The unconditional security teachers in the realm of professing Christianity will typically support modern Israel.  They will also look to Israel in the Bible as alleged proof that Christians have unconditional eternal security.  Their reasoning is that, since Israel supposedly had unconditional security, then the Christian does too.  However, the reality is actually totally the opposite of this.  

The Bible actually tells Christians to look to Israel as the proof that Christians do not have unconditional eternal security.

The examples of this are numerous and are covered in more detail in many of our other studies- yet the warnings to Israel about their lack of unconditional security are echoed throughout the Book Of Hebrews and applied to Christians there.

One example of this is the warning in Psalm 95 which is quoted in Hebrews chapter 3 as it is applied to Christians.  No sane person can read Psalm 95 (or Numbers 14 which Psalm 95 references) and say that either individual Israelites, or the entire nation of Israel as a whole, had unconditional security.  Likewise, no sane person can read Hebrews chapter 3 and deny that Christians are warned with the very same warning given to Israel in Psalm 95.  

Just as there are several passages in the New Testament which might be clipped out of context, and not analyzed in their context, to make it seem that Christians have unconditional eternal security, there are likewise passages in the Old Testament which might be clipped out of context, and not analyzed in their context, to make it seem that Old Covenant individual Israelites, and the nation of Israel as a whole, had unconditional security.  

Here are just a few of these passages which those who claim that Israel had unconditional eternal security might clip out of context.

Deuteronomy 33:27-29: “The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy them.  Israel then shall dwell in safety alone: the fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine; also his heavens shall drop down dew.  Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency!  and thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee; and thou shalt tread upon their high places.”

You can just picture some smooth talking, foolish Israelite clipping this passage out of its Biblical context to try to tell everyone that Israel had unconditional security with God.  It is very easy to picture since people clip passages out of the New Testament all the time and twist them out of their Biblical context to try to say that Christians have unconditional security with God- despite mountains of evidence stating totally the opposite.

Consider what God had said very shortly before what was just read from Deuteronomy chapter 33.  I could go to several passages right from the very books which Moses wrote, and even several places in the Book of Deuteronomy itself, to prove the unconditional eternal security interpretation of Deuteronomy 33:27-29 as foolish and utterly insane.

Deuteronomy 30:15-20: “See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; In that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.  But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it.  I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: That thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”

Deuteronomy 32:45-47: “And Moses made an end of speaking all these words to all Israel: And he said unto them, Set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day, which ye shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law.  For it is not a vain thing for you; because it is your life: and through this thing ye shall prolong your days in the land, whither ye go over Jordan to possess it.”

Here is another Scripture from the Old Testament given to Israel which an unconditional security preacher might twist out of context to allegedly prove his doctrine to people.

Isaiah 54:5-10: “For thy Maker is thine husband; the Lord of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.  For the Lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God.  For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee.  In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer.  For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth (angry) with thee, nor rebuke thee.  For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee.”

Are there not some wonderful promises related to God’s mercy and faithfulness here?  Of course there are.  We should take them in light of the whole counsel of God.  Just because these six verses may not speak directly of Israel needing to fulfill its part to inherit these promises, it doesn’t mean that the Scriptures as a whole don’t make that absolutely one hundred percent clear.

It had already been said in Isaiah 42:21-25: “The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness’ sake; he will magnify the law, and make it honorable.  But this is a people robbed and spoiled; they are all of them snared in holes, and they are hid in prison houses: they are for a prey, and none delivereth; for a spoil, and none saith, Restore.  Who among you will give ear to this?  who will hearken and hear for the time to come?  Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the robbers?  did not the Lord, he against whom we have sinned?  for they would not walk in his ways, neither were they obedient unto his law.  Therefore he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger, and the strength of battle: and it hath set him on fire round about, yet he knew not; and it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart.”

Many, many, many examples could be given right from the Book of Isaiah to prove that the promises given in Isaiah 54:5-10 were not given unconditionally.  In fact, if you were to just simply keep reading in Isaiah chapter 54, you would encounter this phrase to qualify the promises which had just been given.

