Israel&Church
Key 4: Israel and the Church
The distinct identity of ISRAEL and THE CHURCH
follows from a literal interpretation of scripture. ‘Israel’ means
Israel, and the ‘the Church’ means the Church! We have seen that the
distinction between Israel and the Church is a fundamental part of dispensationalism,
but it has become blurred in many systems of theology which talk about
the Church replacing Israel and becoming ‘spiritual Israel’. When
allegorisation came into Church history through Justin Martyr,
Irenaeus, Origen and Augustine, the Church developed a false doctrine
that it had replaced Israel as God’s covenant people, that it now
fulfils God's promises to Israel, and was to be known as ‘the New
Israel’ or ‘Spiritual Israel’. Because Israel was unfaithful to God,
God changed His mind and reapplied His promises to Israel to the
Church, even though they were unconditional.
This casts doubts upon God’s faithfulness. Paul rejects this view in Romans 3:3,4: “What if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar.” God will still be faithful to His promises to Israel. We shall see that the Bible, and especially the New-Testament, gives no support to this way of thinking. Instead we see that there are two distinct chosen People of God (Israel and the Church) and that God has a distinct plan and programme for each group that He is working out. Israel’s national rebirth (1948) confirms she is still in God’s program.
This self-evident distinction is very clear in the New Testament:
1. "Give no offence either (1) to the Jews (Israel) or (2) to the Greeks (the Gentiles) or (3) to the Church of God" (1Corinthians 10:32).
In this important New Testament scripture Paul distinguishes three groups of people. To rightly understand prophecy we must do likewise. This means that promises to Israel apply firstly to Israel not the Church. ISRAEL and the CHURCH are distinct peoples of God whose destiny and prophecies are intertwined. In reading prophecy we need to understand if it relates to Israel or the Church if we are to avoid confusion.
2. The Church is new. National Israel came into existence at the Exodus, but the Church was newly born at Pentecost AD 33 (Acts 2:1-4, 11:15,16) The Church could not exist until Christ died, for it is built upon the Messiah and His blood. In Matthew 16:18, Jesus announced that He would build a new entity, the Church which was not yet in existence: “On this Rock I will build My Church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” He then immediately began predicting His death (v21).
Likewise Jesus also predicted the Church in connection with His death in John 10:14-16: "I am the Good Shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have (believing Gentiles) which are not of this fold (Israel); them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one Flock (the Church, made up of believing Jews and Gentiles) and one Shepherd (Jesus Christ).”
The Church is also called a NEW-Creation in Christ - the one NEW Man: “So as to create in Himself one New Man from the two (Jews and Gentiles), thus making peace” (Ephesians 2:15). Having talked about both Israel and the Gentiles in v11-14, He distinguishes them both from the New-Man which is comprised of believing members from both. The New-Man is the Body of Christ, the Church (v16) and is built on the basis of Christ’s death (v13,14). Therefore Paul sees 3 distinct groups: Israel, the Gentiles and the New-Man in Christ.
Moreover, the Church could not come into being until Christ was raised from the dead, for He is the Head of the Body (the Church) and He only became the Head by virtue of HIs resurrection (Eph1:20-23). Likewise, the Church is called a Temple of God, newly built upon Christ, who, by His resurrection, became the Cornerstone (Matthew 21:42, Ephesians 2:20-22, 1Peter2:4-8, Matthew 16:18). Finally, the Church could only become fully functional after His ascension and the outpouring of the Holy-Spirit on the Day of Pentecost.
Therefore the Church must be a distinct entity from Israel.
3. The Church is called a MYSTERY hidden in God in the Old-Testament
and therefore could not be same as Israel (more on this in Part 2).
4. The New-Testament never refers to the Church as Israel, neither does it call believing Gentiles ‘spiritual Jews’. There is no such confusion of language. There are 77 references in the New Testament to ISRAEL or ISRAELITE, and the apostles never used ‘Israel’ as a synonym for ‘the Church’. The ‘New Israel’ is never used. While Israel may be used as a Type of the Church and we can learn from their experiences (1Corinthians 10:11), nevertheless the Church is not Israel.
The word ‘Jew’ occurs nearly 200 times. Out of all these, Romans 2:28,29 is the only passage that uses this term is a special sense:
“For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.”
Paul here plays on the meaning of Jew, which from Judah means ‘praise’.
