19 Israel the Palestinians

A big issue and key in the interpretation of Bible prophecy is the matter of correctly identifying who true Israel is in Scripture. Should we interpret the scriptural meaning of Israel, as understood by New Testament writers, to refer to those who are simply literal descendants of Abraham, and therefore interpret prophecies referring to Israel as only having fulfillment in some supposed future Jewish dispensation, after a secret rapture, as most preachers teach today, or do we apply them as meaning anyone who has accepted and follows Christ, Abraham’s true Seed, as the Messiah? Pastor Bohr proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Israel that God accepts and fulfills His promises to today are individuals from any nation who have accepted Christ as the Messiah and that no promise will be fulfilled to Israel as a secular nation anymore because they did not accept Him when He came and still do not. He studies Jesus’ fig tree and vineyard parables and delves especially into what Paul has to say in Galatians 4 about the spiritual meaning of Hagar’s son Ishmael and Sarah’s son Isaac. He shows how both sons were Abraham’s literal seed, but only those born of faith into the second birth, represented by Isaac, can inherit the promises made to Abraham, made viable by his Seed, Christ. Therefore, those literal Jews who do not become reborn as spiritual Jews by faith in Jesus are really Ishmaelites/Arabs and any Ishmaelites who accept Him are really Jews in God’s reckoning. Only by both accepting Jesus could there ever be any lasting peace in the Middle East. We all must be born again spiritually into Christ and leave behind the natural first birth of our own works, which leads to slavery to sin and disinheritance of the promises. The key to prophecy is Jesus, not Israel. This lesson is crucial in properly understanding the language referring to Israel, Zion, Megiddo and Babylon found in the book of Revelation.