Can God Change His Mind About Israel, or About Us? :: By Jonathan Brentner

Published on: by RR10 Category:General Articles

What I’m about to write may seem unlikely. How is it possible that a topic unrelated to Bible prophecy could further validate my conviction concerning the Lord’s promise to restore a glorious kingdom to Israel?

I’m totally persuaded that Scripture confirms the nation’s continuing place in God’s sovereign plan for the future. But long ago, what I learned as I worked on my master’s thesis in seminary led to a deeper understanding of why this must be true.

The title of my paper was “Roman Catholic Justification in the Light of Scripture.” My understanding of what Paul wrote about justification by faith, first of all, solidified my belief in eternal security. The message of Romans 8:31-38 is clear: If God pronounces us righteous, it’s a done deal. No one can overturn His judicial verdict on our lives.

In other words, it’s impossible for justified saints to lose their salvation or walk away from it. Such things can never happen to those whom God declares forever righteous. Never!

Long ago, Roman Catholic theologians moved God’s justification of the sinner from the time of regeneration to the end of his or her life. I suspect they did this to add uncertainty to the lives of believers, which enabled the church to exert considerable control over their behavior. Perhaps they understood its finality, and if it happened at the moment that one became born again, absolutely nothing could change one’s rock-solid place of favor in God’s sight.

Satan’s tactics remain the same today; he still seeks to inject insecurity into the final outcome of our faith. He loves to make us feel as though we need to keep earning the Lord’s favor rather than believe what the Bible says about us.

What does our security in Christ have to do with the future of Israel? Paul sums up this vital link in Romans 11:29:

“For the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable.”

Please stay with me as I connect the dots between our permanent righteous standing before God and His promise to someday restore a glorious kingdom to Israel.

The Lord Cannot Renege on His Promises

As I worked on my thesis about justification by faith, I read a book by Erich Sauer, The Triumph of the Crucified. In it, he wrote:

The question of the Millennial kingdom is, therefore, not only a question of final history but touches, at the same time, the very heart of the Gospel (freedom from law, universality of the Gospel, gift by grace). To deny it makes either God a liar in relation to His prophecies or Paul a false witness to us. Romans 9–11 is no mere justifying of God, but a justification of Paul’s doctrine of justification.[1]

In Romans chapters 9-11, Paul points to Israel’s secure place in God’s redemptive program as confirmation that God can’t change His mind regarding those whom He justifies (Romans 8:31-39). The final outcome of His promises to both us and Israel is all about His character as a promise-keeping God. Human behavior can never negate God’s decrees whether it be on our behalf or that of Israel.

Paul thus assures us that because God can never renege on His covenants with Israel and David, we can know that we will bring all those He declares to be righteous to glory.

The One who has not rejected Israel (Romans 11:1-25) is the same One who affirms our absolute secure place as justified saints (Romans 8:28-39).

Nothing, not even the nation’s rejection of their Messiah in the first century AD, could alter His love for His chosen people or cancel His oft-repeated statements through the Old Testament prophets whereby He gave His solemn word pledging Himself to restore a glorious kingdom to Israel.

This does not mean, as some suggest, that all the Jewish people will receive eternal life or secure a place in Jesus’ future kingdom on the earth. Forgiveness of sins and eternal life has always come through faith in Jesus. In the Old Testament, saving faith sprang from believing what God progressively revealed about His Son and His future sacrifice for their sins. Today, we look back with a clear picture of all that His death and resurrection signify for our deliverance from the penalty of sin and our receipt of eternal life.

Scripture reveals that the time is coming when a Jewish remnant will turn to Jesus as they recognize Him as their Messiah and Savior. Zechariah wrote about a great repentance of a remnant of the people of Israel, which will happen during the last days (12:10-13:1). Paul certainly had this passage in mind when he confidently predicted the salvation of the Jewish people that would happen after the church age (Romans 11:25-36).

Christ Himself prophesied regarding this future group of redeemed Jews (Matthew 23:37-39). He declared that someday the residents of Jerusalem would greet Him with these words, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” They had done so a few days earlier, but He knew many of them would soon cry out for His crucifixion. As Jesus grieved over His beloved city, He found solace by looking to the future time when He would hear those same words from a truly repentant Israel.

