Examining Replacement Theology: Is the Church the “New Israel” or do God’s Covenant Promises to Israel Still Stand?
There is a growing theological shift, especially amongst younger Evangelical Christians, that has led to the belief that the church is the fulfillment of the covenant promises given to Israel and, in a sense, has become a “new” Israel. The verses most often quoted are from Paul’s writings to the Galatians, where he closes with these words: “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation. And as many as walk according to this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God” (Galatians 6:15-16, NKJV).[i] Looking at the broader context, Paul is speaking to a mixed, but likely predominantly Gentile audience, who are being persuaded to follow the Law of Moses. The Jewish congregants were likewise being persuaded to return to the Mosaic Law. Rightfully so, Paul was correct to tell the Galatians not to return to the Old Covenant, but rather to hold steadfastly to the New Covenant, which has made us a new creation in Christ.
With Jesus’ declaration on the cross, “It is finished,” the church, by and large, holds that the dispensation of the Law has ended, and we are now under the New Covenant and the dispensation of grace. One irony is that the Gentiles were never under the Old Covenant. In Ephesians 2:12, Paul says: “At that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world”. Still, the Gentiles are rightfully under the New Covenant, as the Prophet Isaiah announced God’s open invitation, saying, “Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you—The sure mercies of David” (Isaiah 55:3).
Jesus officiated this New Covenant with the House of Israel and the House of Judah, as foretold to the Prophet Jeremiah. Yet, God also opened it to the Gentiles, grafting them in to become partakers and sharers with Israel of their covenant promises.[ii] Paul says, “My brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises; of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen” (Romans 9:3-5). Paul also says, “That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel” (Ephesians 3:6). Fellow heirs implies that the Gentiles are joining someone else in Christ, namely Israel. For this reason, Jesus said, “Salvation is of the Jews.”[iii]
Still, there are those within the Gentile church who have concluded that since the majority of the nation of Israel has rejected Christ, they are now no longer under any covenant. It leads them to assume that the modern State of Israel is no different than any other country, and they see Israel as nothing more than a secular, political Zionist movement, rather than seeing Israel’s rebirth as Divine providence and the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy. Sure, they recognize a remnant of believing Jews who are now part of the church. Still, they wrongly assume that the nation, as a whole, has forfeited its covenant promises to the church, quoting such scriptures as, “I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 8:11-12).
So, is this belief true? Has God abandoned His covenants with Israel, or has the church somehow become a “new” Israel that is the recipient of the covenant promises, going back to Abraham? In Matthew 8, while Jesus here strongly condemns the leaders of Israel, He is by no means suggesting that Israel, as a nation, has forfeited its position or been rejected. He merely says that many, implying Gentiles, will join the faithful Jewish people in His Kingdom. Answering the question correctly of whether Israel is still God’s covenant nation is important for several reasons. One is to ensure that we uphold the sanctity of God’s name and His holy and righteous character. And the second is to correctly understand the legal nature of God’s covenants, meaning, who is the rightful heir through whom the covenant promises can be fulfilled.
To imply that God either does not keep His covenant promises to Israel or has somehow changed His mind concerning who the covenant promises belong to defiles God’s name and His character. God does not change, nor can He lie.[iv] The Prophet Joel cried out for mercy for God’s people because Israel’s exile among the nations defiled His name. He said, “Spare Your people, O LORD, And do not give Your heritage to reproach, That the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’“ (Joel 2:17). We see here that God’s heritage, Israel, while in exile, has become a reproach amongst the nations and that God’s name and character are defiled because as long as Israel remains scattered, the nations falsely presume that God is either unwilling or incapable of saving them. Neither is true.
There are multiple places in scripture where God not only affirms His covenants with Israel but also says that nothing can change His mind about them. Two times, the Prophet Jeremiah declares:
“Thus says the LORD: ‘If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night, so that there will not be day and night in their season, then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant, so that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne, and with the Levites, the priests, My ministers. As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, nor the sand of the sea measured, so will I multiply the descendants of David My servant and the Levites who minister to Me’“ (Jeremiah 33:20-22).
“Thus says the LORD: ‘If My covenant is not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth, then I will cast away the descendants of Jacob and David My servant, so that I will not take any of his descendants to be rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will cause their captives to return, and will have mercy on them’“ (Jeremiah 33:25-26).
