future of Israel as a theological question, The

Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, Sep 2001 by Blaising, Craig A

Some evangelicals have tried to adopt elements of new creation eschatology within a spiritual vision eschatology by positing a future for Israel that will be completely fulfilled in the millennium before the final judgment and the commencement of eternity-an eternity which they see in spiritualvision terms. In my opinion, a limited duration kingdom alone does not do full justice to the Biblical vision for Israel and the Gentiles. But that form of premillennialism has been a necessary step for some on the way to a full new creation eschatology. Does the adoption of new creation eschatology mean the end of premillennialism? Me genoito! Rather, I believe the same hermeneutics by which we come to embrace new creation eschatology leads to the inescapable conclusion that the vision Jesus gave to John recorded in Revelation 20 was precisely that of a millennial kingdom between the parousia and the final judgment. Today while many premillennialists are coming to adopt a more consistent new creationist eschatology, many amillennialists who have come to a new creationist eschatology are re-examining the traditional objections to a premillennialist reading of Revelation 20, many of which were forged within a precommitted framework of supersessionist, spiritual-vision eschatology.

In conclusion, does Israel have a future in the plan of God? Yes-a "yes" that needs to be worked through our theological thinking, removing the "no" that was deeply embedded in traditional theology by supersessionism. What are the theological implications of a future for Israel? We have only touched upon some of the implications-implications for our understanding of God, of humankind, of Christ, of the Church, and of the nature of the eschaton. Much more could be said. But I will close with Paul: "0 the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!" Perhaps we will find that just as the future fullness of Israel is the occasion for riches to the world, so even now our theological knowledge stands to be enriched when we consider that all of the promises of God concerning Israel are "yes" and "amen" in Christ Jesus.

I This paper was first presented at the annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society, November 19, 2000, in Nashville, TN.

2 See Stephen G. Wilson, ed., Anti-Judaism in Early Christianity, vol. 2, Separation and Polemic (Studies in Christianity and Judaism 2; Waterloo, ON: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 1986).

' R. Kendall Soulen, The God of Israel and Christian Theology (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1996) 30-34, 181 n. 6.

4 Ibid. 12-56.

5 Peter Toon, Puritans, The Millennium and the Future of Israel: Puritan Eschatology 1600 to 1660 (Cambridge: James Clarke & Co., 1970) 23-26; Christopher Hill, "Till the Conversion of the Jews,' in Millenarianism and Messianism in English Literature and Thought 1650-1800 (ed. Richard H. Popkin; Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1988) 12-36.

6 See Timothy P. Weber, Living in the Shadow of the Second Coming: American Premillennialism, 1875-1925 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1979) 128-57; also, David A. Rausch, Zionism within Early American Fundamentalism, 1878-1918: A Convergence of Two Traditions (Texts and Studies in Religion 4; New York: Edwin Mellen, 1979).