our Lord's view on false prophets? Are we to believe that under the new covenant age of grace, that Yahweh is now pleased by such behavior? Well, the reality is that prophecy ended in the first century with the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. In Luke 21, yeshua says For these are days of vengeance to fulfill all that is written. There is never to be any prophecy after this historical event. What we see going on in our generation is nothing more than a passed down tradition. We have most of Christianity calling preterists heretics while they embrace the false prophets of our day, and the circus willetics while they embrace the false prophets of our day. And the circus will continue until we stop accepting the doctrines of error that we've been handed down through the many years. Christ will be coming soon for you and your grandchildren. Nothing will ever change if we don't wake up and realize that he showed up exactly when he said he would.

Speaker 2: 10:42

Moving on to number three of my ten reasons, futurism is destructive. You give people anxiety when you tell them to be ready for the end times. When it comes to anticipating a future judgment of Christ, there tends to be differing emotional responses. You have one camp believing they'll float away into the heavenly realms before anything bad happens. These will encourage you that all is good. There is nothing to fear at all.

Speaker 2: 11:09

Then we have the fear-mongering legalists telling everyone to be prepared for the return of Christ. What do they mean by this? It's usually not referring to our Luke 21 passage. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains and let those who are inside the city depart and let not those who are out in the country enter it. They tend to not tell you to prepare in this way, because it would cause many to wake up and scratch their heads. I know here in Illinois it's hard to find a mountain to flee to. I think our highest point might be a garbage dump turned into a ski mountain. That would most certainly cause confusion and anxiety. This instruction is not going to be effective like the stop, drop and roll that we learn to do when we're on fire. We have no mountains to flee to. How do we think our Bible speaks directly to us and disregard this part of our preparation?

Speaker 2: 12:01

As we went over in my last several messages, there would also have to be a temple in Jerusalem. The desolate city would somehow have to be restored to holiness, fully rebuilt according to Yahweh's perfect and exact specifications. Then we would need anointed leaders and high priests to operate the temple. The high priest would be required to have proven Levite lineage. The law would then be reinstituted, placing the world back under the old covenant rules, and then Christ will come and wipe out the non-believing Jews all over again and finally bring salvation to those who were promised it thousands of years ago. Of course, none of this will ever happen, because it already did. There's no future second coming. In our scripture, yahweh made sure of this by wiping out the Jewish race from existence in AD 70, along with the temple, worship and the Holy Land.

Speaker 2: 12:55

It is my belief that, no matter how hard they try to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem, it will never happen. I could be wrong on this, but I believe this prophecy is to be taken literally, as it remains true to this day. In Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the splendor and pomp of the Chaldeans will be like Saddam and Gomorrah when God overthrew them. He will never be inhabited or lived in for all generations. No arable pitches tent there, no shepherds will make their flocks lie down there, but wild animals will lie down there and their houses will be full of howling creatures. Their ostriches will dwell and their wild goats will dance. Hyenas will cry in its towers and jackals in the pleasant palaces. Its time is close at hand and its days will not be prolonged. Isaiah 13 Babylon is Jerusalem in this passage. If they did try and build a temple in Jerusalem which I do think Yahweh will not allow it would never be holy in any way. Those days are long gone, never to return.

Speaker 2: 14:00

But I don't think most of the fear-mongering today focuses too much on the details of scripture. The institutional church has proven that fear-mongering brings in great revenue, especially when you combine it with an old covenant command like the tithe. To be clear, the tithe was never 10% of your income. It was grain and fruits of the land that Israel inherited in order to provide for the Levite priests. Is your pastor a Levite priest? Is your church the Jewish temple? Are you under the 613 commandments of the law? Do you have shares in the land of the ancient Jews? Then you certainly should not be told to tithe. This Christian belief is wrong on so many levels and has built a church of lies and greed. It is, at the least, a faithless way of generating income. Christian belief is wrong on so many levels and has built a church of lies and greed. It is, at the least, a faithless way of generating income. Guilt and fear are two things that we see as foundational in churchianity today.

Speaker 2: 14:54

When you hear the end times being preached, it's often accompanied by rules for how to be right with God in order to prepare for the rapture. If you're not right with God, you'll be left behind. As I go over regularly and in detail throughout too many of my messages to name. The Christian cannot be any more right with God. When you come to a full understanding of the grace of God, this type of legalism can be brushed off like an annoying fly. But like an annoying fly, they just keep finding their way back to you. If you're afraid that you're not right with Yahweh, please spend some time in my grace messages If you want to know which messages are the best for that. I have them all categorized on my website at wakinguptogracecom, on my topics page listed as grace messages. If you need some grace-based encouragement, it's all right there, organized for you by topic.

