Matthew Or Daniel, Who Is Right?

Q

The Rapture, A Secret Jesus Couldn’t Reveal, you quoted Matt. 21:43, “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit” which is used to validate replacement theology. But Daniel 2:44 says, “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.” What Kingdom is taken from Israel and given to another people (presumable the Church), and what Kingdom will not be left to another people? In what way are they different?

A

The problem in comparing these two statements is the one in Matt. 21:43 has to do with the 1st coming, while Daniel 2:44 describes the 2nd Coming.

In Matt. 21:43 Jesus was referring to the Church, who would be given the “invisible” phase of the Kingdom consisting of born again believers everywhere on Earth. It would not have physical boundaries or a homeland and although it’s in the world, it is not of the world. Paul said our citizenship is in Heaven (Phil 3:20).

After we’re taken out of the world to our heavenly home, God will turn again to Israel. To interpret Matt. 21:43 as they do, proponents of replacement theology have to ignore or spiritualize hundreds of prophecies that call for Israel’s Kingdom Age. One of them is Daniel 2:44.

Daniel was not given knowledge of the Church so his prophecy does not include any reference to it. With our hindsight we can see that he was speaking of the Kingdom Age, the time following the 2nd Coming when Israel will be God’s nation on Earth, living with Him in the Promised Land. That’s the time at which all other earthly kingdoms will brought to an end.

In Acts 15:13-18 James explained that after the resurrection Israel was set aside for a time while the Lord took out of the Gentiles a people for Himself. After He has taken us He will turn again to Israel, restore the covenant, and rebuild the Temple. This shows us that Israel was not permanently replaced, but was temporarily set aside.

God knows the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10). He does not have to change His mind, discarding old prophecies in exchange for new ones as He learns from experience. Every one of God’s prophecies has to be fulfilled, whether for Israel, the Church, or the nations.