"…a concise, reader-friendly yet deceptively full study of the place and importance of Israel in Scripture. …a commendable piece of work from a sound teacher. What more could one want?" Paul Martin Henebury, PhD Telos Theological Ministries, USA "...a masterful compilation of the pertinent prophecies and the antisemitic history of the past two thousand years to help us understand the reason the Jews still exist and their irreplaceable importance in God’s theocratic program for mankind." From the Foreword by Dr David R Anderson Distinguished Professor of SystematicTheology and Biblical Languages "This book has no agenda but that of Scripture, and clearly lays out God’s plan and program for the Jewish people and the nation of Israel. It does that with utmost fidelity." Mottel Baleston Messianic Jewish Educator, New Jersey, USA "...does an excellent job explaining why replacement theology is fraught with many serious theological problems and grave concerns relative to a biblical understanding of God’s people Israel that cannot be ignored." Dr R Mark Musser Author of “Nazi Ecology: The Oak Sacrifice of the Judeo-Christian Worldview in the Holocaust” Is the subject of Israel a peripheral matter within Christian thought? Is it merely a detail over which believers can hold any one of a range of views? Or is Israel’s restoration a central biblical theme essential to a sound biblical worldview and a remarkable demonstration of divine grace, wisdom and faithfulness? This book argues that failure to properly handle the biblical data on Israel undermines the divine communication project and distorts the identity and destiny of the Messiah Himself. An extended section surveys the techniques replacement theologians have employed in order to effectively negate explicit biblical statements. It is hoped that believers will be better equipped to navigate the rugged landscape of Christian ideas around the issue of Israel. CONTENTS Endorsements Foreword Part I 1 Who is the Messiah? 2 Who is Israel? 3 Thinking Biblically About Israel 4 The Significance of the Biblical Covenants 5 Replacement Theology 6 New Testament Assumptions and Expectations 7 Response and Responsibility 8 A Mixed Record at the Ends of the Earth 9 Antisemitism and Its Unseen Cause 10 Conclusion Part II Turning The Text On Its Head: How Replacement Theology Argues Its Case I Reinterpretation II Proof Texting and Decontextualisation III Neo-Marcionism IV Typology, Allegory and Spiritualization V Christological Interpretation VI Conflation and “Amorphization” VII Fallacious Reasoning VIII Theological Override Appendices Appendix: Messianic Prophecy Appendix: Antisemitism Appendix: The Abstract Palestinian and the Selective Cry For Justice Recommended Reading