Speaker 2: 15:46

Even if you don't agree with me about the rapture and fulfilled eschatology, I want you to at least understand just how right you are with the Lord, thanks to Christ Yeshua and his finished work. No matter what happens, this is information that will enrich your life as well as your Christian walk, for by a single offering, he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. Hebrews 10.14. How much more right with God can you get than perfection brought to you by the blood of Christ Yeshua? But in regards to the concept of floating away into eternity without your body dying, that is not something that is ever promised in Scripture.

Speaker 2: 16:24

We have to make a ton of assumptions to come to this conclusion based on the text in our Bibles. If we didn't have that idea in our heads from constant repetition, I doubt the teaching would be on very many people's minds other than those with very creative imagination. That brings us to number four of my ten reasons. Futurism is destructive. You may lose focus while preparing for the rapture. So many hold to a theology that their body won't face a physical death and they'll float away into eternity utterly unharmed before the big end of the world event takes place and the world explodes and becomes a whole new place. As I went over in my recent episodes, beginning with message 57, the world was never going to end. This conclusion can only be drawn if we're not familiar with the prophetic language of the ancient Jews in our scripture.

Speaker 2: 17:16

As the people teaching about a future rapture were alive in the first century, they would have found that they needed to adjust their approach slightly. None of the first century Christian martyrs believed that they would peacefully float away to be with the Father without suffering. They encouraged each other that death was not the end, not to fear death, because they were promised life. Paul also encouraged the Thessalonian church that the return of Christ would bring them some relief from their persecutors. 2 Thessalonians 1.5 says this is evidence of the righteous judgment of God that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering, since, indeed, god considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you and grant relief to you who are afflicted, as well as to us. When the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus, they will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might. When he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints and to be marveled at among all who have believed because our testimony to you was believed.

Speaker 2: 18:31

If anyone deserved to be raptured, don't you think it would be the apostles? If they had to suffer under persecution, why would we receive anything different? Having a false paradigm isn't going to help us too much if we're actually heading into challenging times. We're not promised this kind of relief in our generation. Not to say that Yahweh won't grant us relief, but the relief of the second coming that the Thessalonian church awaited happened thousands of years ago. It would be relief for the Thessalonian church because the Jews who were persecuting them would soon be wiped out by the wrath of Yahweh. If there was a rapture, we missed it by a landslide.

Speaker 2: 19:11

Much of the idea of a rapture comes from the concept of the resurrection of the dead being applied to the living. But, as we've been studying, this idea is not of a solid foundation. Let's take a peek at some of the passages that are used to encourage today's Christians that they'll soon float away into eternity to be with their loved ones. There are certainly some passages that fit nicely into the doctrine of our times 1 Thessalonians 4.13 but we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do, who have no hope For, since we believe that Jesus died and rose again. Even so, through Jesus, god will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord will not precede those who have fallen asleep, for the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel and with the sound of the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore, encourage one another with these words.

Speaker 2: 20:26

This passage is certainly one of the strongest points for rapture doctrines, but it's only a strong point because of the way it speaks to our paradigms, not the paradigms of the first century Christians. We first see Paul encouraging them to have hope for those who have already died. Apparently, many were led to believe that there would be no resurrection of the dead. So Paul informs them that there will be a resurrection of the dead, and those who were left at the second coming, who were not dead, will join them in heaven with the Father. Why does Paul need to specify that they will essentially float away into heaven to be with the Lord in the air? The answer is actually quite simple. Which way is heaven? It's up, right? Yeah, it's up, it's above us.

Speaker 2: 21:11

The ancient Hebrews who wrote our Bibles believed the earth was flat with a solid dome over it. Heaven was up and Sheol, called Hades in the New Testament, was down. Paul was directing their minds to an understanding that was not familiar to them. Those who were alive after the second coming would be headed upward right into heaven when they died. As I discussed in my last message, number 60, they'd be changed, and that change was the putting on of immortality. In the new covenant age we no longer die. This temporal body dies, but we make a spiritual transition into a new body as we float off into the heavenly realms to be with the Lord and those who preceded us in the faith.