He is saying that to be a true Jew it is not enough to be one outwardly but also inwardly so that he has the praise of God. Paul is not extending the use of Jew to Gentiles, rather he is restricting its use to believing Jews. We use the word ‘Christian’ in the same special way sometimes: ‘If you were a true Christian, you would turn the other cheek.’ Revelation 2:9 and 3:9 also uses ‘Jew’ in this special sense. These alone among the 200 passages use ‘Jew’ in its special meaning. So the normal use of the word ‘Jew’, which applies to both believing and unbelieving Israelites, has not been replaced.
In the 77 New Testament passages naming ‘Israel’, nine are quotes from the Old Testament where the meaning of ‘Israel’ is exactly the same as the Old Testament. Also 66 of the remaining passages use the word in the normal way.
There remain only 2 passages where ‘Israel’ is used in a special sense:
1. “Not as though the word of God has taken none effect.
For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, they which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. For this is the word of promise, at this time will I come, and Sarah shall have a son” (Romans 9:6-9). Again, Paul is restricting the name ‘Israel’ to those Jews who have the spiritual qualification of faith as well as the natural qualification of birth. Paul is not here extending the use of Israel to include believing Gentiles. Elsewhere in this passage Paul uses Israel in the normal sense of all those physically descended from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, including unbelievers (v3-5).
2. The only other passage where ‘Israel’ is used in a restricted sense is Galatians 6:15,16: “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision avails any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.”
Paul here is referring to two groups of people:
Firstly, there are uncircumcised Gentiles who are new creations.
Secondly, there are circumcised Israelites who have come to faith in Christ - these are ‘The Israel of God’. Paul is saying both are equal in Christ because all that really matters is the New Birth, not a religious rite. The NIV has wrongly changed “and upon the Israel of God” to “even the Israel of God” because of the widespread teaching that all believers are ‘the Israel of God’ or ‘spiritual Israel.’ However the Greek word ‘kai’ almost always means ‘and’ not ‘even’. Thus the two groups with different backgrounds are one in Christ.
Confirming the fact that the New Testament does not use ‘Israel’ as a name for the Church, there are passages where Israel denotes Jews who rejected Jesus and so are certainly not the Church: “What then? Israel has not obtained that what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded...I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, to provoke them to jealousy. Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles; how much more their fullness?
For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office: if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh, and might save some of them” (Romans 11:7, 11-14). Paul keeps a consistent contrast between Israelites and Gentiles, even though the Israelites do not believe and the Gentiles do. So Paul does not use Israel as a name for believing Gentiles. He actually uses the name ‘Israel’ to distinguish them from Gentile believers! “For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles is come in” (v25). He concludes: “And so all Israel shall be saved” (v26). This cannot mean the Church.
In Romans 9-11, Paul consistently makes a distinction between Israel and the Gentiles. The idea that the Church (of Gentiles) has become Israel is foreign and only came in the 2nd Century. Therefore the New Testament does not change or spiritualise the meaning of ‘Israel’. God’s promises and covenants to Israel must be fulfilled literally to Israel. Whatever blessings the Church enjoys in Christ , they do not nullify the blessings to Israel. The Church does not fulfil the Old Testament prophecies to Israel.
There is a popular teaching today that God has finished with Israel and that the Church has permanently replaced Israel as God’s people. They say that now all the promises are fulfilled in the Church which is ‘spiritual Israel’. But notice the present tense used in Romans 9:3-5, showing that God has certainly not finished with Israel: “For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to
the flesh, who are Israelites. Theirs is the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises. Theirs are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, Who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.”
“I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew” (Romans 11:1,2). Israel will stand, not because of her own righteousness, but because she is elect of God (v5,6,28). Her full restoration is predicted in v11-16,23-27,31,32, for ultimately: “all Israel will be saved” (v26). “For the gifts and the calling of God (upon Israel) are irrevocable” (v29). Israel is the only nation with a guaranteed future. She is sure to survive for she has a covenant with God.
Replacement theology comes from abandoning the clear literal interpretation of the Bible. The curse of Genesis 12:3 is upon those who teach it: “Blessed are those who bless you (Abraham and his seed). Cursed are those who curse you (Israel).” Antisemitism is a clear sign of the working of satan in men’s hearts. The apostle Paul warns the Church against this error and predicts judgement on those (especially those within Christendom) who lift themselves up against Israel, for God has not finished with her and she is still the apple of His eye.
Romans 11:18-22 is a WARNING to the GENTILE NATIONS to beware of expressing pride over Israel. There is a judgement reserved for those who say that God has rejected Israel forever, that He has finished with Israel as a distictive people of God, that He will not fulfil His Covenants with her,and that the (mostly) Gentile Church has now permanently replaced Israel in God’s Plan and Purposes: “(You Gentiles) do not boast against the (natural) branches (Israel).