Isaiah 54:14: “In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee.”

God never changed.  The obligations given to Israel in the Law of Moses (we looked at some samples already from Deuteronomy 30 and Deuteronomy 32), these never went away.

An Israelite twisting Isaiah 54:5-10 to try to teach unconditional security for individual Israelites, and for Israel as a nation, reminds of how many in the realm of professing Christianity twist Jesus’ words in John chapter 10 to try to prove unconditional eternal security for the Christian.

John 10:28-29: “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.  My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.”

Wonderful promises of God’s mercy and faithfulness?  Absolutely.  Yet to quote these without factoring the whole counsel of God into the equation is misleading and damnable.  

And again, in this case the very surrounding verses being considered and factored in, prove the unconditional eternal security interpretation of John 10:28-29 to be a lie.

John 10:27 says: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:”

That sounds a lot like Hebrews chapter 3- because it is echoing what is taught there in different words.

And if any honest person were to yet have any doubt whatsoever if the unconditional security teachers (in ancient Israel or this very day) are right to use the previously analyzed Deuteronomy 33:27-29 and Isaiah 54:5-10 (or any other Scriptures that might be taken out of context and used in a similar way) try to prove their doctrine, we already have seen the answer to that.  

Those in ancient Israel who would have used Deuteronomy 33:27-29 to say that the eternal God is Israel’s unconditional refuge, and say that Israel had unconditional security because God’s everlasting arms were beneath Israel, were proven wrong when God’s wrath struck Israel throughout its history for its disobedience.  

Throughout the Book of Judges, Israel was left in the hands of foreign powers which brutally oppressed Israel.  Israel was eventually plucked up from its land, sent to Babylon for 70 years, and the land was desolate without its Temple which the Babylonians had destroyed.  The curse of the Law of Moses hit Israel just like God had threatened (we’ll get to that).  

All of those who were crying that Israel would have peace because of its previous state and the promises extended to it (and many were deceitfully crying peace to Israel- read especially the Book of Jeremiah), these were proven dead wrong.  

What about after the Babylonian captivity?  And what if we even take the promises we looked at from Isaiah chapter 54 to especially be directed at Israel after its return from captivity in Babylon (and that’s being generous- but I won’t dispute that)?  

It is not hard to see someone after the return from the Babylonian captivity going around claiming Israel would never face judgment again, selectively quoting from Isaiah chapter 54- as they conveniently left out, or at least didn’t factor into the equation, the same chapter saying “In righteousness shalt thou be established…”   

You can’t leave that part out.  You’ve got to factor all of God’s words into the equation.

Jesus said the following in Matthew 23:37-39 (and He was referring to the rebuilt Second Temple when He said “your house”): “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!  Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.  For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.”

The unconditional security preachers were doubtlessly quoting: “For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed…”

The unconditional security preachers are at odds with Jesus.

The conditional security preachers who took heed to the counsel of God would have contended with the unconditional security preachers and said “No, you’re leaving out something very important.  The promise you gave is conditional.  The passage goes on to say In righteousness shalt thou be established…”

Closely related to Matthew 23:37-39, Jesus also said the following in the Gospels to the Jewish nation and regarding the Jewish nation.

Matthew 21:42-44: “Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes?  Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.  And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.”

Jesus said that specifically regarding the Jewish nation not bringing forth the fruits of righteousness which God seeks and requires.  

Remember again: “In righteousness shalt thou be stablished…”

Luke 21:20-24: “And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh (near).  Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto.  For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.  But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days!  for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people (my note- Didn’t God say in Isaiah chapter 54 that He would no more be angry with Israel?  The unconditional security preachers would say so, but they didn’t factor in ‘In righteousness shalt thou be established’).  And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”

Note also: In other studies we’ve looked at how the times of the gentiles are not over yet.  God’s worship is not centered in Israel, there is no Temple there by His appointment, and we’ve seen in other studies how Israel coming back to the land could not possibly be by His appointment.  

