Eschatology

There will be a great spiritual transformation of Israel before Christ’s final return.

Those before us in Dispensational Theology developed the scriptural conviction that the people of Israel will one day be saved as a nation in their Promised Land. Dispensationalists taught this boldly—as was the case when The Friends of Israel was born in 1938, even before the modern State of Israel existed.

But this clear, biblical teaching has fallen on hard times, and many are conflicted.

In Part 2 of this series, we presented four options for understanding what Jesus meant at John 14:1-3:

We also suggested a grading scale for evaluating these options:

See the rest of the series.

In the first article, we set out to study what Jesus meant at John 14:1-3. Some Christians believe this passage speaks about the pre-tribulational rapture of the church to heaven, clearing the way for the tribulation here on earth. Is that right?

Many American Christians have been raised in a church culture that stresses that Jesus will return to “rapture” or snatch away “the church” before the Great Tribulation. They believe “the church” is a different people than ethnic Israel, with a complementary but distinct future.¹ Because this great tribulation is “a time of trouble for Jacob” (Jer 30:7), it is not for “the church.” Therefore, the rapture is the point where “the church” slips out the door just before this tribulation begins.

Many American Christians have questions about something called “the rapture.” These questions are often tied to a particular flavor of premillennialism called “dispensationalism.” According to this framework, “the rapture” means “the idea that Christ will remove the church from the world prior to the great tribulation.”¹ They believe the rapture is before the Great Tribulation, so it is “pre-tribulational.” This teaching relies heavily on 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, along with other supporting passages.

Read the series.

Our Lord gave special significance to the last meal He shared with His disciples. He said, “I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God” (Luke 22:16 KJV). During that meal, “he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves: for I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come” (vv. 17-18).

Read the series.

Read the series.

“All Israel” shall see their Lord and Savior, first by faith (in response to the preaching of the two witnesses of Revelation 11) and then (more than three years later) by physical sight at His second coming. Soon after that, they will behold Him serving them at the inaugural kingdom banquet! Our Lord told the Jews,