This repetition is not a coincidence. The Lord is sending a strongly worded and reinforced message. Here, as in many other prophecies, God affirms that his covenant with Jacob can never be broken. But notice the careful wording that God chose to affirm His covenant. He references two distinct groups within Israel: To David my Servant, in reference to the Davidic Covenant, and the Levites, the priests, and My ministers, in reference to the Levitical and Aaronic Covenants. Let us read them in the order revealed in scripture:
Abrahamic Covenant: “And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God” (Genesis 17:7-8).
Aaronic Covenant: “Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned back My wrath from the children of Israel, because he was zealous with My zeal among them, so that I did not consume the children of Israel in My zeal. Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give to him My covenant of peace; and it shall be to him and his descendants after him a covenant of an everlasting priesthood, because he was zealous for his God, and made atonement for the children of Israel’ “ (Numbers 25:11-13).
Davidic Covenant: “When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever… Your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever” (2 Samuel 7:12-16).
Each of these distinct groups was given a separate and unique covenant promise to the Patriarchal progenitor, forever. The Lord has specifically called out these descendants by their ethnos: To the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to the other covenant families within Israel, specifically the descendants of Levi, Aaron, and David. The Lord has done this so there is no confusion as to who the rightful heirs of these covenants are.
Therefore, in knowing how God administers His covenants, is it still correct to say that the church, which is predominantly Gentile, has become the “new” Israel and is now the fulfillment of the covenant promises given to Israel? The unequivocal answer is no, and it is important to see Israel as an “ethnos,” meaning that God will fulfill His covenant promises to Jacob, Levi, Aaron, and David only through their natural Patriarchal descendants. Paul refers to natural Israel, calling them his kinsmen by the flesh, who are Israelites.[v] And Jesus referred to the Jewish people as His brethren, not spiritual, but according to the flesh.[vi] To highlight just how important this issue is for the Lord, He told Abraham, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir” (Genesis 15:4).
If we incorrectly assume that the church is now the recipient of all the covenant promises, then God’s Covenant with Abraham concerning the inheritance of the land promised to his “natural” descendants cannot be fulfilled. Similarly, God’s promise to David cannot happen, as the Prophet Amos declared: “On that day I will raise up The tabernacle of David, which has fallen down, And repair its damages; I will raise up its ruins, And rebuild it as in the days of old” (Amos 9:11). And, lastly, the restoration of the Levitical and Aaronic priesthood also cannot happen, as the Lord promised in Ezekiel, saying, “But the priests, the Levites, the sons of Zadok, who kept charge of My sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from Me, they shall come near Me to minister to Me; and they shall stand before Me to offer to Me the fat and the blood,” says the Lord GOD” (Ezekiel 44:15). All these covenant promises can only be fulfilled through the descendants of the Patriarchal progenitor, according to their ethnos.
Now, some foolishly argue that the modern-day Jewish people are not the ethnic descendants of Abraham. Some even believe in the false Kazarian conspiracy that the Ashkenazi Jews are not ethnically Jewish, but rather are descendants of the ancient Kazarian Empire (modern-day Ukraine and Southern Russia). Multiple credible scholars, along with DNA testing, have debunked this opinion. Others argue that because the northern ten tribes were taken into captivity and never returned, they are permanently lost and assimilated into other nations. Yet, historically and biblically, a remnant of the northern tribes did migrate to Judea, the Southern Kingdom. While the Southern Kingdom was later taken into Babylonian captivity, a remnant returned with Nehemiah to rebuild Jerusalem. What remained of ancient Israel was then dispersed during the second captivity by the Roman Empire. As the Lord promised, He scattered the descendants of Israel to the farthest reaches of the earth, making us an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among the nations.[vii]
Today, there is a tiny remnant of Israel scattered around the earth, comprising about 0.2 percent of the world’s population. They are categorized by region: Ashkenazi (Central and Eastern Europe), Sephardi (Iberian Peninsula, Asia Minor, and North Africa), and Mizrachi (Middle East), as well as several other independent groups, including Ethiopia, India (known as Bnei Menashe), and China. For God to remain faithful to His covenants, He has always preserved a remnant of ethnic Israel, the natural seed of Abraham, for Himself. Paul says, “Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace” (Romans 11:5). Like the Apostle Paul, there are other Jewish believers who are part of that remnant today. And many have returned to Israel, as the Lord promised through so many of His prophets, saying, “For though your people, O Israel, be as the sand of the sea, A remnant of them will return; The destruction decreed shall overflow with righteousness” (Isaiah 10:22).
