Who are the Jews?

The book of Revelation contains a large number of references to Jewish motifs. In particular, John mentions elements of the Tabernacle at length. He also refers to Mount Zion, and even specifically to the Jews. Do these passages refer to the Jewish people, or to the church? On the answer to this question rides a great deal of the interpretation of the book.

Many religious writers have declared that the book is to be taken literally. That is, when references are made to the Jews, that is exactly what is meant. They further state that all of the fantastic beings and events will take place literally. As we have seen in the overview of symbols in Revelation, this position has serious difficulty, since certain of the symbols have no possibility of being meant literally.

But this does not mean that "the Jews" does not mean those who are by birth Jewish. Some scholars press this point hard, relying on two facts. First, the Old Testament prophecies which are unfulfilled were written in a literal style, seeming to imply a literal fulfillment. Second, the various covenants God made with the patriarchs are said to have been unconditional.

7 "And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you. Gen 17:7

17 In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, Heb 6:17

This (and several other texts like it) sound rather permanent. These two points lend credence to the idea that hereditary Jews have some special place in end time prophecy. Yet, there is considerable cause to question this conclusion.

When God first gave the covenant to Abraham, it sounded unconditional.

1 Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father's house, To the land which I will show you;
2 And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing;
3 And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. " Gen 12:1-3

The next time God mentions the covenant, it clearly has a conditional element.

1 Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am God Almighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless.
2 "And I will establish My covenant between Me and you,... Gen 17:1-2a

It is not long before God establishes the conditional nature of His covenant more firmly.

5 'Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine;
6 and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. 'These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel. " Ex 19:5-6

A covenant is a bond between two parties. Both parties have tasks to perform. If one defaults, the other is no longer bound to carry out his part of the deal. God is making it clear that His covenant is no different than any other. This is stated explicitly in Jeremiah.

31 "Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah,
32 not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them, "declares the LORD. Jer 31:31-32

Israel had to do its part to get the benefits. God’s purpose is "unchangeable" (Heb 6:17), but His methods are not.

18 "But you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.
19 "And it shall come about if you ever forget the LORD your God, and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I testify against you today that you shall surely perish. Deut 8:18-19

Now the issue is made even more clear. Not only will Israel not receive the benefits if they fail, they will "perish". This message is repeated in Deut 28:1, 15ff, Deut 31:16-17, and Jer 18:6-10. By now it must be clear that God will not tolerate disobedience, even from His chosen people. It is also clear that they understood that they had duties and obligations under the covenant.

5 The earth is also polluted by its inhabitants, for they transgressed laws, violated statutes, broke the everlasting covenant. Is 24:5

The remainder of the OT story is well known. In a host of different locations and ways, His people ignored God’s commands and went about their evil ways. Finally, God sent them an ultimatum.

24 "Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy place. Dan 9:24

God was declaring that there was a time limit on His patience. This message was delivered by the archangel Gabriel. The next words came directly from Jesus.

10 Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled, and said to those who were following, "Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel.
11 "And I say to you, that many shall come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven;
12 but the sons of the kingdom shall be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. " Matt 8:10-12

The "sons of the kingdom" clearly refers to the Jews, descended from Abraham. Because of their faithlessness, they will not be in the kingdom. Jesus makes this statement more forcefully in His conclusion to the parable of the vineyard owner.

43 "Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you, and be given to a nation producing the fruit of it. Matt 21:43

This parable refers to a similar parable in Is 5:1-7, and points out that God’s unfaithful servants will lose their favored status. Jesus repeats that warning with the words "the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you." Finally, seeing the evil in the hearts of the Jews, Jesus declares:

37 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.
38 "Behold, your house is being left to you desolate!
39 "For I say to you, from now on you shall not see Me until you say, ' Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord !'" Matt 23:37-39

Only a conversion to true faith in Jesus would allow the Jews to be saved. Shortly after He said this, Jesus was crucified, then later ascended to heaven. The apostles became the active voice for God. They were not silent on this issue.

7 This precious value, then, is for you who believe. But for those who disbelieve, "The stone which the builders rejected, This became the very corner stone,"
8 and, "A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense"; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed.
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
10 for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy . 1 Pet 2:7-10

Peter makes it very clear that the people who had not been God’s people are now God’s people. It is not heredity that makes a person part of God’s people any more. It is belief.

It is also interesting to note the language used by Peter. Believers are referred to as a "royal priesthood". This echoes Ex 19:6 and is the same language used by Jesus to refer to his saints as his "kingdom, priests" in Rev 1:6 and 5:10. The same thought is in Rev 20:6. Can there be any doubt that John intended references to Israel to be to the Israel of the new covenant?

Paul fills out the picture a bit further.

