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THE GRAND HOAX

Tom L. Ballinger

The biggest Christian hoax of the Twentieth Century was that the present nation of Israel was the direct result of God’s promise to restore the Jewish State. Evangelical Christians felt vindicated in their view of Biblical prophecy, in 1948, when Israel was recognized by the U.S.A. as a nation-state. They were either willfully ignorant, or didn’t have a clue, as to the clear process God foretold in Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and the other prophets that the restoration of Israel was to be His work.

The Evangelicals have given unending support to Israel. They rejoiced “that prophecy was being fulfilled before our very eyes.” This indicated that they had never seen the truth that the present dispensation is a parenthetic dispensation and was never the subject of prophecy. As one who recognizes that an unprophesied dispensation, the Mystery, suddenly burst upon the world scene after God set aside Israel, WE cannot support the idea that any of the political events taking place in the Middle-East is the subject of prophecy! None of God’s prophecies have come to pass in this dispensation! Therefore, WE must conclude that the notion of Israel being the fulfillment of God’s promise to them is a Grand Hoax. It is a deception of great magnitude; orchestrated by the “prince of this world.” It is a diversion from “right division.” It is a “red herring” for Christians.

The present Israeli state was the result and work of the Zionist Movement. If you are not aware of the fact that the foundation of the state rests upon mass expulsions, mass murder, and mass looting, you haven’t done your homework. There is abundant information on how Israel became a nation-state, and it “ain’t pretty.”

The Israeli government, today, is made up of unbelieving Jews administering a socialistic government which depends mostly upon the U.S.A. for its sustenance. When the true descendents of the three Patriarchs occupy the Land, they will depend on the LORD their God, and in no-one else will they trust. They will be totally dependent upon the Lord Jesus Christ. And, He will meet every need of His re-gathered people.

Evangelical Christians, for the most part, know nothing of right division of the Word of Truth (2 Timothy 2:15). Even in the year of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, 2006, they believe the “end times” are being played out, or at least as some say, “the stage is being set for the “end times.”

If you read Christian periodicals, and even secular publications and secular websites, a great deal of articles concern Armageddon, America in Bible prophecy, the Rapture, and the END TIMES. The term, “end times,” is not a biblical term at all. The nearest thing to “end times” is “the time of the end” which is used five times in Daniel (Dan 8:17, 11:35, 11:40, 12:4, and 12:9).

“Bible names for Bible things,” as Dr. E. W. Bullinger used to say. To this, WE agree. The authors of the “Left Behind” series of novels have a website, we believe, which is “The Left Behind Series Prophecy Club; Compelling Signs of the End Times.” In the Dispensation of Grace, there are no signs, compelling, or otherwise! Christians have a way about making up names for Biblical events. A good way to peddle the Word of God is to build upon unbiblical words and phrases—such as, the END TIMES and COMPELLING SIGNS TODAY.

We noted an article, the other day, on “WorldNetDaily” about a book titled, “Are We Living in the Last Days?” by Greg Laurie. The sub-headline was, “Greg Laurie takes a clear refreshing look at the END TIMES. Greg is an author, evangelist, and pastor of the largest church in America,” said WND. Headline on a website today; “Hurricane Katrina: Sign of the Last Days?” The short answer is absolutely NO!

Many Peddlers of the Word focus on the “End Times Prophecies,” and it centers on Israel being in their “homeland.” They falsely teach, for profit, that the events occurring in the Middle-East are rushing us toward Armageddon Now! How titillating, how scary! No wonder so many people are unclear about right division. The voices of the Peddlers are loud and deceptive. They make millions peddling this hoax. We know of no END TIMES truth. We know truth about the “time of the end” and the “sunteleia” (consummation) of the age (Matt. 24:3), but absolutely nothing concerning the “end times.” We will not adopt this terminology. Who made up this phrase?

Fundamentalists, pre-millennial dispensationalists, teachers of prophecy, and the vast majority of Christians believe the modern day Israelis are the people of God in the Land of Palestine awaiting conversion. This is the Grand Hoax. Let’s not confuse them with the Israel Who God prophesied about when He declared He would bring them out from among the nations wherein He scattered them. The Bible teaches that the Lord scattered them, and that He will be the One Who brings about their restoration.

The present State of Israel is the result of man’s doing. It is a government instituted by man and is governed by man. The works of man do not survive. They all collapse. Don’t be surprised if the State of Israel collapses. Should that happen, what will it do to all of the Christian rhetoric which was surreptitiously introduced as Christian Doctrine? It would make their rhetoric “become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal (1 Cor. 13:1). Not only that, but the wrong-division of dispensational truth will “shipwreck” the faith of many (1 Tim. 1:19) and “overthrow” the faith of many others (2 Tim. 2:18).

Before you say that we are hateful and anti-Semitic, let’s open The Book and see “What saith the Scripture” concerning how the Lord said how He would gather His ancient people and send them back to their Promised Land.

“As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule over you” (Ezekiel 20:33).

“With a mighty hand,” and “a stretched out arm,” and “with fury poured out,” He will rule over the true descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This speaks of the Divine skill, and power, and fury He will exercise over them. This will be the labor He exerts when He begins His work of restoration. It is of paramount importance to know that He rules over them before they are gathered out from the nations wherein they have been scattered. The Lord Jesus Christ is not ruling over the present Jewish state, nor has He ever done so since 1948. When the Lord re-gathers Israel, He will not allow any unbelieving Jew to enter the Land. The Israeli state is comprised of unbelievers. Yes, there are a few Messianic Jews there, but they are few in number.