God’s Amazing Mercy

God’s continuing mercy toward the nation of Israel despite its past and, might I add, their current state of unbelief and waywardness, speaks to the great depths of His amazing mercy toward us as New Testament saints. In Romans 11:30-32, the apostle wrote about God’s matchless mercy toward both us and Israel:

“For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy. For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.” (Emphasis added)

For Israel, God’s mercy signifies that His covenants and promises are “irrevocable” (Romans 11:29). He will not fail to bring the nation to the place of repentance that Zechariah said would happen.

For us, it means that regardless of our behavior, wrong turns, sins, or failures, the words of Ephesians 1:3-14 will always define us. Once God pronounces us righteous in His sight, nothing whatsoever can diminish the unfailing and unending favor we enjoy in His sight.

It’s the Lord’s amazing mercy toward all that motivates us in our walk with Him, as Paul wrote in Romans 12:1:

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”

Do you see it? The phrase “mercies of God” is plural. Paul’s instructions for Christian living in Romans chapters 12-16 flow from God’s unalterable and steadfast love for both us and the nation of Israel. (The chapter break before Romans 12 came centuries after Paul wrote to the saints at Rome.)

Our response of service and sacrifice for the Lord flows from the realization that it’s not possible for Him to change His mind about those He chooses. We begin our walk with the Lord as those He declares to be forever righteous and forever remain in His favor.

In his book, New Morning Mercies, Paul David Tripp wrote the following on the message of Lamentations 3:23, “His mercies are new every morning:”

Not only does God lavish on you love that will never cease and grace that will never end, and not only is he great in faithfulness, but the mercy he extends to you and to me is renewed each morning. It is not tired, stale, irrelevant, worn out, ill-fitting, yesterday mercy. It is form-fitted for the needs of your day. It is sculpted to the shape of the weaknesses, circumstances, and struggles of each and every one of his children.

Is it any wonder that Paul sets our walk as believers in the context of the Lord’s amazing mercy that permeates all His dealings with both Israel and us?

Contradictions

The failure to fully understand God’s mercy, which lies at the heart of the Gospel, opens the door to at least a couple of inconsistencies in interpreting Scripture.

Many Bible-believing pastors correctly teach the finality of our salvation yet deny that same unending grace and mercy for the nation of Israel. Is it not contradictory to proclaim God’s unfailing love toward believers and yet deny it for the people that God chose so long ago and with whom He made everlasting covenants (i.e., Psalm 105:7-11)? I believe it is.

Do they not see the inseparable link between the finality of our justification and Israel’s continuing place in God’s redemptive program, which Paul addressed in Romans chapters 9-11? They teach the eternal security of the saints yet tell us that this same mercy doesn’t apply to the descendants of Jacob.

Is it not equally contradictory for those who preach God’s ongoing purposes for Israel to also teach that New Testament saints can lose their salvation or walk away from it? Yes, it surely is.

Those who understand God’s irreversible grace for the nation of Israel, regardless of her past or current state, err greatly by making our continuing place in God’s favor dependent on our behavior. Our security rests in the Lord’s love for us, never in our love for Him.

We don’t obey the Lord in order to gain or stay in His favor. It’s something we enjoy every moment of every day and can never lose. We serve Him because of His steadfast love toward us.

Paul David Tripp put it this way:

If you obey for a thousand years, you’re no more accepted than when you first believed; your acceptance is based on Christ’s righteousness and not yours.

Is there not unspeakable comfort and energizing encouragement in knowing that the Lord can never change His mind toward us? Such grand assurance flows from His character as a covenant-keeping God who will not fail to keep all His promises to all those He loves, whether it be the nation of Israel or us as those whom He has redeemed with His precious blood.

Why did my master’s thesis on biblical justification confirm my belief that the Lord will someday restore a kingdom to Israel?

