I came here today from the Logos Forum where apparently discussion of "theology" is discouraged. Just how a Forum which has a thread regarding the "Rapture" can be responded to without addressing some aspect of theology (like eschatology, anyone?) is beyond me.
Some there hold the Preterist View, apparently. Others, I presume, may hold the Futurist View. While many great scholars have held the Preterist View, that all of Matthew 24 was fulfilled in AD 70, and that the New Testament was entirely written before AD 70, they have NOT done their homework in Bible study.
For example, the letter to the Ephesian church in the book of Revelation clearly depicts changes in the inner quality of that church, and even the organization of that church, changes which could not possibly have occurred since Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians was written. Consider especially that Paul sent Timothy to help at the Church of Ephesus.
Well, so much for Preterism (and my character limit!).
- You and the ESV Study Bible are technically correct. I have that same information in other sources too. The issue for me centers around Paul's statements elsewhere: (1) Romans 15:8, "Now I say that Jesus Christ was minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers." Note, confirm, not modify or change them in any way, agreeable to Malachi 3:6. (2) Romans 11:1, 2, "I say then, Hath God cast away Israel? God forbid... God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew." This is strictly agreeable to Isaiah 41:9, "Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away." (3) Romans 11:29, "For the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable" (ESV). Therefore, God's prophetic plan with regard to Israel to fulfill all the provisions of the Abrahamic Covenant and the Davidic Covenant are still in force, and unchanging.
- You are correct God is unchanging.. The promise was never to (seeds) but to seed. Thus God has not changed. I do not believe God is done with Israel. I believe a great many will be saved in the future. But there is not a separate plan of salvation for Israel. If they want to take part in the kingdom that is Christ's then they must believe in Christ, and become part of the church like everyone else.
- The plan of salvation has been the same in all ages. It is well expressed by Genesis 15:6. Paul writes "and so all Israel will be saved" (Romans 11:26), citing Isaiah 59:19, 20. They will thus all be saved when they see the Messiah, the Deliverer, come out of Zion. It is significant, and very largely misunderstood or ignored, that Paul cites another passage in the near context from Isaiah, namely, Isaiah 60:5, pertaining to the phrase "the fulness of the Gentiles" at the end of Romans 11:25. That has no reference to the number awaiting to be saved from the Gentiles, but to the confiscation of the wealth of the Gentiles during end-time events when many nations gather against Israel and God Himself secures their victory. In this age, to be saved, one must become part of the church by faith in Christ. But at the time of the events of the prophecies Paul is citing, the church age of this dispensation or age will have ended.