Will Modern-Day Israel Fulfill Old Testament Prophecy?

This article consists of selected portions relevant to the topic of dispensationalism, taken from the article “The Role of Israel in Old Testament Prophecy,” which appears in TheSeventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, volume 4. A few minor clarifying edits were made and section headers added.—The Editors.

Few passages of Scripture are more commonly misunderstood and variously interpreted than those containing the divine promises made to ancient Israel through the prophets.[1]. . . The majority of these predictions have not been fulfilled. In the endeavor to account for this seeming enigma, Bible expositors have set forth various explanations.

In one explanation, the futurist school argues that promises of restoration and world leadership to ancient Israel remain unfulfilled, even with the modern state of Israel in Palestine. Futurism ignores the prophet’s emphasis on conditional prophecy and the New Testament’s view that Israel’s privileges and responsibilities have transferred to the church in Christ.

The Adventist Position

Seventh-day Adventists believe that . . . the promises and predictions given through the Old Testament prophets originally applied to literal Israel and were to have been fulfilled to them on the condition that they obey God and remain loyal to Him. But the Scriptures record the fact that they disobeyed God and proved disloyal to Him instead. Accordingly, what He purposed to do for the world through Israel of old He will finally accomplish through His church on earth today, and many of the promises originally made to literal Israel will be fulfilled to His remnant people at the close of time.

[When Israel’s] leaders formally rejected the Messiah and declared before Pilate their allegiance to “no king but Caesar” (John 19:15),[2] Israel as a nation irrevocably withdrew from the covenant relationship and the theocracy.

[Some futurists/dispensationalists argue that there will be a full restoration of the lost tribes in Palestine. Yet] in spite of the bold and zealous efforts of such prophets as Elijah, Elisha, Amos, and Hosea, the northern kingdom rapidly deteriorated and was eventually carried into Assyrian captivity. Its people were given “no promise of complete restoration to their former power in Palestine.”[3]

It is important to note that all the Old Testament promises looking forward to a time of restoration for the Jews were given in anticipation of their return from captivity, [not to modern Israel] (see Isa. 10:24-34; 14:1-7). . . . Daniel himself so understood these promises (Dan. 9:1-8).

Israel Had a Second and Final National Opportunity Before Messiah’s Rejection

Between the return from Babylon and the rejection of the Messiah, Israel was to have its second and final opportunity as a nation to cooperate with the divine plan (see Jer. 12:14-17). “Seventy weeks”—490 years of literal time—were “determined” upon the Jews, “to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness” (Dan. 9:24).

To the very last, “Christ would have averted the doom of the Jewish nation if the people had received Him.”[4] When the probationary period of 490 years ended, the nation was still obdurate and impenitent, and as a result forfeited its privileged role as His representative on earth.

The rejection of Jesus by the leaders of Israel (cf. Isa. 3:12; 9:16) meant the permanent, irrevocable cancellation of their special standing before God as a nation (cf. Jer. 12:14-16). [There is no indication in the Bible of an additional future national probation or prophetic role for Israel after the rejection of Christ.]

The present-day return of the Jews to Palestine and the establishment of the modern state of Israel do not imply reinstatement as God’s people, present or future. Whatever the Jews, as a nation, may do, now or in time to come, is in no way related to the former promises made to them. With the crucifixion of Christ they forever forfeited their special position as God’s chosen people. Any idea that the return of the Jews to their ancestral home, that is, to the new state of Israel, may in any way be related to Bible prophecy is without valid scriptural foundation. It ignores the plain statements of the Old Testament that God’s promises to Israel were all conditional.

The Nature and Purpose of Conditional Prophecy

God’s word is sure (Isa. 40:8), and His plan for the salvation of humanity will ultimately prevail (Isa. 46:10). With Him there is “no variableness, neither shadow of turning” (James 1:17). He is “the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever” (Heb. 13:8). His word “endureth for ever” (1 Peter 1:25). Eventually God’s purposes will prevail and the plan of salvation will succeed, irrespective of the failure of any person or group. The plan itself never changes because God never changes. But the manner in which it is carried out may change because people may change. The fickle, human will is the weak, unstable factor in conditional prophecy. God may reject one nation or group of people in favor of another if those first summoned persistently refuse to cooperate with Him (see Jer. 18:6-10).

Promises not already fulfilled to literal Israel either would never be fulfilled at all or would be fulfilled to the Christian church as spiritual Israel.

God’s promises are made conditional upon humanity’s cooperation and obedience. “The promises and threatenings of God are alike conditional.”[5] Again and again God warned Israel that blessing goes hand in hand with obedience and that a curse accompanies disobedience (see Deut. 4:9; 8:19).

Owing to the failure of the Jews as God’s chosen people, many of the prophecies of the Old Testament, such as those affirming the worldwide mission of Israel and the ingathering of the Gentiles (see Gen. 12:3), those pointing forward to the eternal rest in Canaan (cf. Isa. 11:6-9), and those promising deliverance from her enemies (cf. Isa. 2:10-21), have never been and can never be fulfilled to them as a nation.

From Literal Israel to Spiritual Israel

Had Israel measured up to the noble ideal, all of the promises contingent upon obedience would long since have been fulfilled. Predictions of national disgrace, rejection, and woe that were to result from apostasy would never have been realized. But because of apostasy it was the predictions of national honor and glory that could not be fulfilled. Yet, since God’s purposes are immutable (Ps. 33:11), success must and will come—through [spiritual] Israel.

Thereafter, God “let out his vineyard [see Isa. 5:1-7] unto other husbandmen” who would “render him the fruits in their seasons” (Matt. 21:41). Upon His final departure from the sacred precincts of the Temple, Jesus said, “Your house is left unto you desolate” (Matt. 23:38). The day before, He had called it “my house” (Matt. 21:13), but henceforth He no longer owned it as His. Jesus’ own verdict was, “The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof” (Matt. 21:43; cf. 1 Peter 2:9, 10).