It did so because I saw the unbreakable connection between Romans 8:28-39 and chapters 9-11. The God who can never change His mind about His promises to Israel is the same One who can never change His mind about those whom He declares to be forever righteous in His sigh.

Our security in Christ is never about us; it’s always about Him and solely because of Him. How can anyone expect that it would be any different for the nation of Israel to whom the Lord has pledged in no uncertain terms to restore as the means of defending His Holy Name (see Ezekiel 36:22-38)?

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In Eternal Perspective that Calms Our Fears in Perilous Times, I not only provide a compelling defense of our belief in the pre-Tribulation Rapture but explore its wonders for the redeemed. The glory ahead for us exceeds all our fanciful imaginations of what it might be. In the last section, I explore five amazing truths of the wonders that lie ahead for us as saints.

Note: Please consider signing up for my newsletter on the home page of my website at https://www.jonathanbrentner.com/. Thanks!

 

[1] Erich Sauer, The Triumph of the Crucified (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, MI, 1952), p. 150.

Advanced Technology and the Coming Global Empire :: By Britt Gillette

Published on: by RR10 Category:Britt Gillette, General Articles

Soon, Audio and Video Feeds Will Capture Everything on Earth…

A series of recent news stories have highlighted the massive advances made in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), specifically in regard to facial recognition technologies. For example, according to the BBC, the police used live facial recognition technology to scan the crowd at a recent airshow in the UK, leading to the arrests of three people. Last week, the Transportation Security Administration arrested a woman after facial recognition devices detected her trying to use someone else’s identification and boarding pass at Tampa International Airport. Meanwhile, NBC News reports facial recognition technology is being used at Major League Baseball stadiums across the United States, and Reason magazine says the National Football League is next.

Less than two years ago, NBC News detailed the story of Kelly Conlon. Conlin was kicked out of Radio City Music Hall after facial recognition technology alerted security to her presence. She was entering the venue with her daughter and a pack of Girl Scouts to watch the Rockettes. Conlin was an attorney at a law firm suing the parent company of Radio City Music Hall. Even though Conlin wasn’t directly involved in the litigation, the venue pulled her photo from her law firm’s website and added it to their database. Facial recognition technology instantly identified her as she entered, and security personnel showed her the door. This is the world in which we now live. More and more public venues are under constant surveillance.

Back in 2018, I wrote about China’s Yitu Technologies, a company that was at the forefront of developing AI and facial recognition technologies. Yitu created a technology called Dragonfly. Dragonfly could search and analyze billions of photographs and locate a single person in a matter of seconds. Connected to cameras in the Shanghai Metro, it identified over 500 criminals in a three-month period. It was so powerful, it could recognize people wearing disguises. It could also identify people using pictures that are more than 30 years old. And keep in mind, that was six years ago.

Think of the power this technology gives the Chinese government today. As facial recognition continues to improve and as every camera in the nation is connected to it, criminals will increasingly have nowhere to hide. Unfortunately, no one else will either. Chinese dissidents, political activists, ethnic minorities, Christians, and other “enemies of the state” will also have nowhere to hide. And, as we just read, China isn’t the only entity taking advantage of this technology.

The Rise of Big Brother

In George Orwell’s novel 1984, we’re first introduced to “Big Brother” – an omnipresent, all-powerful and “well-intentioned” totalitarian regime. The book’s hero, Winston Smith, lives in a world where every citizen is under 24/7 surveillance. Personal privacy doesn’t exist. Government controls every aspect of life. Monitors in Winston’s apartment spy on him when he’s home. Other devices spy on him when he’s not home. Hidden cameras and microphones capture his words, deeds, and even his facial expressions. His mail is opened, and “thought police” search for and arrest any citizens who dare to have thoughts or feelings outside of those sanctioned by Big Brother and the ruling elite.

Winston’s world is a place of absolute governmental control. No conversation, movement, or transaction goes unnoticed. The government is watching – always. In the decades since Orwell first released 1984, people have marveled at what they see as great insight into our future. And they’re right to do so. Because 1984 is becoming our reality. And unfortunately, all the examples we just mentioned are just a small part of what’s coming. Why do I say that? Because we’re only in the first stages of the AI revolution.