“And I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out “ (Ezekiel 20:34).

We should note, carefully, that the LORD will “rule” over them before He brings them out of the countries in which they have been scattered. If present day Israel is the work of God, He did a very poor job of securing the Land for them. The Jews had to take what little piece of land they call their own by bloodshed and terror. For fifty-seven years, Israel has been under constant attack. When the Lord does His work in the restoration of Israel, not a single shot will be fired in anger. The Jews will return as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, and they will receive their promised inheritance without strife or war.

Isaiah 2:4 informs those “who have ears to hear” that He shall set the nations straight by ruling over them and settling all disputes. Universal peace will prevail when God begins to deal with the Jews during His Kingdom.

If the Israeli State is the work of God, He has not given them all of the land He had promised. In fact, Jerusalem is not even their capitol city. Not only that, but one portion of Jerusalem is not even theirs. It is partitioned off for the Moslems.

“And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face” (Ezekiel 20:35).

The word, “wilderness,” occurs eight times in Ezekiel 20:10-21, and they are all a reference to the wilderness in which His disobedient people wandered for forty years. The LORD said; I will bring you into the wilderness of the people;” that is to say, He will move the resurrected Jewish saints, and those who will be living at the time of His Appearing and Kingdom, to a location in the wilderness of old—around Mount Sinai. He was speaking through Ezekiel to those Jews living during Ezekiel’s day. “I will bring you (those living in the time of this prophecy) into the wilderness of the people.” For the promise to be fulfilled, these “people” will have to be raised from the dead.

Are any of the Israelites living in Palestine, today, the fruits of the grave? Were any of them relocated to Mount Sinai by the LORD before they entered the Land? If not, then today’s Israel is not God’s handiwork. On top of this, we read that in the wilderness of the people, “there I will plead with you face to face.” To “plead” is to judge, to govern, to vindicate, to punish; just as He did with their ancestors in the wilderness.

“Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the Lord GOD” (Ezekiel 20:36).

The LORD has not raised them from the dead, nor moved them and the living to the people’s wilderness in order to “plead” with them face-to-face. This truth is missing from the Grand Hoax.

“And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant” (Ezekiel 20:37).

It will be in the Hebrew’s wilderness that the LORD makes them “pass under the rod.” We’ll not recount what others say about this passage. “To pass under” has the idea of submitting. Submitting to what? The rod. The Hebrew word is shebet which means, in the context, a scepter (a mark of authority), or a baton of royalty which are symbols of government. It will be here that the LORD brings them into the bond of the new covenant. Jeremiah wrote in Chapter 31:33, “I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.”

Today’s Israel is in no covenant relationship with God at all!

It will be in “the wilderness of the people,” where Moses organized and arranged his government at Sinai that the Lord Jesus Christ will arrange and set up the Government of His Kingdom. This future event will take place while the Lord Jesus Christ remains in Heaven. The LORD will work through His emissaries, establishing the Dynasty that will govern the world. But, it will govern the “Israel of God” first. The resurrected David will be their King and Prince, and under the Authority of Christ, he and the twelve Apostles will be the vessels through which His Government will be established. The restoration of Israel’s Kingdom requires that David and the Twelve Apostles be on the scene. They are absent in today’s Israel, but not AWOL.

And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me: I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I am the LORD” (Ezekiel 20:38).

The LORD even brings the rebels among them to “the wilderness of the people,” and there, purges the rebels (i.e. those with a rebellious heart), and they shall not enter into the Land of Israel. Note, carefully, what is said; “I will bring them (the rebels) out of the country where they [had] sojourned, and they shall not enter …” Thus, they will be a people without a country! “There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out” (Luke 13:28).

All of the Divine skill, power, and fury which will be exerted to bring the “Israel of God” into the Land of Israel will be accomplished by Him! From Ezekiel 20:33-38, the LORD uses the personal pronoun, “I,” eleven times. It will be all of His doing. He uses no nation, or nations, to help Him accomplish His promise.

There, in “the wilderness,” the “Israel of God” will be completely organized by family and tribe (through the work of Elijah). Their allotment of land will be known beforehand. Their Shepherd-King, David, the Twelve Apostles, and all of those who will have prominent places in the Kingdom will be totally equipped to possess the Land of Promise. The well known text in Isaiah 40:3 calls for the construction of a highway from Sinai to Jerusalem (Mt. Zion); “make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” When the call comes from on high to possess the Land, the new Nation will move out. This will be a magnificent sight to behold—as untold millions of Jews—go marching upward to Zion.

“For in mine holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, serve me: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the firstfruits of your oblations, with all your holy things” (Ezekiel 20:40).

God will require His Israel to make offerings and give the firstfruits of their oblations. Clearly, the present State of Israel has not made Him any offerings, nor given to Him the firstfruits of their oblations. This, certainly, disqualifies them from being the restored “Israel of God.”

The present State of Israel doesn’t qualify in any of the particulars as being the Israelites the LORD will bring into the Land of Promise. Yet, teachers of prophecy all insist that it is the Christian’s duty to bless and support today’s Israel which is not truth for today! The restoration of Israel will take place in the next dispensation, not during the present one. Truth that belongs to a future dispensation must not be read into the present. When it is, undispensational terms are invented [such as, “the End Times”], and error develops. The error pointed out in this paper has led to the Grand Hoax. The Hoax is accepted as Truth because of the collective ignorance of Christians.