Q&A Home > I > Israel

What is the Orthodox church's view concerning the Old testament prophetic status of Israel and its being the land of the Jews? The Holy Book of Hosea 9:10, Holy Book of Joel 1:7 and Holy Gospel of St. Mathews 24:32 are often quoted to support the argument. How do we know for sure that Israel is the fig tree? The argument goes further to reiterate that the entire world is going to persecute Israel and Jerusalem, leading subsequently to the return of our Lord Jesus Christ to set up his earthly kingdom where he will rule as King of the Earth! "And in that day I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for ALL people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though ALL the people of the earth be gathered against it". Does this make any sense?

The passage of the Holy Gospel of St. Matthew 24:32-33 is often misinterpreted to refer to the modern nation of Israel. The passage parallel to this is  in the Holy Gospel of St. Luke 21:29-30, where our Lord Jesus says: "Look at the fig tree and all the trees. When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near." There is no indication that our Lord Jesus Christ was not just simply using trees as a tool to illustrate his point, especially that he was on the tree-covered Mount of Olives at the time. Fig trees, in the Holy Scriptures, do not always represent Israel. In the Holy Books of 1 Kings 4:25 and Micah 4:4, for instance, the fig tree represents peace and prosperity. Sometimes it doesn't represent anything at all, but is just a fig tree! Holy Book of Revelation 6:13 mentions a fig tree casting off her untimely figs when shaken of a mighty wind. Is this supposed to be Israel becoming "un-established?" The fig tree here, as in the Holy Gospel of St. Matthew 24 passage, is being used to further illustrate a point, just waiting for the proper end-time prophet to come along and unlock hidden knowledge!

A scriptural reference to the fig tree which does represent Israel is Mk 11:12-14, 20-21 & Mt 21:18-20. Here our Lord Jesus curses the fig tree so that it can never again bear fruit. By this, He was showing His disciples that Israel was spiritually dead. Also, in Biblical prophecies that do point to the Jews' return to Palestine (Jer 32, Ezek 37, Is 11); they will do so with God's blessings upon them, provided that they obey God and His commandments. Then they would be returned to His care. How can modern, secular Israel fit this unless it has accepted Jesus Christ as the Messiah (Mt 21:33-44, 22:1-14,23; Lk 14:15-24)? This is further illustrated not by a fig tree but in the olive tree passages of Romans 11. The physical nation of Israel has been broken off from the root of the tree, but if they begin again to believe in their God, they will be grafted in! So, the formation of the modern Jewish state it is not necessarily prophetic.

As for ‘the return of our Lord Jesus Christ to set up his earthly kingdom where He  will rule as King of the Earth’ this is not the belief of our Church, the Protestant Church believes that the Lord Jesus Christ will come and rule over the world for a thousands years (The Millennial Reign). They base their view on "Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while" (Rev 20:1-3).

"Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations… The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone" (Rev 20:7-10).

They claim that these thousand years will be years of peace on earth according to the prophecy of Isaiah the prophet (Is 11:6-9 & Is 2:4).

Our Coptic Church believes, as we recite in the Creed, "He is coming again to judge the living and the dead; whose Kingdom shall have no end". St. Matthew recorded to us what our Lord said about His Second Coming in several passages (Mt 16:27; 24:30,31; 25:31-46; 13:4-43).

Our Lord is coming to judge not to rule on earth. He Himself told us "My Kingdom is not of this world" (Jn 18:36). We know that the Lord, at several occasions, had refused the earthly kingdom. After feeding the multitudes with the five loaves: "Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, "This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world." Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone" (Jn 6:14-15). When He entered Jerusalem the multitudes proclaimed Him king (Mt 21:9; Mk 11:10).

His Kingdom is not an earthly temporary kingdom that would last a thousand years but an everlasting one. The angels announcing the birth of our Lord proclaimed "And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end" (Lk 1:33). Therefore, how could His reign possibly end after a thousand years? How can it be that the Lord come to the world and rule a thousand years of peace among people and the end be destruction of the whole world (Mt 5:18 and Rev 21:1). St Peter the Apostle talked about the Lord’s coming saying "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up" (2 Pet 3:10).