There are three misconceptions and one true Scriptural concept of the relationship between the Christian Church and the "Israel" spoken of by the Hebrew Prophets. Let us stand fast in the true Scriptural concept. The coming of the Kingdom of God is hindered when we accept any division between the Christian Church and the people and land of Israel. Let us destroy the middle wall of partition that Satan and human self-seeking have established. Let us recognize the unity of Jerusalem, of the Church of the Firstborn, of Zion.

When the full number of Gentiles has been grafted on Christ, on the one Olive Tree of God, God will turn once more to physical Israel, pouring out His Spirit on the Jews and bringing them into the one Body of Christ, the one Olive Tree. All Israel, all those who are of Christ by promise, will come to perfection together in the spiritual fulfillment of the feast of Tabernacles.

The three misconceptions are as follows:

Christianity primarily is a Gentile religion and has little to do with the Jews and the nation of Israel.

True Israel is spiritual, being the believers (mostly Gentile) in Christ. God no longer considers the Jews and geographical Jerusalem as being Israel.

There will be a predominantly Gentile Church in Heaven and a Jewish kingdom on the earth.

A corollary of the first and third of these viewpoints is that when the Hebrew prophets refer to "Israel" they almost always are indicating the people and land of Israel and not the Christian Church.

There is a tendency on the part of some of those who adhere to these concepts to relegate the writings of the Old Covenant to the past as though they have little if any significance today.

The first of the misconceptions, that Christianity primarily is a Gentile religion and has little to do with the Jews and the nation of Israel, is not new. We do not know the historical antecedents of the second viewpoint, that true Israel is spiritual, being the believers (mostly Gentile) in Christ, but no doubt it also has been held by Christians for some time.

The third, that there will be a predominantly Gentile Church in Heaven and a Jewish kingdom on the earth may have resulted from the dispensational model of biblical interpretation.

It can be noted at once that Satan strives mightily, as evidenced by each of these misconceptions, to maintain a wedge between the Gentile believers and the Jews. Each of the viewpoints holds apart the Gentile believers in Christ and the nation of Israel and geographical Jerusalem. These concepts disinherit us Gentile Christians from the city of Jerusalem—the only city on the earth that God has chosen for His elect.

To be continued.