So, if we say that the church is indeed the “new” Israel that has supplanted the Old Testament Israel, then we are, in essence, also saying that God has transferred His covenant promises, which belong to Israel as stated in Romans 9, to the Gentiles and others who are outside of the Patriarchal lineage. Yet the covenant promises are very specific about the Patriarchal progenitor. For example, a descendant of the Tribe of Benjamin cannot fulfill the covenants made with King David and Aaron. Nor can the Gentiles fulfill the covenant promises made to the “natural” descendants of Abraham concerning the inheritance of the land. Only the natural seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob can be the fulfillment of these covenant promises, as it says, “Then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham I will remember; I will remember the land” (Leviticus 26:42).
And only the natural descendants of King David and Aaron can be the fulfillment of their covenant promises. Arguing otherwise would be akin to saying that Jesus Himself did not need to be an Israelite, a descendant of the tribe of Judah, and a member of the lineage of King David. Yet, God’s lineage is crucial for both Christ and for Israel; otherwise, God is perceived as a covenant breaker, a deceiver, and a liar. And that is a defilement of God’s holy name and righteous character. Jesus had to come from the Tribe of Judah and the lineage of King David for the word of God to hold, even following His genealogy to Adam and Eve. God fulfilled His promise to Eve that her child would bruise the serpent’s heel.[viii] Similarly, the fulfillment of the covenant promises for Israel concerning the land can only come from the natural lineage of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
The theological view of the church supplanting Old Testament Israel is called Supersessionism, or more commonly, replacement theology. While the term was more recently defined in the 1970s, with some now labeling it Fulfillment Theology, it is evident from scripture and historical writings that the church wrestled with these future promises to Israel, especially in light of the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D. There are nuances to this position. Some believe in a complete replacement of Israel with the church (physically and spiritually). In contrast, others see the church as a “new” spiritual Israel that replaces ancient Israel, yet also see a future restoration of natural Israel. Those arguing in defense of these positions often quote Paul’s words when he said, “There is neither Jew nor Greek,” “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation.”[ix]
They believe that we are not saved because of our ethnos, but rather because of our faith in Christ. It is undeniably true, and Jesus affirmed this saying, “Do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones” (Matthew 3:9). No one can be saved apart from Christ, neither Jew nor Gentile. But do these verses defend replacement theology, where the church has become either a partial or complete replacement for ancient Israel? The answer is no, and as previously articulated, it is explicitly through the “ethnos” of Israel that the Abrahamic, Levitical, Aaronic, and Davidic covenant promises are fulfilled.
None of this is to imply that the Gentiles who are in Christ are somehow excluded from the Kingdom and its covenant promises. Paul says to the Gentiles, “If some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree” (Romans 11:17). Being grafted into the cultivated Olive tree enables the Gentiles to share in Israel’s covenant promises. Still, it does not mean they can fulfill the promises explicitly made to the natural seed of Abraham. And once grafted into the Kingdom, there is now an equality between Jew and Gentile. However, sharing in the covenant promises is not the same as being their fulfillment.
Another misconception held by some in the church is that Christ Himself is the sole fulfillment of these promises, meaning that Christ fulfills all the covenants without Israel. In other words, He is true Israel, exclusively, and natural Israel is disregarded. However, Jesus is not merely the fulfillment of the covenants; He is also the fulfiller. Yes, Jesus fulfilled the Mosaic Covenant because Israel could not. He did what no man could do. Jesus is the King of Israel and rightful heir to David’s throne. And Jesus is the high priest of Israel, not according to the lineage of Levi and Aaron, but a priesthood without beginning or end—Malchizedeck, the King and Priest of Salem.
