Ted’s Response:

Here is the email response to which a reference has been made: If God reveals himself through the Trinity, why were the Jews surprised and shocked when Jesus told them that He was the second person of that triune God, God the Son? I am aware that there are those who feel Isaiah 6:11,12 was fulfilled in 70 A.D. However, I am convinced that there are dual and even multiple fulfillments of many Bible prophecies. Their ultimate fulfillments will be during the final 3½ years of this age.

Another example is Jeremiah 4:5-31. It speaks of disaster from the north coming to Zion/Israel to lay waste the land (4:6,7). In part, this was fulfilled when Assyria attacked the northern tribes of Israel and took them captive. Yet the ultimate attack will include Jerusalem (4:5,10,11,14,16), whereas, Assyria's focus was on the northern tribes, not Judah/Jerusalem.

The phrase "in that day" (or, in some translations, "at that day") in Jeremiah 4:9 is a clue that the ultimate fulfillment is yet future. That phrase virtually always refers to the end of the age. I believe that the disaster from the north is referring to the hordes of Gog/Magog (Ezekiel 38:2-6,15,16, 39:1,2), which will take place at the end of the age, as described in my Final Battles commentary.

There also are those who believe that the entire 70th Week (7 years) of Daniel 9:27 took place in the first century and that the desolation in that verse was what happened in 70 A.D. I do not believe this at all. In Matthew 24:15, Jesus referred to a future event, which is the beginning of the final 3½ years of that 7-year period. He spoke of "desolation"; I feel this is the beginning of a process that will culminate in what was described in Isaiah 6:11,12.

More evidence that what Jesus said will take place near the end of the age is His description in Matthew 24:29, which parallels the Sixth Seal events involving the sun, moon, and stars of Revelation 6:12,13. This definitely has not happened yet, and it certainly did not happen in the first century.

I do not believe that Israel's eyes and ears will be opened and their calloused hearts will be unstopped (Isaiah 6:10) toward their God, Yahweh, until they see their Messiah, Jesus. This will not be until He returns to earth and saves them from near annihilation (6:11,12), at the hands of their enemies, at the end of this age. Even Daniel was told that, for his people Israel, there will not be an end to transgression and sin until the end of the 70 weeks of years (Daniel 9:24), which will not be until the Messiah returns.

God originally made a covenant with Abraham (Genesis 17:1-4—see When will God's covenant with Abraham be fulfilled, and how do we know that it is Israel who will receive the promised land?). God said that this would be an everlasting covenant and that it would involve Abraham's descendants (17:7). These would come through Isaac, whom God considered to be Abraham's "only son"; and God swore that his (Isaac's) descendants ultimately would take possession of the cities of their enemies (22:16,17).

Although Isaac had two sons, God loved Jacob but hated Esau (Malachi 1:2,3). It was the descendants of Jacob (Israel) whom God considered His "chosen people" and who would possess the land promised to them by God (Isaiah 65:9). Israel broke its covenant with God, but God cannot break a promise. By the shedding of His own blood, God/Jesus made a new covenant with Israel and Judah (Israelites and Jews).

Israel/Judah still have not re-entered the covenant with God, due to disbelief, but they will at the end of this age. It is predestined for them to do so, and for God to take them back—although I believe they will experience excruciating suffering and destruction, like never before, before this occurs.

So the bottom line is that the reason God will give them a "second chance" is because they are His chosen people and He cannot break a promise. Many Christians do not feel that God should give Israel a second chance, but they fail to understand that they themselves would be doomed if He doesn't. God did not make the covenant with "the Church"; He made it with Israel, and believers in Jesus are grafted into Israel—see grafted and re-grafted.

In that other email response, I said that it would be the righteous Branch who would be installed as King in Zion/Jerusalem (Psalm 2:6), and it is He who will be called "The Lord Our Righteousness" (Jeremiah 23:3-6). "Branch" is a term for the Messiah, and Jesus is the Messiah. So it is Jesus, the physical manifestation of God, who will be called "The Lord Our Righteousness."

In Jeremiah 33:15, just as in 23:5, it talks about the righteous Branch of the line of David who will do what is just in the land. Again, this is Jesus the Messiah, who will sit on His throne as King in Jerusalem (Jeremiah 3:17; Zechariah 14:9). In Jeremiah 33:16, some translations say "it" (referring to the righteous Branch) and some say "he" (referring to Jesus, Messiah and God) who will be called "The Lord Our Righteousness." Other translations say "she," evidently referring to Jerusalem.

In the latter case, the passage continues by indicating that David (an ancestor of Jesus) never will fail to have a man (the Messiah, Jesus) to sit on the throne of Israel. With Jesus sitting as King in Jerusalem from that day forward, the city will be renowned for Him and, figuratively speaking, will be known as "The Lord Our Righteousness" because He is there. Similar to this is how the Vatican sometimes is referred to as "the Papacy" because the Pope resides there.