The conditional security preachers who opposed unconditional security in Israel were right.  They were proven right when the Romans destroyed the Second Temple and the Jews were scattered throughout the nations in their war with the Romans- accompanied by the severest judgments upon the Jews- even to the point where (according to the Jewish historian Josephus) the famine in Jerusalem was so bad that women were eating their own children.  

All of this was warned of in the same Scriptures which contained wonderful promises of God’s faithfulness on His end of the covenant which He had appointed and inaugurated.  

Since Israel didn’t take heed, the severest judgments threatened to it happened; and it was disinherited as being the set apart vineyard where God’s worship was centered and where His presence was particularly known.  

Likewise, all the promises of an eternal inheritance in God’s eternal kingdom given in Jesus Christ will not profit those who do not diligently seek Him, heed His Word, turn from sin, and bring forth  fruit of righteousness through Him which God considers acceptable- and endure to the end in this.

Joshua 21:43-45 (this is after Israel had conquered Canaan under Joshua’s leadership): “And the Lord gave unto Israel all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein.  And the Lord gave them rest round about, according to all that he sware unto their fathers: and there stood not a man of all their enemies before them; the Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand.  There failed not ought of any good thing which the Lord had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.”

Joshua 23:11-16 (Joshua is now exhorting Israel shortly before his death): “Take good heed therefore unto yourselves, that ye love the Lord your God.  Else if ye do in any wise go back, and cleave unto the remnant of these nations, even these that remain among you, and shall make marriages with them, and go in unto them, and they to you: Know for a certainty that the Lord your God will no more drive out any of these nations from before you; but they shall be snares and traps unto you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until ye perish from off this good land which the Lord your God hath given you.  And, behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth: and ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spoke concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof.  Therefore it shall come to pass, that as all good things are come upon you, which the Lord your God promised you; so shall the Lord bring upon you all evil things, until he have destroyed you from off this good land which the Lord your God hath given you.  When ye have transgressed the covenant of the Lord your God, which he commanded you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed yourselves to them; then shall the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and ye shall perish quickly from off the good land which he hath given unto you.”

Here is a sample of the judgment that God had already threatened if Israel were to transgress His covenant.  They did transgress His covenant; they continued in obstinance against Him; they did not repent and obtain mercy.  The judgment happened through the Babylonians in the sixth century BC.  Israel turned away again- even worse than before (even rejecting its own Messiah)- and Israel got it even worse through the Romans in the first and second centuries AD.  

God’s covenant promises were not unconditional, they are not now, they never were, and they never will be. 

Deuteronomy 28:49-68: “The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand; A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor show favor to the young: And he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy land, until thou be destroyed: which also shall not leave thee either corn, wine, or oil, or the increase of thy kine, or flocks of thy sheep, until he have destroyed thee.  And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou trustedst, throughout all thy land: and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy land, which the Lord thy God hath given thee.  And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the Lord thy God hath given thee, in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee: So that the man that is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children which he shall leave: So that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat: because he hath nothing left him in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee in all thy gates.  The tender and delicate woman among you, which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter, And toward her young one that cometh out from between her feet, and toward her children which she shall bear: for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly in the siege and straitness, wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in thy gates.  If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name, The Lord Thy God; Then the Lord will make thy plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and sore sicknesses, and of long continuance.  Moreover he will bring upon thee all the diseases of Egypt, which thou wast afraid of; and they shall cleave unto thee.  Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, them will the Lord bring upon thee, until thou be destroyed.  And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude; because thou wouldest not obey the voice of the Lord thy God.  And it shall come to pass, that as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought (nothing); and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it.  And the Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone.  And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: but the Lord shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind: And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life: In the morning thou shalt say, Would God it were evening!  and at evening thou shalt say, Would God it were morning!  for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.  And the Lord shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the way whereof I spoke unto thee, Thou shalt see it no more again: and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and no man shall buy you.”

Ezra 8:22b: “The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him; but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him.”

Aaron’s email is: [email protected]

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