Speaker 2: 21:54

A lot like the way Christ Yeshua ascended into heaven at the beginning of the book of Acts, I would imagine. Paul explains that the dead will be there first. Then they will ultimately join them in the air in the heavenly realms. Going down to Sheol would not be for them, and those who were in Sheol would not be forgotten. This passage has nothing to do with Christians being left behind, but rather explains that no one will get left behind. But an interesting thing we should examine in the text here is that Paul again speaks to them as though some of them would still be alive when Christ returned. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Just another of many passages that prove a future return is not happening and that Christ came when he said he would.

Speaker 2: 22:45

The next passage is another very popular proof text for the rapture, although it's really more of a spoof text. In Luke 17 we read Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it. Spoof text. In Luke 17 we read there's a lot of context in this passage to unravel, but for today let's keep it simple. The most convincing part about this passage for proponents of rapture doctrines is the idea of living people floating off to be with the Lord, people getting pulled up into heaven while still living. Everyone goes to this passage to promote the rapture, but we don't often hear the next verse where they ask where the people would be going and they said to him where Lord. He said to them where the corpse is there. The vultures will gather. This part of the verse doesn't often get included in the proof texting. They ask Yeshua where the people were being taken and Yeshua tells them they'd be taken to their death, not raptured. This passage is not describing what we call the rapture today. We need to check up on our teachers.

Speaker 2: 24:00

Today's rapture theology is nothing more than someone's imagination. Don't plan on getting raptured. You're going to get let down and probably mislead others along the way as well. Which brings me to reason number five of my ten reasons that futurism is destructive. You may cause yourself and others to make bad decisions. If you believe that we're at the end of the age and Christ Yeshua is going to return soon to take you away to heaven by means of a rapture, you might make poor decisions in your life. If you believe the world is going to come to an explosive ending and it's prophesied to happen there's no chance that it won't happen. It's God's will. If you believe the world is going to come to an explosive ending and it's prophesied to happen there's no chance that it won't happen, it's God's will then what point is there in working and maintaining your life on earth? Why send your kids to school? Why have a savings account. Why even worry about anything? It's all going to be over soon, right? There are most certainly loads of people who have made some level of poor decision because they believe the end of the world was coming. On the other hand, many will also sit on their hands and do nothing to stop the evil in the world because they believe it has to take place as prophesied. Why try and stop this evil when it's certain to win and be the cause of the destruction of the world?

Speaker 2: 25:14

Not everyone believes in the rapture theology. Many realize that it's not in Scripture, but accept a dreaded future judgment accompanied by a massive persecution of the saints. That brings me to reason number six of my ten reasons. Futurism is destructive. You may lose hope and your will to take action.

Speaker 2: 25:34

In Paul's second letter to the Thessalonians, he was giving the church hope and encouragement to hold out to the end, to stand firm. Relief was coming and immortality would come with it. But they were suffering until then. It's clear by his writing that many were losing hope due to persecution and suffering. Some were becoming idle and not working. In his letter it is clear that they did not believe that the world would end because some were proclaiming to them Christ had already returned. They were believing Christ already returned and they were still alive on earth. On top of that, paul didn't remind them that the world would have ended if Christ came. Instead, he reminded them of signs that he taught them to be looking for. So if they heard that Christ already came and they weren't getting that relief from their persecution, that would be discouraging, wouldn't it? We read about the promised relief earlier in 2 Thessalonians.

Speaker 2: 26:29

How much worse would it feel to know that the world had to end and you had to suffer persecution and, most likely, die? That's the camp that many find themselves in today due to futurist doctrines. There's no doubt that we can find reasons to believe that there will be suffering in our future. All of our future and history are in the hands of Yahweh, but our future is not written in the book of Revelation. The revelation of John is history. We don't have to accept that evil is going to have any kind of victory, although it may for a time. We don't have to believe that the world is ending soon. In context, there's no end to the world in scripture. Making poor decisions and losing hope and the will to take action based on a false paradigm are not good. These things are certainly destructive, aren't they? On a false paradigm are not good. These things are certainly destructive, aren't they? But the consequences of our actions when we believe in the futurist doctrines could be far worse than we realize. That brings me to reason number seven of my ten reasons. Futurism is destructive.

Speaker 2: 27:28

You might be supporting the murder of innocent people In today's hostile political environment. Our loving government has caused our two political parties to be divided on who they see as allies in the fabricated wars that serve the elite in generating more power, control and money. The party in power now is in full support of Israel. We're told that we need to oppose Palestine. Who are the terrorists? I don't buy this for a minute. Of course there have been staged events. This is all part of the way they operate.