But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, ‘Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.’ Well, because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches (Israel), He may not spare you (Gentile nations) either. Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off.”
Here he warns of a future JUDGEMENT and CUTTING OFF of the GENTILE NATIONS for their unbelief in Christ and for their pride over Israel.
This casts doubts upon God’s faithfulness. Paul rejects this view in Romans 3:3,4: “What if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar.” God will still be faithful to His promises to Israel. We shall see that the Bible, and especially the New-Testament, gives no support to this way of thinking. Instead we see that there are two distinct chosen People of God (Israel and the Church) and that God has a distinct plan and programme for each group that He is working out. Israel’s national rebirth (1948) confirms she is still in God’s program.
This self-evident distinction is very clear in the New Testament:
1. "Give no offence either (1) to the Jews (Israel) or (2) to the Greeks (the Gentiles) or (3) to the Church of God" (1Corinthians 10:32).
In this important New Testament scripture Paul distinguishes three groups of people. To rightly understand prophecy we must do likewise. This means that promises to Israel apply firstly to Israel not the Church. ISRAEL and the CHURCH are distinct peoples of God whose destiny and prophecies are intertwined. In reading prophecy we need to understand if it relates to Israel or the Church if we are to avoid confusion.
2. The Church is new. National Israel came into existence at the Exodus, but the Church was newly born at Pentecost AD 33 (Acts 2:1-4, 11:15,16) The Church could not exist until Christ died, for it is built upon the Messiah and His blood. In Matthew 16:18, Jesus announced that He would build a new entity, the Church which was not yet in existence: “On this Rock I will build My Church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” He then immediately began predicting His death (v21).
Likewise Jesus also predicted the Church in connection with His death in John 10:14-16: "I am the Good Shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have (believing Gentiles) which are not of this fold (Israel); them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one Flock (the Church, made up of believing Jews and Gentiles) and one Shepherd (Jesus Christ).”
The Church is also called a NEW-Creation in Christ - the one NEW Man: “So as to create in Himself one New Man from the two (Jews and Gentiles), thus making peace” (Ephesians 2:15). Having talked about both Israel and the Gentiles in v11-14, He distinguishes them both from the New-Man which is comprised of believing members from both. The New-Man is the Body of Christ, the Church (v16) and is built on the basis of Christ’s death (v13,14). Therefore Paul sees 3 distinct groups: Israel, the Gentiles and the New-Man in Christ.
Moreover, the Church could not come into being until Christ was raised from the dead, for He is the Head of the Body (the Church) and He only became the Head by virtue of HIs resurrection (Eph1:20-23). Likewise, the Church is called a Temple of God, newly built upon Christ, who, by His resurrection, became the Cornerstone (Matthew 21:42, Ephesians 2:20-22, 1Peter2:4-8, Matthew 16:18). Finally, the Church could only become fully functional after His ascension and the outpouring of the Holy-Spirit on the Day of Pentecost.
Therefore the Church must be a distinct entity from Israel.
3. The Church is called a MYSTERY hidden in God in the Old-Testament
and therefore could not be same as Israel (more on this in Part 2).
4. The New-Testament never refers to the Church as Israel, neither does it call believing Gentiles ‘spiritual Jews’. There is no such confusion of language. There are 77 references in the New Testament to ISRAEL or ISRAELITE, and the apostles never used ‘Israel’ as a synonym for ‘the Church’. The ‘New Israel’ is never used. While Israel may be used as a Type of the Church and we can learn from their experiences (1Corinthians 10:11), nevertheless the Church is not Israel.
The word ‘Jew’ occurs nearly 200 times. Out of all these, Romans 2:28,29 is the only passage that uses this term is a special sense:
“For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.”
Paul here plays on the meaning of Jew, which from Judah means ‘praise’.
He is saying that to be a true Jew it is not enough to be one outwardly but also inwardly so that he has the praise of God. Paul is not extending the use of Jew to Gentiles, rather he is restricting its use to believing Jews. We use the word ‘Christian’ in the same special way sometimes: ‘If you were a true Christian, you would turn the other cheek.’ Revelation 2:9 and 3:9 also uses ‘Jew’ in this special sense. These alone among the 200 passages use ‘Jew’ in its special meaning. So the normal use of the word ‘Jew’, which applies to both believing and unbelieving Israelites, has not been replaced.
