We need to take a look at scripture in its original form to determine if Israel still holds some kind of special favor with God.
Genesis 17:7 NIV
I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.
Many pastors today take this to mean that this promise is to last for all time, or ‘forever’ as they say. I’d like to destroy this error in just a few lines.
The word of interest here is “everlasting”. Lets see what the Hebrew word is and how it is defined. Possibly there is a better English word that might more effectively communicate the correct idea. Understand this same Hebrew word is used in many places throughout the old testament.
“Olam”, or “Owlam” is the word shown in the Hebrew bible. Olam is defined in Strong’s Concordance (#5769) as “long duration, antiquity, futurity”. In Gesenius Hebrew-Chaldea Lexicon coded to Strongs #5769, we see it defined as “what is hidden, specially hidden time, long; the beginning or end of which is either uncertain or else not defined.”
Does ‘forever’ seem like the perfect match in English to these definitions to you? As you can see here in both cases the words ‘everlasting’ and ‘forever’ aren’t exactly a perfect match. The idea here in the Hebrew seems to indicate that the covenant would last an unknown amount of time. In English, the word ‘forever’ means that something lasts until time ends or it has no end, but the idea in Hebrew here could very well mean something far far less than that. It could mean a day, a year or scores of years, centuries even.
So What?
To state it plainly. If this is true then, and you believe that Jesus brought the old covenant to an end, you must also conclude that the promises afforded to the Jews where completed by the close of the old testament especially in the light of scripture which so obviously says so:
1 Kings 8:56 – “Praise be to the Lord, who has given rest to his people Israel just as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses. ”
Conclusion
Therefore, there are no prophetic verses the world is waiting on to happen that stem from the old testament. All old testament prophecy is done. The Jews are no longer the chosen people, true Christians are. The land of Israel is of no consequence and the Jewish religious system, as it existed in old testament times, is gone. The Jewish religious system was destroyed by 70 AD when the second temple was destroyed.
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