Speaker 2: 28:05

If we question the narrative, we always find an opposite truth about the situation from real people outside of the mainstream calf path. We get lied to about everything. We can deny this, but it doesn't help anything. The bliss of ignorance is always temporary. What we call the nation of Israel today is evil and corrupt. It's a political vehicle for the elites who are pulling the strings on all things evil. You don't have to believe me. You don't have to seek the truth for yourself, but if you are pro-Israel or pro-any side in today's political affairs, you're supporting the murder of innocent people. Our government is sickening. We need to stop believing, otherwise Yahweh is not pro-Israel, as many might believe. There's nothing holy about the leaders of Israel today.

Speaker 2: 28:51

If you believe today's Israel that began its fabrication in 1948 and was established in the 60s thanks to trustworthy people like the Rothschilds, you're being deceived. And that brings us to reason number 8 of my 10 reasons. Futurism is destructive. You might fall for political deception. Political deception is going on all around us. There's most certainly a very real spiritual battle going on in our earthly realms. Christians are being massively deceived by propaganda and they have no clue. We've fallen right into the hands of our enemies due to complete and utter ignorance. Don't believe it just because I said it, though. Listen for yourself. I linked to this conversation in Message 57, but I wanted to play it for you guys now, in case you didn't look at my blog post. This is disturbing. This conversation between Ted Cruz and Tucker Carlson plainly reveals the ignorance and destructive motives behind futurism and its close friend, zionism. You can certainly check out my link to the full interview to get an even better idea of the context of the conversation, and I definitely recommend it. But check out this short clip. It's shocking.

Speaker 3: 30:03

Okay, and the reason is twofold. Number one as a Christian growing up in Sunday school, I was taught from the Bible those who bless Israel will be blessed and those who curse Israel will be cursed. And from my perspective, I want to be on the blessing side of things.

Speaker 4: 30:19

Of those who bless the government of Israel.

Speaker 3: 30:21

Those who bless Israel is what it says. It doesn't say the government of. It says the nation of Israel. So that's in the Bible. As a Christian, I believe that.

Speaker 4: 30:29

Where is that?

Speaker 3: 30:30

I can find it to you. I don't have the scripture off the tip of my. Pull out the phone and use the Google it's in Genesis.

Speaker 4: 30:37

So you're quoting a Bible phrase. You don't have context for it, you don't know where in the Bible it is, but that's like your theology. I'm confused. What does that even mean, tucker? I'm a Christian. I want to know what you're talking about.

Speaker 3: 30:51

Where does my support for Israel come from? Number one, because biblically we are commanded to support Israel. But number two Hold on, no, no, no, hold on.

Speaker 4: 30:59

You're a senator and now you're throwing out theology. And I am a Christian and I am allowed to weigh in on this. We are commanded, as Christians, to support the government of Israel. We are commanded to support Israel.

Speaker 3: 31:08

What does that mean? Israel, we're told, those who bless.

Speaker 4: 31:10

Israel will be blessed. Bless Israel will be blessed. Hold on, define Israel. This is important. Are you kidding? This is a majority Christian country Define Israel.

Speaker 3: 31:17

Do you not know what Israel is?

Speaker 4: 31:22

That would be the country you'd have asked like 49 questions about. So that's what Genesis? That's what God is talking about the nation of Israel? Yes, so is that the current borders, the current leadership? He's talking about the political entity called Israel.

Speaker 3: 31:31

He's talking about the nation of Israel. Yet nations exists and he's discussing a nation. A nation was the people of israel is the nation.

Speaker 4: 31:37

They're the descendants of abraham in genesis. Is that the same as the country run by benjamin netanyahu, right?

Speaker 3: 31:42

yes, yes, it is and, by the way, it's not run by benjamin netanyahu as a dictator. It's, it's a democratic country but he's the prime minister, right? But just just like you know, america is the country run by donald. No, actually, the American people elected Donald Trump, the same principle is there.

Speaker 4: 31:57

This is silly. I'm talking about the political entity of modern Israel. Yes, and that is Israel. You believe that's what God was talking about in Genesis? I do. That country has existed since when.

Speaker 3: 32:08

For thousands of years Now. There was a time when it didn't exist, and then it was recreated, just over 70 years ago.