But it is also Jesus, God incarnate, who established the covenant between Himself and the descendants of Jacob as an everlasting covenant. It is Jesus who established an everlasting priesthood through Phinehas, the son of Aaron, and his descendants. And it is Jesus as the heir to the throne of King David, who established an everlasting covenant with David and his sons after him to rule over Israel. And the Lord spoke through the Prophet Jeremiah of the time when Israel would be fully restored, saying, “In those days Judah will be saved, And Jerusalem will dwell safely. And this is the name by which she will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS’ For thus says the LORD: ‘David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel; nor shall the priests, the Levites, lack a man to offer burnt offerings before Me, to kindle grain offerings, and to sacrifice continually’ “ (Jeremiah 33:16-18). Notice the restoration, not only of the descendants of Jacob to the land of Israel, but also a restored Levitical and Aaronic priesthood, and a restored Davidic dynasty.
Another misconception is the idea that the church, being the supplanter of Israel, and as the fulfillment of the covenant promises, can function as such because there has always been a saved remnant of the Jewish people within the church. In other words, the Jewish remnant fulfills the covenant promises to Israel on behalf of the entire church, including the Gentiles. In this sense, the church is the continuation of “natural” Israel, and has become a new “spiritual” Israel, saved by grace and filled with the Holy Spirit.
Many refer to Paul’s closing in Galatians as justification for this position, where he said, “As many as walk according to this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God” (Galatians 6:16). However, this closing statement is not necessarily a declaration that the church is now a replacement for ancient Israel. Paul merely speaks to those who believe God’s word, that Jew and Gentile are one body, as in one new man in Christ, and to them, he offers peace and mercy be unto them, and to the Jewish believers standing in fulfillment of God’s promises to Israel, the Israel of God. In this regard, the church is a partial fulfillment of God’s promises to Israel, but not the complete fulfillment.
It is incorrect to believe that God does not have a plan to restore the entire remnant of unsaved Israel. Paul, paraphrasing the Psalms, says, “And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “THE DELIVERER WILL COME OUT OF ZION, AND HE WILL TURN AWAY UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB; FOR THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS” (Romans 11:26-27); “Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion! When God brings back the captivity of His people, Let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad” (Psalm 53:6). Notice Paul says, “this is my COVENANT with them.” To which covenant is he referring? All of them. God’s covenants with Israel are unbreakable, even the Mosaic Covenant. Yes, Israel broke this covenant multiple times, beginning at the sin of the Golden Calf. Still, the Lord says, “Where is the certificate of your mother’s divorce, Whom I have put away?” (Isaiah 50:1).
God will never divorce His covenant nation, Israel. And even though it says, “All Israel will be saved,” Paul is only referring to the remnant who endure to the end of the tribulation. The Prophet Zecharia says, “And it shall come to pass in all the land, Says the LORD, That two-thirds in it shall be cut off and die, But one-third shall be left in it” (Zechariah 13:8). God remembers His covenants with Israel, and has always only promised to save a remnant. It says, “But for their sake I will remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God: I am the LORD’“ (Leviticus 26:45). Nonetheless, it is important to stress that while God maintains His covenants with Israel, most of the Jewish people have yet to receive their Messiah, and have yet to enter the New Covenant. To reaffirm, there is only one covenant that leads to salvation and the Kingdom, and Christ officiated that covenant at the Last Supper.
If we go back for a moment to Jesus’ declaration on the cross, “It is finished,” remember He also said, “Till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled” (Matthew 5:18). So, has all the Law been fulfilled? No. According to Messianic teachings, Jesus has fulfilled the first four of the seven annual holy convocations, including the sacrificial Law of the Passover Lamb and the outpouring of the Spirit on Pentecost (Shavuot). These four events point to our salvation and new creation in Christ. But there remain three convocations yet to be fulfilled: The Memorial of Blowing (Yom Teruah), the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), and the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot). Jesus further told His disciples, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me” (Luke 24:44).
When Jesus says “all” things written in the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms (which are prophetic), He means more than what He did on the cross. There is a time coming when loud voices in heaven will declare on Yom Teruah, the Day of Blowing that, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” (Revelation 11:15). There is a time coming when Jesus will stand on the Mount of Olives on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, when He regathers the dispersed remnant of Israel from every nation where He scattered them, and very significantly, as foretold through Moses, on this most holy day to the Lord, when He makes atonement for His land and His people. As written, “For the Lord’s portion is His people; Jacob is the place of His inheritance… Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people; For He will avenge the blood of His servants, And render vengeance to His adversaries; He will provide atonement for His land and His people” (Deuteronomy 32:9, 43).
