It's Replacement Theology.
No, it's not, Ronald. Amillennialism holds that Gentiles
join ethnic Jews (Jewish believers), and that since Jesus came, there is no dividing wall between the two, that God's Israel includes ~ therefore it's an
inclusion theology ~ both ethnic Jewish and Gentile believers, that all of these folks are in Christ, and there is therefore now no condemnation for any of them (which I think you would agree with), regardless of ethnicity. It is surely not any kind of "replacement" ideology of any kind; there is no replacement, but a joining with the Israelites of old as God's true Jews, the concept of which Paul enunciates very clearly in Romans 2:28-29...
"For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God."
...and Ephesians 2, where he's writing to Gentiles...
"But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He himself is our peace, Who has made us both one and has broken down in His flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that He might create in Himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And He came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through Him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in Whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In Him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit."
...and again in Galatians 3...
"...in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise."
...and the writer of Hebrews (which may also be Paul, but we can't be sure) says in Hebrews 1 (as in my signature below)...
"Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, Whom He appointed the heir of all things, through Whom also He created the world."
It's all
inclusion, rather than any kind of replacement.
They deny a Millennial Kingdom _ literally and physically ruled by Jesus _...
Not at all. "They merely ~ it's no mere thing, really ~ but merely say that Christ's Millennial Kingdom is of a different nature ~ and current ~ rather than future only.
up close and personal _ in Jerusalem ...
This will be the case when Jesus returns and heaven and earth are finally one again.
They don't deny the thousand years at all, Ronald, but disagree with premillennialists and postmillennialists regarding the nature of the thousand years and when it occurs, as well as its nature.
They don't do any such thing, Ronald. I mean it's in Scripture, so it can't be denied, but it can be understood in different ways... thus the various views of the millennium (generally speaking, premillennialism, postmillennialism, amillennialism ~ which is really more appropriately called
nunc-millennialism, the Latin prefix meaning 'now' (rather than a-millennialism, where the prefix 'a' means 'no' or 'not')~ and preterism).
they deny a future Covenant given to the Isrealites by God!
Absolutely not. See above. The real point of disagreement is that they recognize themselves as having joined with the Israelites before Christ's ~ having been grafted in, as Paul puts it in Romans 11 ~ and as Gentiles
together with ethnic Jewish believers of any age or time since creation now the true Jews ~ true Israelites ~ of God.
They never actually possessed the Promise Land fully according to the boundaries that God gave.
Ah, but the true Promised Land is the
whole earth, Ronald. The Old Testament is filled with what we might call "object lessons," and as such, there is a lesser, immediate fulfillment of all these things and a greater, ultimate fulfillment of them. Regarding the land promise to Abraham, yes, the immediate fulfillment ~ although not so immediate, of course ~ was a tiny tract on the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea, but the
ultimate fulfillment will be
the earth, as Jesus says in Matthew 5:5...
"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." This idea ~ theme, really ~ of an immediate and and an ultimate, of a lesser and a greater, flows throughout Scripture, as I think (hope) you will agree.
They call the Church, Spiritual Israel , as if the Church replaced Israel, hence their "Replacement theology".
So, no, absolutely not. See above. There are some who do, though, and they are wrong.
Branches were broken off of the Vine so that The Gentiles could be grafted into the Vine.
Right, and this is the partial hardening of Israel that Paul speaks of in Romans 11. But many will be grafted back in again, right?
Jesus is the Vine, His name isn't Israel. We are in Christ not Israel.
But our God is the God of Israel,
the name given to Jacob, whose father and grandfather were Isaac and Abraham, respectively. :) We are in Christ... because God has made us, along with Jewish believers, the true offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (see above), and are thus ~
with Jewish believers ~ God's true Israelites.
They discard Israel and Jerusalem, denigrate the Jews...
Absolutely not. See above. Amillennialists see God's Israel for who it really consists of and who God's true Jews are... who is now included... believers of every tongue, tribe and nation.
They fail to see that after 18 centuries of the Jews, after being scattered throughout the world, that since 1948, God has re-established their nation once again and brought them home.
No amillennial believer worth his/her salt thinks the establishment of Israel as a physical nation is insignificant, Ronald, but only refuses to make more of it than it is... to make works of man equivalent to works of God ~ and thereby, really, Ronald, to make the works of God out to be far, far,
far too small.
In the same vein, some make baptism by men (or women) out to be salvific, actually conferring of salvation upon the person being baptized. In so doing, they thereby lessen ~ as if that can possibly be done anyway ~ the work of the Holy Spirit, God Himself, Who truly baptizes (
"baptized with the Holy Spirit and fire" [Matthew 3:11, Mark 1:8, Luke 3:16, John 1:33, Acts 11:16]) and thereby causes us to be born again (Ephesians 2:4-10) and imputes the righteousness of Christ to us, conferring salvation upon us. Salvation is of the Lord.
Yes, absolutely nothing happens in this world that God is not in control of, either by directly causing or allowing to happen, and He works all things ~
all things ~ together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). But again, the works of God are far, far,
far greater than those of man. Not to say that the works of man are insignificant, but just far, far, far less so than those of God. As Isaiah says (quoting God Himself), His thoughts are not our thoughts, neither are our ways His ways... For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are His ways higher than our ways and His thoughts than our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9)
...they are not for the Jews, but against them.
Not at all, Ronald.
Grace and peace to you.