Speaker 4: 32:13

I'm saying I think most people understand that line in Genesis to refer to the Jewish people, God's chosen people.

Speaker 3: 32:24

That's not what it says.

Speaker 4: 32:25

Okay, it is real, but you don't even know where in the Bible it is so.

Speaker 3: 32:30

I don't know if we can. I don't remember the scriptural citation, but okay, I keep.

Speaker 4: 32:35

It's like Genesis 16 or something like that. But yes, it's in the earlier part of the book.

Speaker 3: 32:39

But the point is you keep interrupting me before I finish my sentence.

Speaker 4: 32:42

No, it's just important to know what you're talking about. I don't know what you're, so you're saying, as a Christian, if I believe in Jesus, I have to support the modern state of Israel? No, I'm not saying that.

Speaker 3: 32:52

I'm explaining for me what my vote motivation is.

Speaker 4: 32:56

Okay, so I'm just trying to understand. You said God tells you to support the modern state of Israel in the Bible, in some place in the Bible that you heard about, but you don't know where it is. That's your theology.

Speaker 3: 33:07

You're going back. Am I a sleazy feline again?

Speaker 4: 33:09

I mean, if you accuse me of anti-Semitism. Again I will say that, but I don't think you will.

Speaker 3: 33:13

Try to be a little less condescending.

Speaker 4: 33:15

I'm trying to have a conversation. I'm not condescending. You're throwing this stuff out and it's my job to figure out what you're talking about, but I don't understand.

Speaker 3: 33:20

But you're not letting me.

Speaker 4: 33:22

Okay, I'm sorry. I want to be polite.

Speaker 2: 33:28

Just to be clear, as Ted tried to imply about Tucker, I'm not anti-Semite. My argument is that today's Jews have no connection with the ancient Jews and that you could never prove in any way that they do. They have no temple, nor do they offer any required animal sacrifices. They have no Levite lineage to operate a temple and they never will. It was destroyed in AD 70. According to gene testing, they have no ethnic DNA. In other words, there's no real Jews. They are not native to the land, they don't keep the law of Moses, they go by the rabbinic tradition in their Talmud and, of course, as Christians. How do you call a person holy who rejects Christ? Paul calls the Christian Gentiles Jews at heart in Romans 2 29. Christ Yeshua was a Jew. The apostles were Jews. Our ancient scripture was written by Jews. We've been grafted into a Jewish salvation according to Romans 11. The ancient Jews are our spiritual ancestors. They're family. I love the ancient Jewish race.

Speaker 2: 34:35

I'm reading a book right now on how to understand Romans from a Jewish perspective. I think the more we understand our ancient Hebrew roots, the better we understand scripture, and I don't hate misguided people who claim to be Jews today. I just reject their religious views. Today's Jews are not much different than today's Christians in a lot of ways. We're all misguided in many areas, but the only way to righteousness and salvation is Christ. Jesus said to him I am the way and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me, john 14. We often have to realize if Yahweh had not opened our eyes, we wouldn't be much different than the Jews today who blaspheme the Lord by rejecting Christ. Speaking truth is the only way I know of helping others. This was the way of Christ, yeshua and his apostles. If it's good enough for them, it's good enough for me. But regarding the biblical Israel, yahweh wiped out the Jewish race in AD 70. We can't get around this. Just as Ted disclosed, today's Israel was invented only about 70 years ago.

Speaker 2: 35:46

Christian Zionism has caused many foreign countries to despise Americans. They see how America and Israel do evil in the name of the Lord and they get upset Rightly so. This creates a nice opportunity for our government to justify Israel as an ally and condone more evil in the name of the Lord. And the sad part is that most Christians don't question any of the motives. They just figure we have to defend Israel for the same reasons Ted mentioned, they don't question their theology either. American Christians today are most certainly responsible for their sin of ignorance. There is nothing holy or good about the ignorance here in America and we ought to repent and stand against this narrative in a big way. By standing with Zionism, americans do much harm to the perception of Christianity around the world. We're mostly clueless here in America about the evil doings of Israel, but the people experiencing it are not unaware. How many people witnessing the murder of innocent women and children by Zionist militias are going to consider faith in Christ when they see American Christians proclaiming this as a holy thing.