Lastly, there is a time coming when “Everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles [Sukkot]” (Zechariah 14:16). Here, clearly, the Lord correlates the return of Christ to these three holy convocations, and none of these have been fulfilled. The resurrection and rapture of the church will come first. And then, Jesus will return with His elect, the armies of heaven, to deliver His people, the remnant of unsaved Israel, and plant them in the land He promised to Abraham, forever. Only then will God’s Kingdom be established in Jerusalem.
Concerning God’s fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets, we see on the Mount of Transfiguration that Jesus appeared in His Glory, and Moses and Elijah stood there talking with Him.[x] Their appearance does not imply that it is now Jesus, plus the Law and the Prophets. No, for a voice from heaven declared, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!” After this voice, Moses and Elijah are then gone from His presence, and Jesus is alone with Peter, James, and John. The message is clear: For those who are in Christ, the first four convocations contained within the Law and the Prophets are fulfilled.
However, concerning unbelieving Israel, Jesus speaks from Malachi to His disciples, saying, “Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things” (Matthew 17:11). And Moses declared, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me [implying, someone who will declare God’s Law to Israel] from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear” (Deuteronomy 18:15). The Prophet Malachi says to Israel in the last days, the time of great tribulation, before the return of Christ, “Remember the Law of Moses, My servant, Which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, With the statutes and judgments. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord” (Malachi 4:4-5). Many scholars identify the two witnesses in Revelation as Moses and Elijah, and this makes sense.[xi] Israel remains bound to the Law and the Prophets until all is fulfilled.
It also implies that unbelieving Israel is still under the Old Covenant, and therefore, still under the curse of the Law and its judgments until Chris returns. Israel is further bound to the Lord through the Abrahamic Covenant, a covenant built upon faith. In Galatians 3:17, Paul says: “The law, which was four hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect” (Galatians 3:17). This idea contradicts Christian thought as many scholars see the dispensation of the Old Covenant ending either at the Last Supper or on the cross. The problem with this is twofold. First, God does not abandon His covenants; second, the New Covenant can only replace the Old Covenant when a Jewish person puts their faith in Christ. Most have not done so yet.
Remember, the Gentiles were never under the Old Covenant nor any prior covenant. But the Jewish people are still bound to God by two covenants, the Abrahamic and Mosaic, as the Lord declared: “I make this covenant and this oath, not with you alone, but with him who stands here with us today before the LORD our God, as well as with him who is not here with us today” (Deuteronomy 29:14-15). Therefore, God does not release Israel from its covenant obligations, nor can Israel walk away from them. Even those who did not hear the Lord at Mount Sinai are bound to the Law. And the Lord says the covenant is binding upon all of Israel to a thousand generations: “Therefore know that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments” (Deuteronomy 7:9).
A Jew will always be a Jew, even if we stop believing in God or if we follow another religion. Our identity is bound to God by covenant. And yet, Paul says, “For they are not all Israel who are of Israel, nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham” (Romans 9:6-7). Scripture is clear: without faith in Jesus, no one can enter the Kingdom. A Jewish person who rejects Christ will be cut off from God’s covenant, but that time is reserved for the Day of Judgment. It is why Jesus said, “Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, ‘First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn’ ” (Matthew 13:30).
And since unbelieving Israel remains under the Law of Moses, they will also be judged by it. Paul says, “For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law” (Romans 2:12). Paul is careful here to distinguish between the Gentiles who were never under the Law, to Israel who remains under it until they come to Christ and the curse is broken. In Leviticus, the Lord declares this and other curses on Israel for disobeying the Law and breaking the covenant. We read, “And I will bring a sword against you that will execute the vengeance of the covenant; when you are gathered together within your cities I will send pestilence among you; and you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy” (Leviticus 26:25).
The Jewish people have been under judgment since the time of Christ, and remain so to this day. Still, the Lord declares, “Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, nor shall I abhor them, to utterly destroy them and break My covenant with them; for I am the LORD their God” Leviticus 26:44). God will never break His covenant with Israel. And in His mercy, the Lord began to regather the Jewish people back to the land of Israel in the late 1800s. While it began as an Orthodox religious movement in Eastern Europe, it later evolved into a secular, political movement in the early 1900s.
