What Are Israel and the Church? – Mike Blume

( For a history of the modern state of Israel and current events and developments, see https://scripturalscrutiny.com/is )

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It is frequently taught that God has one program for Israel and another for the church. This half-hour sermon by Mike Blume does an excellent job of correcting this misconception. God’s plan for Israel is ongoing right now, and the rest of the nations (gentiles) now have access to the same blessings promised to Israel.  Follow the links below to watch this excellent presentation to which I have added time-line notes and scripture references for further study.

NOTES: What Are Israel and the Church – Mike Blume

Last Days Prophecy in the Bible

The extraordinary events of the last few years have prompted many to look to God and the Bible for strength and understanding. But there are many conflicting opinions on the proper interpretation of biblical prophecy.

Our interpretation of biblical prophecy can have a major impact on how we interpret major world events that might be connected to prophetic teaching. Since there are so many opinions swirling around regarding world events, it is understandable that we would accept viewpoints that tend to harmonize with what we think the Bible teaches.

Political and geopolitical questions have serious practical and moral implications. The defenders of different sides of a conflict can present compelling evidence. But in our digital world propaganda or half-truths can be made very believable. And there is such an avalanche of information around us that we cannot follow it all. So we are not easily persuaded to consider something contrary to what we might think the scriptures would support or what a favorite teacher says.

We need to consider our biblical understanding as carefully as possible. Since God doesn’t lie, we want to be as accurate as we can in determining what God has actually said. If we misunderstand what God has said, we may have an incorrect bias in how we evaluate the many events impacting our lives–many with serious consequences.

It is my understanding that some popular prophetic teachings are misguided. I do not necessarily endorse all the theologies, doctrines, denominations, or creeds of the links I am going to recommend. I am recommending them here only for what I see as a basically sound biblical understanding of the prophetic passages in question. I want to understand these prophecies as the prophets meant them to be understood for the original hearers in a biblical context.

We must apply all the Bible to our lives, but we must be sure we understand it as addressed to the original hearers in the original circumstances before we consider how it applies to us today. Let’s avoid squeezing scripture into a particular prophetic mold just because it’s what we grew up with, it’s what is popular in our time, it’s what our church believes, it’s what a favorite teacher says, or it seems to connect to some current world situation.

I am listing these links in consecutive steps that I think will build upon each other for best understanding. The first link has already been mentioned above, but is repeated here as a basic insight that is key to straightening out other misunderstandings.

Step 1

 2025-06-17 – Talking Modern Israel and the Bible with Steve Gregg (1:59:25)

Very good! Recent Steve Gregg interview with excellent interaction and Q & A which helps in understandinng many different aspects of the question. Only problem I see is his quote of Is 9:6 of Jesus as the “mighty god”. I think he sounds too certain in the translation “Mighty God”. Could be “god” in the lower sense — or it could be (I think more likely) a “theophoric” name as Sean Finnegan proposes (https://restitutio.org/2024/10/31/572-isaiah-9-6-explained-a-theophoric-approach/)

2025-06-24 Refuting Dispensationalism: The New Covenant is Now in Effect – Steve Gregg (58:33)

2025-06-22 Pastors Preaching Jewish Fables (53:08)

https://www.youtube.com/live/xeRSj9i40UI I include this video especially for a group of independent fundamentalists that I differ from in significant ways, but still respect for their zeal for God, passion for truth, and honor of scripture. This independent Baptist preacher does an excellent job of pointing out how over a few decades many of their number have moved from the position of such evangelists as John R. Rice, who said modern Israel had nothing to do with Bible prophecy, to the likes of John Hagee who highlights Israel today as a center of biblical fulfillment.

Step 2

These two videos give a historical look at the development of different prophetic schools of interpretation. The historical development does not necessarily mean the biblical interpretation is right or wrong, but it is helpful to know how ideas historically developed. I think Bruce Gore does a credible job of being impartial in his descriptions. * If you want to get right to the biblical teaching, skip historical development for now and go on to Step 3.

Apocalypse in Space and Time – Bruce Gore (WATCH LESSONS 8 AND 9)

John Nelson Darby and Dispensationalism (8)

Dispensationalism in America (9)

Step 3

 The Michael Blume Series on Bible Prophecy: (WATCH LESSONS 1 AND 2  in this series to complete Step 3.)  https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzm_rtdV65NUDYKEjUkHM8M2lpnoeLCI3&si=35u_K6NfaytBJU1H

Step 4

This is an excellent presentation with a follow-up Q&A session that will give you a solid perspective on this approach to prophecy. Note: I don’t agree that Christianity will become dominant in the world before Christ returns. But I do think the gospel and God’s kingdom will spread widely throughout the nations.

Beast of Revelation Identified — Ken Gentry, Jr https://youtu.be/Sy7cEW4MJac

Below is a time index of the topics in this Beast of Revelation Identified video. Below the file, Click The PDF link next to DOWNLOAD to read online.

See kennethgentry.com for excellent books on Revelation and the Olivet Discourse, including his massive new commentary on Revelation (2 vols.) The Divorce of Israel.

Step 5

Michael Blume Series on Bible Prophecy: (WATCH LESSONS 3 – 14 for Step 5) There are 27 Lessons in this series. I only watched through 14 and found them good to there. Continue on if you like without my endorsement of the content.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzm_rtdV65NUDYKEjUkHM8M2lpnoeLCI

Step 6

Here are links to Matthew 24 and the Destruction of Jerusalem in different degrees of detail. It is a key passage for understanding how the passages in Daniel, Matthew, and Revelation fit together. These will complete Step 6, and hopefully will give you a new perspective to consider when you study biblical prophecy and its interpretation and application.

Matthew 24 and the Destruction of Jerusalem (8 pages) – David Padfield https://padfield.com/acrobat/premill/matt24.pdf

Days of Vengeance (The Destruction of Jerusalem) 33 pages – David Padfield 

https://padfield.com/acrobat/history/days-of-vengeance.pdf

https://padfield.com/2011/days-of-vengeance.html

The Destruction Of Jerusalem (Part 1) – David Padfield

https://padfield.com/1998/matthew-24-and-jerusalem.html

The Destruction Of Jerusalem (Part 2) – David Padfield

https://padfield.com/1998/destruction-of-jerus alem.html

This video is a great summary of the written studies in Step 6:

What you’ve misunderstood about Matthew 24 and the signs of the times. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nW5ums0FOXI

But be sure to read some of the written studies for more details – especially for Mt. 24:30 which read something like this:

The Sign Of The Son Of Man

In Matthew 24:30, Jesus said, “Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and I will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (NKJV).

Please notice that Jesus did not say, “And then shall appear the Son of Man in heaven” or “then shall appear the sign in the heaven(s) of the Son of Man.” The phrase is literally: “And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in the heaven” (Berry’s Interlinear). The phrase “in heaven” denotes the locality of the Son of Man, not the locality of the sign.

The destruction of Jerusalem itself served as a sign of the fact the Son of Man was ruling in heaven, because it was the fulfillment of His prediction (cf. Deut. 18:20-22).

 

Download Steps 1-6 for Study

Read or Download the full PDF file. THIS PDF CONTAINS TEXT AND LINKS FOR STEPS 1-6 ABOVE! You can read it or download it to study it without coming to this site:

Additional Studies related to Last Days Bible Prophecy

Additional Studies Related to Last Days Bible Prophecy (PDF) are in the files below. These are new links for further study, not found in previous files . Click PDF link next to DOWNLOAD to read any of them online.

IS Modern Israel A Key to the Fulfillment of Biblical Prophecy ?

Follow this Link: https://scripturalscrutiny.com/Is