Speaker 2: 36:55

A clip from a November 2023 article reads Israel's deadly bombardment of Gaza has killed nearly 15,000 people, including 10,000 women and children, in over 50 days, making it the deadliest war for the besieged Palestinian enclave till date. Israel has rebuffed calls for a ceasefire as a four-day humanitarian truce comes to an end on November 28th. It's unclear whether the truce will be extended. The devastation of Gaza and the mounting death toll has triggered worldwide protests, bringing the decades-long issue to the center stage of global politics. This headline was taken from an article I'm linking to on my blog post for those who are listening.

Speaker 2: 37:39

Israel-palestine Conflict A Brief History in Maps and Charts. This is a super easy read and it's very informative. The writing perfectly highlights the political movement of Zionism and the events that led to where it is today. I dare to say if you're an American Christian today, you need to know this information. The article brings things to light in a most simple way, leaving a lot to our imagination, such as Leading up to Israel's birth in 1948, more than 750,000 Palestinians 750,000 Palestinians were ethnically cleansed from their homes by Zionist militias. This mass exodus came to be known as the Nakba, or catastrophe. A further 300,000 Palestinians were displaced by the Six-Day War in 1967.

Speaker 2: 38:36

If you lived in Palestine, what do you think it would have looked like for you and your family? Just take a moment to think about this. How would you like to be ethnically cleansed from your home? What I want you to ask yourself is this what is holy about the nation that we call Israel today? And further, as a Christian, what makes you holy? Does holiness exist outside of Christ? If you believe holiness exists today apart from Christ, you deny him as Lord and Savior. Do you really want to do that?

Speaker 2: 39:13

Today's astonishing Jewish-Christian connection is the next topic. I don't think a whole lot of people spend much time studying or thinking about their eschatology. I know I was in that camp. I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to the details, it was really just what I heard people say, or a pastor's teaching. With nearly every Christian in America believing that Christ is coming soon, there remains a lot of gray areas as to what he'll be doing when he gets here.

Speaker 2: 39:42

As you know now if you've been following my last several messages, I'm what you can call a full preterist. I believe that the return of Christ came spiritually, as intended in AD 70, at the final judgment and destruction of Israel. There's no longer a true Jewish ethnic group, but most today believe that Christ is coming in the flesh which is nowhere in scripture, by the way and that he'll be living here on earth physically for a thousand years. What will he be doing here, we might ask, and I think we should ask that, because when we consider what Zionists are feeding us about this, it's utterly ridiculous. The full preterist view holds that the thousand years in Revelation is a symbolic time period that took place in the first century. The term a thousand years is used to describe completeness. It's a fulfillment in the prophetic language. The church was established in that time period, it came to its fullness in the first century. It's what the futurists believe. That leaves us with a strange worldview of Christianity and a warped view of the return of Christ.

Speaker 2: 40:47

Let's take a look at what many Jewish people believe about their Messiah coming and then what the Christian Zionists believe about the return of their Messiah, and see if we can find an odd connection in two completely contrary belief systems. In mainstream Orthodox Judaism, the rebuilding of the temple is generally left to the coming of the Jewish Messiah and to divine providence, but some organizations want to realize the construction of a third temple in present times. Meanwhile, many evangelical Christians believe that New Testament prophecies associated with the Jewish temple, such as Matthew 24, thessalonians 2, were not completely fulfilled during the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, and that these prophecies refer to a future temple. This view is at the core of dispensationalism, which asserts that the Jews remain God's chosen holy people to this day. According to dispensationalist theologians such as Hal Lindsey and Tim LaHaye, the third temple will be rebuilt when the Antichrist, often identified as the political leader of a transnational alliance similar to the European Union or the United Nations, secures a peace treaty between the modern nation of Israel and its neighbors following a global war. The Antichrist later uses the temple as a venue for proclaiming himself as God and the long-awaited Messiah, demanding worship from humanity. So somehow, jews and Christians both believe their Messiah is coming when a third temple is built in the future. And then there's the problem that they just can't seem to solve in order to build a third temple.

Speaker 2: 42:26

Most Muslims oppose the constructing of a third temple on the Temple Mount due to the presence of their mosque and the Dome of the Rock in the place of the former holy temple. Today, the area is regarded by the majority of Muslims as the third holiest site in Islam. Muslims are resolute in calling for recognition of their exclusive rights over the site and demand that it be wholly transferred to Muslim sovereignty. Rights over the site and demand that it be wholly transferred to Muslim sovereignty. Furthermore, some Muslims deny any association with the mount to the former Jewish temples which stood at the site. As you can see, there's a lot of tension going on in Israel today.