28 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly; neither is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh.
29 But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God. Rom 2:28-29

Clearly, the true Jew is determined by the state of the heart toward God, not by heredity or cultic ritual. Paul repeats this theme even more clearly.

28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise. Gal 3:28-29

It would be hard for Paul to be more emphatic. The nation of Israel has been stripped by God of its favored status. Only those who believe will be counted as heirs to the covenant promises given to Abraham. This only makes good sense, since from the beginning God made it clear that the promises depended on Israel’s trust in God. Even then foreigners could enjoy the benefits of the covenant by believing in God.

3 Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD say, "The LORD will surely separate me from His people." Is 56:3a

But Paul is not content to leave any doubt in our minds regarding this issue of spiritual versus literal Israel.

3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh,
4 who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises,
5 whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.
6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel;
7 neither are they all children because they are Abraham's descendants, but: "through Isaac your descendants will be named."
8 That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants. Rom 9:3-8

Not all Jews will be saved. The fact that they descended from Abraham means nothing. Paul goes even further in making it clear in verse 6 that the name "Israel" had two different meanings. Israel was the name God gave Jacob, father of the Jews. But the primary way in which Paul uses the name refers to the Church. Israel is the body of believers, not the Israelites. Peter reinforces this thought.

6 Thus Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, and you have become her children if you do what is right without being frightened by any fear. 1 Pet 3:6

We have seen how the covenant was conditional on belief, even from the beginning. We have seen how "foreigners" could be joined to the covenant, even in OT days. Then when literal Israel’s "transgressors ha(d) run their course," (Dan 8:23), God’s favor was withdrawn from literal Israel and openly bestowed on all believers. Unbelievers will be separated from spiritual Israel while new believers will be grafted in (Rom 11:11-24). But this doesn’t preclude John from using "Israel" literally in Revelation.

20 But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation,
21 for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. 1 Pet 1:20-21

We have to look into the scriptures to see how they should be understood. In this case, we need the book of Revelation to tell us definitively how we should view the Jews. In chapter 7, verses 5-8, John gives a list of twelve tribes of Israel which make up the 144,000. This would seem to support the idea that John is speaking of literal Israel. When we examine this carefully, one fact stands out. This list of tribes does not match any list of the twelve tribes from any other part of the Bible! Perhaps he is not looking at hereditary Jews.

Earlier in the book, in the letters to the churches, John uses language which cannot be mistaken.

9 'I know your tribulation and your poverty but you are rich, and the blasphemy by those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Rev 2:9

9 'Behold, I will cause those of the synagogue of Satan, who say that they are Jews, and are not, but lie-- Rev 3:9a

John could not be more clear if he tried. The only qualification to be a Jew in the context of the book of Revelation is to be on God’s side. Many hereditary Jews will be on Satan’s side, and will be rejected by God. They will no longer be counted as Abraham’s seed. But we are not finished. We do not have to settle for any form of evidence less than the direct word of Jesus himself. Our first step is the first verses of the book.

1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must shortly take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John,
2 who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Rev 1:1-2

John here testifies that everything he is about to write is in fact directly revealed to him by Jesus and about Jesus. Allow me to restate this. "The Revelation of Jesus Christ" is a revealing of Jesus Christ. It is not about some strange future events. It is about Jesus. It is a retelling and foretelling of the spiritual victory of Jesus over sin. It contains temporal elements which allow mere mortals to understand it, but in the final analysis, it is about Jesus. Any interpretation of the prophecy which does not set forth in clearer light the gospel of Christ is not God-inspired. The only purpose of prophecy is to reveal Jesus.

29"And now I have told you before it comes to pass, that when it comes to pass, you may believe. John 14:29

Our final evidence is in the words of Jesus Himself, closing the book.

16 "I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches. Rev 22:16a

Jesus here states, in unequivocal terms, that the Revelation is "for the churches". We must therefore categorically deny the proposition that "Jews" in the context of John’s apocalypse means the literal descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has declared that his sons and daughters are those who believe in Him. This is as it always has been.

6 "For I, the LORD, do not change; Mal 3:6a

The use of Jewish symbolism by John must therefore be in the manner of providing a context for his readers. They had studied the OT scriptures (see Acts 17:11, 2 Tim 3:14-15), and were well versed in the material contained in them. Since all of the OT is directed at the literal Jews, it is no surprise that John’s symbolism is of the same form. He has simply adopted the teaching of Jesus, both direct and through the other apostles, that the church is now Israel.

We cannot leave this study without looking briefly at the consequences of the Futuristic interpretation of prophecy. Our first stop is to note that the entire Futurist school originated in the sixteenth century with a Jesuit priest named Rivera. The reformers had rightly seen the Papacy to be the spirit of antichrist (1 John 4:3) from their studies of Daniel and Revelation. Rivera invented Futurism to remove the stigma the reformers had cast on Rome by throwing the "antichrist" into the far future. For a considerable period of time, this view was restricted to Roman Catholic interpreters, and was thoroughly refuted by Protestant scholars.

