Ep. 93: Israel & the Church: When Was the Regathering?

We have a cold open with R.C. Sproul talking about his views on Romans 11. Which might shock some of you. Three areas we want to cover today are: 1. What are the various ways people take the Old Testament prophecies about Israel’s future salvation and restoration? These texts are in the Bible, so we must be able to give some sort of answer as to its meaning. 2. Is Israel becoming a state in 1948 part of Biblical prophecy?(We have mentioned this before, but want to zero in on it more)3. If time permits, we want to talk about how should believers view the modern state of Israel today and Israelis?To answer question 1, we need to look at the dates of all of the prophets, and what was happening in Israels history. We have attached a chart in the comments for your help in understanding. Some of the prophecies about Israel’s regathering and restoration take place before the return under Ezra and Nehemiah, but are they written in a way that can mean the 2nd temple period is what is in reference? Other prophecies are written after the return granted by Cyrus. How should we view those? We go through Jeremiah 23:5-8, Jeremiah 29:1, 4, and 14 and then look at Deut. 28:64Looking at Zech. 13:8 and the reference to the 2/3’s of Israel dying; some have said is a reference to the Holocaust. What is the reason for and then the reason against that?Inquisition: Is there any Biblical credence to the idea that the Church is the New Israel?