Speaker 2: 43:03

If you want to call it Israel, our scriptures would call it a desolate land. Just as America should have no place supporting the evil movement of Zionism, christians should have no place concerning themselves with trying to build a man-made temple on a desolate land. Thousands of innocent people, including women and children, are getting murdered while we sit in our pews and cheer it all on. It's sickening. So if all this isn't enough to make you raise an eyebrow or scratch your head or maybe rethink your futurist views, let's look at reason number nine of my ten reasons. Futurism is destructive.

Speaker 2: 43:39

You make light of the mission that the forefathers of our faith, the apostles, laid down their lives for. A lot like the United States of America, our forefathers laid down their lives to establish something new and very good. The apostles laid down their lives for our freedom in Christ, for the kingdom of Yahweh to be established, for the new covenant age to be consummated on earth so we could put on immortality and obtain the promised salvation and life of Christ Yeshua that is eternal. We've been given all things thanks to the work of Yahweh through the lives of the apostles and the first century churches, who endured what could be considered hell on earth to serve the Lord faithfully, knowing that salvation was coming, knowing that Christ was coming to bring salvation to the saints and to judge the wicked. When we miss this point. We misunderstand half of what we've been given through grace. We misunderstand half of what is written in our scriptures and, most of all, we make light of the finished work of Christ Yeshua and the mission that the apostles were sent out to accomplish through the Spirit the establishment of the church. The church was born on Pentecost and it was consummated 40 years later, in AD 70. Which brings us to reason number 10, the final reason of my 10 reasons.

Speaker 2: 44:58

Futurism is destructive. You wait for what you already have. I believe that when we go into the spiritual realms, when these temporal bodies die, we'll serve the Lord and much of our work will likely be here on earth. We'll be part of his divine council in the new heaven that's no longer rebelling against him. We'll be like the angels according to scripture, and even above them in standing. If you're not familiar with divine council, you can check out message 42 and 43.

Speaker 2: 45:29

Just like the divine council before the new covenant age, the divine council of the new covenant age is assisting Yahweh with his plans on earth. Only now his kingdom is established on earth and righteousness dwells in the saints. The righteousness of Christ was made perfect in us at the second coming. Yahweh works through the saints in the earthly realms and the unseen realms. Imagine what the world will look like when we enter into the heavenly realms, when we enter into the unseen. Yahweh now dwells among us. We read of this coming to fruition at the second coming in various parts of scripture. One very well-known area is the revelation of John. As with most of revelation, people get very upset with Preterists because it sounds so obvious in their mind that God is not dwelling with us. This simply comes from misunderstanding of the unseen realms.

Speaker 2: 46:24

Did you know that Yahweh dwelled among the ancient Jews for a time? Yes, if we read our scriptures, we see that he did dwell among them. He walked among them for a time and he also made his presence through the Ark of the Covenant. When Solomon built the first holy temple, it was to be a house for Yahweh to dwell among his people. Did people walk around and talk to Yahweh all day long, physically looking him in the eye? No, they didn't. And in the New Covenant age, the church, the body of believers in Christ, make up a temple that was not built with human hands, where our Lord now dwells. We're not waiting for this. We have it and we shouldn't be taking it for granted.

Speaker 2: 47:08

Are you also aware that you are a priest? It's actually a pretty cool concept From Peter. We read but you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession that you may proclaim the excellencies of him, who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people. Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. That's 1 Peter, 2.9.

Speaker 2: 47:37

And then Paul writes Our worship in our earthly bodies is holy and pleasing to Yahweh. Paul's not describing a church building here. He's describing the Christian as a holy priest offering sacrifices, pleasing to the Lord. What are these sacrifices? It's our worship. What's our worship? What do you consider to be worship? Today, we think of going to church once a week. We call this a worship service. But is this structure needed to worship our Lord as his holy priests? No, it's not. Worship is anything that honors our Lord. We live thankfully, we seek his truth, we study his written word, we pray. We share our love with others. We share what we're learning about him with our friends and loved ones. We expose Zionism and evil political movements. We promote peace with others to the best of our ability. There are so many ways that we can worship and they're all pleasing to the Lord when done in truth and spirit. I hope you guys enjoyed my message today. Grace and peace to you and have a great day out there. We'll see you next time.

Speaker 1: 48:56

Thank you for listening to the Waking Up to Grace podcast brought to you by the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ. If you enjoyed today's episode, we would love to hear from you. You can send encouragement our way right from our episodes and transcripts page.