It must be noted that Rivera’s literalism was not new. The Jews of Jesus’ day were rigid literalists. Nicodemus (John 3:1-12) could not understand that Jesus was speaking symbolically when He said that Nicodemus should be "born again". The Jews could not understand that John the Baptist was a type of Elijah (Matt 17:10-13). When Jesus said (Matt 26:61, Mark 14:58, John 2:19) that if the Jews tore down the Temple He would rebuild it in three days:

21 ... He was speaking of the temple of His body.
22 When therefore He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture, and the word which Jesus had spoken. John 2:21-22

Jesus was speaking symbolically, and after His resurrection, the disciples understood the moral purpose of His prophecy. They now believed fully in Jesus as their savior. But the Jews never understood, being mired in their literalism.

27 "For those who live in Jerusalem, and their rulers, recognizing neither Him nor the utterances of the prophets which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled these by condemning Him. Acts 13:27

Because the Jews were not right with the God who sent Jesus, they misread the prophecies of the OT concerning the coming of the Messiah and the establishment of His kingdom. They needed to receive Jesus as their Lord, and they would have received freedom from sin. With the Holy Spirit’s power, they would have lived the life of victory, and gained spiritual discernment to see the moral purpose of prophecy.

In recent years, Protestant scholars have taken up the Futurist refrain. They read into "Har-Magedon" (Rev 16:16) a literal gathering of armies for a cataclysmic battle against Jesus and His armies. This strips the text of its moral imperative by trivializing the great spiritual victory of Jesus into guns and tanks. It also contradicts what John wrote earlier.

15 And the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains;
16 and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb;
17 for the great day of their wrath has come; and who is able to stand? " Rev 6:15-17

The "battle" of Armageddon requires the gathering of a huge army to oppose Jesus at the very time that all the wicked are calling for rocks to "hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb". It can’t be both ways.

Futurists no longer recognize the evil perpetrated by the Papacy, with its false ministry of the confessional, which separates the sinner from the Savior. Other Papal doctrines, such as the Immaculate Conception, transubstantiation, and the intercession of saints simply compound the felony.

In the place of the Great Controversy between Christ and Satan, the Futurists have substituted petty politics in the form of an evil dictator, abrogated peace treaties, and restoration of temple sacrifices. These invented events have nothing to do with the gospel, since they are focused on literal Jews and Palestine. They divert attention from the saving grace of Jesus Christ. As such, they are in fact the product of the father of lies, who will stop at nothing to prevent us from seeing the glory of Jesus’ victory for us. If we follow the Futurist interpretation, the book of Revelation has almost nothing to say to the church. This pulls the word of God down to the status of a political novel. This is exactly the evil seen by Daniel.

11 It even magnified itself to be equal with the Commander of the host; and it removed the regular sacrifice from Him, and the place of His sanctuary was thrown down. Dan 8:11

We must never allow ourselves to be diverted from the gospel. Any prophetic interpretation which focuses on anything other than Jesus Christ and the ultimate victory over Satan must be rejected. The literalism of the Futurists puts prophecy on a par with palm reading and crystal ball gazing. It acts to draw attention to supposed future events which have no connection to the gospel of Christ. It strips prophecy of its moral purpose.

We must pray that those who have for many years believed a lie can find their way back to the centrality of the Savior. He gave the prophecies so we would believe in Him. Fortune-telling such as Futurism has no redeeming virtue, and denies the fundamental fact that all prophecy is given to glorify God. When we lose sight of that moral fact, we lose sight of the cross. That must never be allowed to happen.

After the final rejection of Jesus by the Jews, they were stripped of their favored status. The covenant promises were transferred to the church, who, as the "body of Christ" (Rom 12:5, 1 Cor 10:16, Eph 3:6; 4:12) are now "Israel". All prophecies relating to Israel now apply to the church alone. Our acceptance or rejection by Christ depends on our acceptance or rejection of Christ, and only that status has any bearing on our future. The prophecies of victory for Israel are ours to claim, if only we pledge allegiance to Israel’s king.

FOR ADDITIONAL STUDY

The Moral Purpose of Prophecy is a classic, written in 1949 by Louis F. Were. It addresses the issue of "Who are the Jews?" in much more depth than the brief essay above, and must not be missed by any serious student of either the gospel or of prophecy.

The Hope of Israel, written in 1922 by Philip Mauro, is another classic, complementary to the work above, on the topic of the Jews in the prophetic future. It explores in marvelous depth the testimony of both the Old and New Testaments on this issue. (off-site)