What’s Coming

Facial recognition technologies plugged into AI are already becoming commonplace. But these technologies will only become more invasive. In the future, the ability to see and hear everything will be even easier for government. Unfortunately, while most people object to this type of surveillance and invasion of privacy, their everyday actions bring it closer and closer to reality.

How? Many people voluntarily reveal the most intimate details of their lives. They upload pictures of themselves and their friends to Facebook, and they tag them so AI systems can recognize them. They reveal personal information on Snapchat and X (formerly Twitter). They set up doorbell cameras connected to the Internet (and sometimes indoor surveillance cameras connected to the Internet). And they set up devices like Siri and Alexa in their homes. These devices respond to voice commands and make life easier. But they also have a downside. By definition, they’re always listening. That means a microphone is in your house listening at all times. And some of these devices feature their own cameras.

As time goes by, these devices will become smaller and cheaper. And as they become smaller and cheaper, they’ll become ubiquitous. They’ll be everywhere. How much smaller and cheaper will these devices become? Imagine trillions of HD cameras and microphones – each one the size of a dust particle. Some might be so small, the naked eye can’t see them. These cameras and microphones will constantly record everything. How will they be placed? They won’t be directly placed at all. Like dust, they’ll spread across the earth and settle on every surface. They’ll be everywhere.

They’ll settle on your clothes. They’ll come in through the ventilation in your house. They’ll stick to the bottoms of shoes, and they’ll blow through the streets. And this “nanodust” will send raw video and audio content straight to the government.

In the past, all this raw video and audio data would be useless. It would take legions of intelligence analysts a century or more to listen to just one day of global conversations. But with AI, humans don’t need to sift through this data. AI will search and analyze everything – not just faces. Already, AI systems search audio recordings on YouTube and other video platforms for specific phrases and “undesirable” language. In this way, they aim to prevent “disinformation” and “misinformation.” In the same way, they analyze video to find specific patterns of movement or behavior. Using the same methods, AI systems can identify common traits shared by enemies of the state. With the ability to process mountains of information at high speeds, AI can analyze information with a much higher level of precision than any human analyst ever could.

Once “nanodust” proliferates, it will form a global network with the ability to “listen” to every conversation on Earth. No one will be able to escape the ever-watchful eye of “Big Brother.”

The Coming Global Empire

So why does all this matter? Because two thousand years ago, the Bible said a single government will rule all the people of the world (Revelation 13:7). It also said the leader of that government will exercise such total control, he’ll be able to decide who can buy or sell anything (Revelation 13:17). Think about those statements. A global government will have total and complete control over all commerce. To achieve this feat requires a police state the likes of which the world has never seen. Was such a state possible in the 1st Century? No. Was it possible in the 20th Century? No. How about in this century? Yes. It will be. And it won’t just be a possibility. It will be reality. Government won’t be able to resist the temptation AI and other advanced technologies offer. It’s just one more sign we’re nearing the end of the present age.

Remember, global government isn’t the only sign of the end. But it’s appearing at the same time as the other signs Jesus and the prophets said to look for. Israel is back in the land (Jeremiah 23:7-8)… The Jewish people once again reside in Jerusalem (Luke 21:24-28)… Though small, Israel has an exceedingly great army (Ezekiel 37:10)… Europe is unifying (Daniel 2:31-45)… And the Gospel is being preached to the ends of the earth (Matthew 24:14). These are all signs Jesus and the prophets said to look for. And our generation is the first ever to witness these signs. Think this is mere coincidence? I don’t either.

Jesus Himself said, “When all these things begin to happen, look up for your salvation is near!” (Luke 21:28). In fact, He said the generation witnessing these signs will not pass away before He returns (Matthew 24:34). The emergence and convergence of these signs is the #1 indicator the end of the age and the Second Coming of Jesus are near. For the first time in history, we see these signs. They’re all around us. So don’t doubt it. Jesus is coming!

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus (Revelation 22:20)!

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Britt Gillette is the author of several books on bible prophecy and the end times. You can find more of his work at brittgillette.substack.com.