(OPINION) Pastor Jack Hibbs of Calvary Chapel Chino Hills, California, denounced the belief that God is done with the Jewish people, noting that, according to the Bible, Israel is a “prerequisite” for the End Times.
Hibbs preached the second part of a two-part sermon series on Sunday titled “Epicenter Israel,” in which he looked at the modern state of Israel through the lens of biblical prophecy. Read part one here.
During his message, Hibbs denounced Replacement Theology, which is the theory that the Christian Church has replaced Israel as the people that God has a prophetic plan for.
“There are Bible pastors and teachers out there — I say that liberally — who tell you that Israel doesn’t matter anymore because they don’t believe, that that’s proof that they’re lost forever,” said Hibbs.
“Friends, that’s false doctrine. Any ministry, any pastor, any group that says ‘Israel as a nation and the Jew doesn’t matter,’ that is a doctrine of heresy, pure and simple. And you need to stay clear of it.”
Hibbs pointed to Jeremiah 31:31-33, in which God promises to “make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah” and that “I will be their God, and they will be my people.”
“If God says I am going to keep these promises and I’m going to do these things,” Hibbs continued. “God moves, sometimes very slowly, but always effectively.”
Hibbs went on to say that “no one is escaping the issue of Israel” and that it will remain relevant to God’s plan because “Israel’s statehood is a Second Coming prerequisite.”
“In other words, if the Bible says Christ is coming back to Israel, then if you don’t believe in God or if you want to destroy the concept of God, then destroy the nation of Israel. Then you prove the Bible wrong,” he continued.
“If there is no Israel, then the Bible is wrong. Pretty simple. And if you do believe in the Bible, but you don’t want to have anything to do with Israel, if you destroy Israel, then the Messiah cannot come back to Israel.”
Hibbs stated that God is “going to do exactly what He says,” so He will “come back to Jerusalem,” noting that Israel “is not a laughing matter” but rather its importance “will escalate.”
Hibbs stressed that “Israel is paramount to understanding the End Times” and that “the God of the Bible is a Zionist,” pointing to Ezekiel 36:7-12, in which God promises exiled Jews “will soon come home” and that “towns will be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt.”
“God is for Israel. The world is not,” said Hibbs. “God’s going to fulfill His promises; the world is going to do everything to stop that. One is going to win, and one is going to lose, bigtime.”
Last week, during the first part of the series, Hibbs said Hamas was “pimping Palestinians” by transforming them into “implements of war” against Israel due to antisemitic ideals.
