Paul Luckraft reviews ‘Plan A’ by Paul Parkhouse (ICEJ, 2017).

Subtitled ‘What modern Israel reveals about the original and unchanging purposes of God’, this short book aims to unpack the reasons behind “an event unparalleled in human history” when “one of the world’s most famous ancient nations suddenly reappeared on the map” (p6, 7). This was not just any nation, but God’s original covenant nation – which makes this event well worth exploring.

Parkhouse’s key concern is to unpack why God’s salvation plan for the world still needs Israel (this may be baffling to some, but for others it is equally puzzling that the common Christian understanding of God’s plans includes no present or future need for Israel).

The author sets out to refute those theologians such as Karl Barth who claim that “The first Israel, constituted on the basis of physical descent from Abraham, has fulfilled its mission now that the Saviour of the world has sprung from it and its Messiah has appeared…Its mission as a natural community has now run its course and cannot be continued or repeated” (p21, quoting Barth’s Church Dogmatics).

This common view is based on a misunderstanding of the nature of covenant, which Parkhouse explores. Jesus initiated the New Covenant in his own body and blood, but not in isolation from the other covenant promises which God had previously made.¹ It is also important to realise that the New Covenant was originally promised to the Jewish people (see Jeremiah 31 and Ezekiel 36). God has to be faithful to all he has covenanted to do if his plan is to reach fulfilment.

‘Divine Delay’

Using the biblical Feasts as a roadmap to guide us through the details of God’s overarching salvation plan, Parkhouse points out that it was always God’s intention that there should be “a long pause between the new covenant being established in Israel and Israel being established in the new covenant” (p68). This ‘divine delay’ comes with a certain amount of irony. Its primary purpose is to allow the Gentiles to come in fully – but it has become one of the main reasons Gentile Christians use to demonstrate that God must have replaced Israel with the Church.

It was always God’s intention that there should be “a long pause between the new covenant being established in Israel and Israel being established in the new covenant.”

Parkhouse makes it very clear that there is no alternative to ‘Plan A’ and that Satan has never been able to derail it, nor will he be able to stop its future fulfilment. It is secure within the purposes of God and we can remain confident that God will see it through.

Invitation to Investigate

The re-emergence of Israel is a sign for our times, and one that must be investigated just as Moses needed to take a closer look at the bush that burned but was not consumed. When he did examine the phenomenon in more detail, Moses discovered that at the centre of the bush was God himself. We are invited to make a similar discovery concerning Israel today.

Overall, the author provides plenty of scriptures and uses them well to bolster his arguments. The book is well written and is of a size and style that makes it useful to give away.

‘Plan A: What Modern Israel Reveals about the Original and Unchanging Purposes of God’ (94pp, paperback) is available on Amazon for £4.99 or from ICEJ. Also on Amazon Kindle for £1.99.

Notes

1 Only one of these (the Mosaic covenant) was superseded by the New Covenant – for further reading on this see for example ‘By God, I will: The Biblical Covenants’ by David Pawson (Anchor, 2013).