In the 77 New Testament passages naming ‘Israel’, nine are quotes from the Old Testament where the meaning of ‘Israel’ is exactly the same as the Old Testament. Also 66 of the remaining passages use the word in the normal way.
There remain only 2 passages where ‘Israel’ is used in a special sense:
1. “Not as though the word of God has taken none effect.
For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, they which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. For this is the word of promise, at this time will I come, and Sarah shall have a son” (Romans 9:6-9). Again, Paul is restricting the name ‘Israel’ to those Jews who have the spiritual qualification of faith as well as the natural qualification of birth. Paul is not here extending the use of Israel to include believing Gentiles. Elsewhere in this passage Paul uses Israel in the normal sense of all those physically descended from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, including unbelievers (v3-5).
2. The only other passage where ‘Israel’ is used in a restricted sense is Galatians 6:15,16: “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision avails any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.”
Paul here is referring to two groups of people:
Firstly, there are uncircumcised Gentiles who are new creations.
Secondly, there are circumcised Israelites who have come to faith in Christ - these are ‘The Israel of God’. Paul is saying both are equal in Christ because all that really matters is the New Birth, not a religious rite. The NIV has wrongly changed “and upon the Israel of God” to “even the Israel of God” because of the widespread teaching that all believers are ‘the Israel of God’ or ‘spiritual Israel.’ However the Greek word ‘kai’ almost always means ‘and’ not ‘even’. Thus the two groups with different backgrounds are one in Christ.
Confirming the fact that the New Testament does not use ‘Israel’ as a name for the Church, there are passages where Israel denotes Jews who rejected Jesus and so are certainly not the Church: “What then? Israel has not obtained that what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded...I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, to provoke them to jealousy. Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles; how much more their fullness?
For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office: if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh, and might save some of them” (Romans 11:7, 11-14). Paul keeps a consistent contrast between Israelites and Gentiles, even though the Israelites do not believe and the Gentiles do. So Paul does not use Israel as a name for believing Gentiles. He actually uses the name ‘Israel’ to distinguish them from Gentile believers! “For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles is come in” (v25). He concludes: “And so all Israel shall be saved” (v26). This cannot mean the Church.
In Romans 9-11, Paul consistently makes a distinction between Israel and the Gentiles. The idea that the Church (of Gentiles) has become Israel is foreign and only came in the 2nd Century. Therefore the New Testament does not change or spiritualise the meaning of ‘Israel’. God’s promises and covenants to Israel must be fulfilled literally to Israel. Whatever blessings the Church enjoys in Christ , they do not nullify the blessings to Israel. The Church does not fulfil the Old Testament prophecies to Israel.
There is a popular teaching today that God has finished with Israel and that the Church has permanently replaced Israel as God’s people. They say that now all the promises are fulfilled in the Church which is ‘spiritual Israel’. But notice the present tense used in Romans 9:3-5, showing that God has certainly not finished with Israel: “For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to
the flesh, who are Israelites. Theirs is the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises. Theirs are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, Who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.”
“I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew” (Romans 11:1,2). Israel will stand, not because of her own righteousness, but because she is elect of God (v5,6,28). Her full restoration is predicted in v11-16,23-27,31,32, for ultimately: “all Israel will be saved” (v26). “For the gifts and the calling of God (upon Israel) are irrevocable” (v29). Israel is the only nation with a guaranteed future. She is sure to survive for she has a covenant with God.
Replacement theology comes from abandoning the clear literal interpretation of the Bible. The curse of Genesis 12:3 is upon those who teach it: “Blessed are those who bless you (Abraham and his seed). Cursed are those who curse you (Israel).” Antisemitism is a clear sign of the working of satan in men’s hearts. The apostle Paul warns the Church against this error and predicts judgement on those (especially those within Christendom) who lift themselves up against Israel, for God has not finished with her and she is still the apple of His eye.
Romans 11:18-22 is a WARNING to the GENTILE NATIONS to beware of expressing pride over Israel. There is a judgement reserved for those who say that God has rejected Israel forever, that He has finished with Israel as a distictive people of God, that He will not fulfil His Covenants with her,and that the (mostly) Gentile Church has now permanently replaced Israel in God’s Plan and Purposes: “(You Gentiles) do not boast against the (natural) branches (Israel).
But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, ‘Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.’ Well, because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches (Israel), He may not spare you (Gentile nations) either. Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off.”
Here he warns of a future JUDGEMENT and CUTTING OFF of the GENTILE NATIONS for their unbelief in Christ and for their pride over Israel.