What Is the Difference Between the Last Days of Israel and the Church?
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- Updated Dec 27, 2023
There is much confusion between the last days of Israel and the last days of the Church. Due to different views of Eschatology, many scholars come to different conclusions.
From a literal, dispensationalist viewpoint, we can clearly see the difference between the last days of Israel and the Church.
A key difference between dispensationalism and Covenant Theology is that the former teaches the Church has not replaced Israel, whereas the latter teaches the Church has replaced Israel.
Within this viewpoint, Covenant Theology believes that the Church inherits all of the promises God has given to Israel. Dispensationalism, on the other hand, upholds that Israel will still receive all of her promises.
The Church is still the family of God; however, Israel will always be God’s chosen people. With this in mind, we can now address the difference between the last days of Israel and the Church from a dispensational perspective.
The Last Days
The last days of Israel will take place during the Tribulation as this will be God’s intervention in the future to bring His children back to Him.
The last days of Israel in the Tribulation will be painful with horrific distress as Jesus Himself states, “For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now — and never to be equaled again” (Matthew 24:21).
In the last days, the Jews will no longer be in the land because the time of the Gentiles will be in full effect. The last days of the Church will be unexpected as the rapture will take up the Church before the tribulation (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17).
In the last days of the Church, the Church will be able to tell that the world is getting worse and worse before Christ calls us home, but one cannot be dogmatic about the date when Christ will call us home. In its last days, the church will still be spreading the Gospel and training disciples.
Thus, the difference between the last days of Israel and the last days of the Church is that each of their last days will occur at different points in time.
The last days of Israel will not occur until the end of the Tribulation before the thousand-year reign of Christ, whereas the last days of the Church will occur at the end of the Church age, which will be when God has finished His purpose with the Church.
At this time, He will take us up in the Rapture. Another difference is that the last days of Israel will be able to be foretold by the times as they unravel during the Tribulation.
The Tribulation will follow the chronological order as depicted in Revelation; however, the last days of the Church age cannot be foretold or predicted because Christ’s return is imminent.
It is also important to note that the rapture of the Church and the Second Coming of Christ are two distinct events. During the rapture of the church, Jesus doesn't touch down on the Mount of Olives as He will do at the time of His Second Coming.
In fact, Jesus will not even come down from heaven at the time of the Rapture. Instead, He will call up His children to them, where we will meet Him in the air. At the time of the Second Coming, Jesus will return during the Battle of Armageddon, in which He will destroy His enemies.
Are We in the Last Days Now?
There is always much talk about when the last days will occur. Many people like to claim the last days are upon us, or we are going through them at the present time. As far as the Church age is concerned, there is no way to tell when it is going to end.
It is true that we are closer to the End Times than we were before Jesus came to the earth to die for our sins; however, we cannot say with certainty what year or day the Church age will end. What we do know is that the Church age will end once God has finished His purposes with the church.
God knows best, and we can trust that He will have the perfect timing to bring an end to the Church age. It should be noted that God already has all of these events planned; therefore, there is nothing for us to fear.
Once the Church age has come to an end, we will be taken up to be with the Lord in heaven. If we pass away before the end of the Church age, we will be resurrected and be taken up first to heaven.
However, if we are still alive when the Church age ends, we will be transformed into our glorified bodies without ever having to see death.
Therefore, it is best not to try to predict or say when the last days will be. We know from the Bible that the last days of Israel will be during the Tribulation. This will be God’s last-ditch effort in bringing His children to come to know Him.
Israel has always been God’s chosen people, and He doesn’t want to see one of them lost. Ultimately, it is up to every individual person’s decision because God cannot make anyone choose to accept Him.
They have to choose to place faith in Him according to their own free will, including His beloved Israel.
At the present time, what we must do is pray for all people to come to know the Lord. Through others coming to know Jesus, they will be able to help even more people learn about Him. Not to mention, each time a person places faith in Jesus, they are redeemed and given a new life in the Lord.
Never will they have to fear the fire of hell, nor do they have to fear being separated from the Lord for all eternity. Instead, they are looking forward to spending forever in paradise with our great and glorious Savior.
What Does This Mean?
In your prayers, don’t forget to pray for Israel. Pray that they might come to know the Lord and place faith in Him. Jews follow Judaism, which has a negative view of the Lord. From the viewpoint of Judaism, they do not see the Messiah as coming yet.
Pray that they might come to know the true Messiah and place faith in His amazing grace. If you have any direct connections with Israel or Jews, take time to talk with them, build a relationship with them, and share Jesus with them.
Even if they don’t place faith in Jesus right away, you might cause them to become more curious about the Lord.
The last days are not quite here, but we can prepare for them. We can prepare for them by sharing the message of Jesus with others and helping them to come to know the Lord. All people need to be saved, and they can only obtain salvation by placing faith in the Lord.
Even if it means stepping out of your comfort zone, it is needed in order to proclaim the Good News of Jesus. The last days of Israel and the last days of the Church will come, and we need to do all we can to help more people become part of the family of God.
For further reading:
Why Is Palestine Referencing ‘From the River to the Sea’ in Psalm 72:8?
What Is the Importance of Israel?
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