The transition from literal Israel to spiritual Israel, or the Christian church, is the subject of Romans 9-11. Here Paul affirms that the rejection of the Jews did not mean that the promises of God had “taken none effect” (Rom. 9:6), and explains immediately that they are to become effective through spiritual Israel.

Spiritual Israel includes both Jews and Gentiles (Rom. 9:24). Peter concurs, saying, “Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons,” for “in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him” (Acts 10:34, 35; cf. Acts 11:18).

Paul states the same truth in Romans 9:30, 31, where he makes it plain that the Christian church has replaced the Hebrew nation in the divine plan. Henceforth, he says, there is no difference between “Jew” and “Greek” (Rom. 10:12, 13).

Jews Are Saved as Christians, Not as Jews

Paul emphasizes the fact that the rejection of literal Israel as God’s chosen instrument for the salvation of the world does not mean that individual Jews can no longer be saved (Rom. 9:6; 11:1, 2, 11, 15), for he is a Jew himself (Rom. 9:3; 10:1; 11:1, 2). But they are to be saved as Christians and not as Jews.

Literal Jews may still find salvation by being grafted into spiritual Israel, in precisely the same way that Gentiles are to be grafted in (Rom. 11:23, 24). “All Israel” consists of both Jews and Gentiles, thus “all Israel shall be saved” (Rom. 11:26).

Paul makes it clear beyond argument that when he speaks of “Israel” as the chosen people of God he means it in this sense. He says specifically that by “Jew” he does not mean a literal Jew but one converted at heart, whether he be Jew or Gentile (Rom. 2:28, 29). All who have faith in Christ are one in Him, and, as the spiritual “seed” of Abraham, are “heirs according to the promise” (Gal. 3:9, 28, 29).

The Church

“That which God purposed to do for the world through Israel, the chosen nation, He will finally accomplish through His church on earth today.”[6] The glorious promises originally made to literal Israel are meeting their fulfillment today in the proclamation of the gospel to all men.[7]

When the Jews rejected Christ as the Messiah, God in turn rejected them and commissioned the Christian church as His chosen instrument for the salvation of the world (cf. Matt. 28:19, 20). Accordingly, the covenant promises and privileges were all permanently transferred from literal to spiritual Israel (cf. Rom. 9:4).

Promises not already fulfilled to literal Israel either would never be fulfilled at all or would be fulfilled to the Christian church as spiritual Israel. Prophecies that fall into the latter classification are to be fulfilled in principle but not necessarily in every detail, owing to the fact that many details of prophecy were concerned with Israel as a literal nation situated in the land of Palestine.

The Christian church is a spiritual “nation” scattered all over the world, and such details obviously could not apply to it in a literal sense. Prophecies of the former classification cannot now be fulfilled because they were strictly conditional in nature and limited in scope, by their very nature, to literal Israel.

Guidelines for the Interpretation of Old Testament Prophecy

In an age when every wind of doctrine is blowing it is well to make certain that our understanding of Bible prophecy rests upon a positive “Thus saith the Lord” (see Deut. 29:29). In so doing we shall be secure against the fanciful explanations sometimes given certain Old Testament prophecies. We shall be protected against the grossly literal explanation of some expositors concerning the return of literal Israel to literal Palestine to rule the world for a thousand years prior to the close of human probation, and also against other equally unscriptural interpretations that propose to apply allegorically to the church all the details of the promises originally made to literal Israel. Both of these extreme methods wrest the obvious intent of the Scriptures and render a sound understanding of the messages of the prophets for the church today unattainable.

The following simple rules are suggested as a safe approach to the study of each prophetic passage of the Old Testament:

1. Examine the prophecy in its entirety. Note by whom it was spoken, to whom it was addressed, and the circumstances that called it forth. Remember that—generally speaking—it was originally given with respect to the historical circumstances that called it forth. It was ordained of God to meet the needs of His people at the time it was given and to remind them of the glorious destiny that awaited them as a nation, of the coming of the Messiah, and of the establishment of His eternal kingdom. Discover what the message meant to the people of that time. (This rule does not apply to those portions of the book of Daniel that the prophet was bidden to “shut up” and “seal,” or to other passages whose application Inspiration may have limited exclusively to our own time.)

2. Observe the conditional aspects of the prediction and ascertain whether or not, or to what extent, the conditions were met.

3. Discover what application later inspired writers make of the prophecy, and on this basis determine its possible significance for God’s people in this time.

4. Remember that the record of God’s dealings with His people in ages past has been recorded for the benefit of all later generations to the end of time. Our study of messages originally proclaimed by holy men of old to the people of their day is not to become an end in itself, but a means of discovering the will of God for all who would render Him truehearted service now, at the climax of the ages. The voice of God through the prophets distinctly speaks to us today.

If these rules are consistently followed the resulting interpretation can be accepted with confidence. In the inspired utterances of the prophets of old the sincere seeker for truth will thus find messages of inspiration, comfort, and guidance for today.

The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary may be purchased through the White Estate, the Adventist Book Center, or Faithlife.

[1] This article consists of excerpts from The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 4 (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Pub. Assn., 1955, 1977), pp. 25-38. Only a sampling of references is included in this article. For additional references and cross-references, please consult the original article.

[2] All Scripture quotations are from the King James Version.

[3] Ellen G. White, Prophets and Kings (Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 1917), p. 298.

[4] Ibid., p. 712.

[5] Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, book 1 (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Pub. Assn., 1958, 1980), p. 67.

[6] E. G. White, Prophets and Kings, pp. 713, 714.

[7] Ibid., pp. 374, 375.