To be clear, Israel’s rebirth in 1948 is not the fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant, for they are still rejecting Christ and living in disobedience to their God. It is a prophetic indicator, an inferential sign of God’s faithfulness to them. Still, Israel’s rebirth is a progressive work of the Holy Spirit, first to bring the Jewish people back to the land, but later, to bring them back to God through a time of judgment that will ultimately lead to their national repentance. The Prophet Zechariah declares, “I will scatter you among the nations, disperse you throughout the countries, and remove your filthiness completely from you” (Ezekiel 22:15). After Israel’s exile, the Lord will gather Israel back to Jerusalem for judgment, which Jesus referred to as “a time of great tribulation” for Israel.[xii]
Concerning this time, we read, “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Because you have all become dross, therefore behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. As men gather silver, bronze, iron, lead, and tin into the midst of a furnace, to blow fire on it, to melt it; so I will gather you in My anger and in My fury, and I will leave you there and melt you. Yes, I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and you shall be melted in its midst. As silver is melted in the midst of a furnace, so shall you be melted in its midst; then you shall know that I, the LORD, have poured out My fury on you’“ (Ezekiel 22:19-22).
Israel’s final redemption is ultimately about God establishing His Kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven. It is also about His complete fulfillment of all His covenant promises to a remnant of natural Israel, so that the entirety of the Law and the Prophets are fulfilled. And in this fulfillment, vision, and prophecy are sealed, and God’s name is fully restored.[xiii] The disciples asked Jesus, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6). Jesus lovingly told them it was not for them to know the time, but promised His disciples, saying, “I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom” (Matthew 26:29).
Israel’s restoration neither precludes God’s salvific work amongst the Gentiles, nor the restoration of many nations who will enter His Kingdom. Paul said, “For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?” (Romans 11:15). Israel’s casting away is temporary, and the hardening of their hearts is partial. God has promised, not only to gather the remnant of Jacob’s descendants from amongst the nations, but to bring all of Israel to salvation in Christ.[xiv] Paul says, “Isaiah also cries out concerning Israel: ‘THOUGH THE NUMBER OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL BE AS THE SAND OF THE SEA, THE REMNANT WILL BE SAVED. FOR HE WILL FINISH THE WORK AND CUT IT SHORT IN RIGHTEOUSNESS, BECAUSE THE LORD WILL MAKE A SHORT WORK UPON THE EARTH’” (Romans 9:27-28). It is through Israel’s transgression that salvation has come to the Gentiles, to provoke Israel to jealousy.[xv]
At this present time, the church can only see a partial fulfillment of God’s ultimate promises in Christ. We have been given a deposit of the Holy Spirit and are sealed for the day of our redemption. We have been made a new creation in Christ, spiritually, but still await the resurrection of our physical bodies. Yes, the Kingdom is a present reality within, but also a future hope to come when Jesus returns. Until that day, let us understand the enormous gift and blessing we have in Christ, both Jew and Gentile, the calling we have to provoke many to jealousy and make disciples of all nations, and the kindness and compassion we, as the church, are required to demonstrate towards those of Abraham’s seed whose eyes have not yet been opened to their Messiah. Let us pray for the Peace of Jerusalem, and give the Lord no rest until He establishes and makes Jerusalem a praise in all the earth, and establishes His Kingdom in Israel, forever.[xvi]
[i] All Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Bible (NKJV) unless otherwise noted, Thomas Nelson Inc., 1982.
[ii] Jeremiah 31:31. Romans 11:17, 15:27. Ephesians 3:6.
[iii] John 4:22.
[iv] Hebrews 13:8. Titus 1:2.
[v] Romans 9:3-5.
[vi] Matthew 25:40.
[vii] Deuteronomy 28:37.
[viii] Genesis 3:15.
[ix] Galatians 3:28, 5:6, 6:16. Colossians 3:11.
[x] Matthew 17:1-8.
[xi] Revelation 11:1-3.
[xii] Jeremiah 30:7.
[xiii] Ezekiel 20:44, 36:22. Daniel 9:24.
[xiv] Romans 11:26.
[xv] Romans 11:11.
[xvi] Psalm 122:6. Isaiah 62:7.