REFORMED THEOLOGY = ANTISEMITISM
In a previous blog, I wrote about the Presbyterian Church(USA) voting to divest itself of any stock holdings of companies who do business in and with Israel. PCUSA claims that the move is in support of the Palestinian people but in reality is born of an ingrained antisemitism that results from Reformed Theology. PCUSA holds to a Calvinist/Reformed theology that makes the grave mistake of believing that God has abandoned Israel and all the promises that were made to Israel now belong to the church. This is also known as Replacement Theology, meaning the Church has replaced Israel as God's chosen people. This is a severely flawed world view that is not even remotely supported by scripture. The final third of Ezekiel 20 clearly describes God's future plans for the nation and people of Israel.
In fairness to those who developed Reformed Theology, the nation of Israel had been erased when these doctrines were conceived. Undoubtedly, the early church leaders who concocted this theology were too short sighted to understand that God could and would restore Israel as a nation. Some grace is extended to those who could not fathom the rebirth of a nation as it had never happened in the history of the world. However, in 1948, when Israel was reborn and in 1967 when Jerusalem was reclaimed, any vestiges of Reformed Theology should have been abandoned. Today, I personally view Reformed Theology as veiled antisemitism. Some of Martin Luther's later writings testify to his hatred for the Jews.
The Bible repeatedly and emphatically reveals that God is not done with Israel and that Christ will return, remove Israel's sin and fulfill all the promises given to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joshua and David. If Reformed Theology is accurate, God is a liar and cannot be trusted. What happens if the church does not live up to God's expectations? Will He then create a new covenant with another group of people and abandon the church to hell? This idea is ludicrous and unthinkable. God can no more abandon and discard Israel than He can cancel the covenant of Christ's blood. A promise is a promise and God cannot change.
Ezekiel 20 verses 33-37 is one of numerous passages that leave no doubt that God has future plans for His chosen Israel: Ezekiel 20:33-37 "As I live, declares the Lord GOD, surely with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out I will be king over you.
I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you are scattered, with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out.
And I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face.
As I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you, declares the Lord GOD. I will make you pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant.
Verse 33 could not be more emphatic: "As I live says the Lord God..." God is declaring by His very being, that He will do what He has promised. That promise is unmistakable: "With a mighty hand ... I will be king over you...I will bring you our from the peoples and gather you ...I will enter judgement with you face to face..." This has never happened in the history of the world. God has not yet judged Israel "face to face." Verse 37 talks about a time that Christ Himself described in Matthew 25.
Passing under the rod is a reference to a shepherd accounting for the sheep and bringing them into the sheepfold. The judgement spoken of was explained by Christ as an event that would take place at the end of the age.
Matthew 25:31-34 "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.
Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
Jesus, Himself, referenced the events Ezekiel referenced and Jesus placed those events at the end of the world. There is no way to square Reformed Theology with this passage. If Ezekiel was speaking God's word to Israel concerning Israel's future and if Jesus also referred to this event as taking place in the future, then PCUSA and any other group holding to Reformed Theology is on very dangerous ground. End time events concerning the restoration of Israel and the turmoil leading up that restoration will be the subject of a future blog.
If Ezekiel 20:33-37 was the only passage in scripture referencing Israel's restoration, Reformed Theology would be exposed as fraudulent. The truth is that dozens of passages refer directly to God's plans for Israel's restoration and Christ's future kingship in Jerusalem. Sadly, Satan, the ultimate antisemite, has deceived many into believing God hates the Jews. God swore by Himself that He would redeem Israel and declared that He would bless those who blessed Israel and curse those who curse Israel. Those who hold to Reformed Theology curse Israel by definition.
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