A Tale of Two Israels: Thoughts on Israel and the Church

 

A Measure of Grace 

Without a doubt, the most controversial issue in church news right now is Israel (well, perhaps second to Kirk Cameron’s imploding theology). I’m no stranger to writing about controversial topics concerning theology and church life, but this blog may get me Epsteined. Israel is a hot topic because it connects to a person’s eschatology (view of the end times), ecclesiology (view of the church), and, in some regards, soteriology (view of salvation). 

I want to say up front that I don’t believe this should be a tier 1 fellowship issue for Christians. There are good brothers and sisters with differing views on Israel. Therefore, we should have a measure of grace with those with whom we disagree. However, there are two fringe ditches to avoid— one ditch places ethnic and national Israel on a pedestal that it doesn’t belong on. The other ditch leads to anti-semitism. Reasonable, Biblical Christians should land somewhere in the middle. With that in mind, let’s light this dumpster fire. 

God’s Chosen People? 

Earlier this year, Ted Cruz and Tucker Carlson got into a heated exchange about Israel when Cruz stated that “As Christians, the Bible commands us to bless and support Israel.” Carlson responded, “Wait, the Bible commands us to support the government of Israel?” “We are to support the nation of Israel,” said Cruz as he tried to move on in the conversation. Carlson, unwilling to let it go, said, “This is really important. Can we at least define Israel?” Carlson gets it. This is the million-dollar question: who is Israel? 

Before I get out the scuba gear and dive into this question, I think it’s important for the reader to know that I am a committed pre-millennialist. I believe that Christ will come physically to this world and reign from Jerusalem for a thousand years. I think Israel will be saved on a national level. I point this out because I’m going to say some things that make it seem as if I believe in what has come to be known as “replacement theology” (not true). Just bear with me until the end. 

That said, if you’re like me and were raised on a Scofield study Bible, you were probably programmed to believe that the nation of Israel is the only Israel in the Bible, and it’s stupid even to question such a simple concept. However, in my own study over the years, I have come to realize that this issue is more layered and complex than that (which is why good people differ). 

Like Cruz, I was taught that ethnic Jews are God’s chosen people, and that national Israel is God’s chosen nation. I grew up hearing statements from the pulpit about Israel being the “apple of God’s eye,” that God would bless those who bless Israel, and curse those who curse Israel, etc. However, as I grew in the Word, something just didn’t sit right with these statements. 

Perhaps the easiest way to highlight the complexity of the question, “Who is Israel?” would be to slightly alter the question and ask, “Who are God’s chosen people?” For my dispy friends, I know that their knee-jerk reaction will be to shout, “The Jews!” But let’s step back and analyze that for a minute. Do people go to Heaven because they are ethnic Jews? Do ethnic Jews who reject Christ receive forgiveness and salvation simply because of their ethnicity? The answer is a resounding “NO!” If ethnic Jews die and go to hell without Christ, can we say with a straight face that they are God’s chosen people? I don’t think so. 

Ponder this staggering stat. In the land of Israel, the place where Jesus preached, worked miracles, died on the cross, rose from the dead, and founded the Christian church, is less than 2% Christian! That’s comparable to the 10/40 window in Southeast Asia that is historically unreached with the gospel. The percentage of believers in Israel is also similar to the numbers in the Mormon Mecca of Utah, where I live and pastor. Judicial blindness much? Are these God’s people?

So who are God’s chosen people? Believers in Christ. We see this from Genesis all the way through Revelation. Old Testament believers were saved by grace through faith in the coming messiah (Romans 4, Galatians 3), and today we are saved by grace through faith in the messiah who has already come (Ephesians 2:1-10). This is why some of my covy friends believe in a unified church in both the Old and New Testaments. However, the Bible seems clear that the church was established in the New Testament. And because I’m cautious about using specific language that the Bible doesn’t use, I can’t speak to an Old Testament church, though I can at least understand where they are coming from. But this also leads to a natural question. 

If Believers weren’t the Church in the Old Testament, is the Church a Spiritual Israel in the New Testament? 

This question is ground zero for most of the confusion and polarization among Christians concerning this issue. To be clear, there is an ethnic and national Israel. I’ve been there. I can show it to you on a map, and yet, the New Testament is clear that the church (believers) is a spiritual Israel, the chosen people of God. 

In his epistle to the Romans, Paul writes to the Christians at Rome, who were divided along the lines of Jewish and Gentile tradition. The division was so bad between Jewish and Gentile believers that there was a push to found their own separate churches. Paul was writing to nip this in the bud. 

From Romans 1:18 to 3:20, Paul argues that prior to salvation, all were condemned before God (both Jew and Gentile); therefore, believers shouldn’t be divided by secondary issues, knowing that they escaped due condemnation. Along this line of reasoning, Paul begins to expose the superficiality of outward Jewish tradition, specifically referencing the fact that circumcision is worthless, and that it is the circumcision of the heart by faith that matters. He closes this section by saying, “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. (Romans 2:28-29). 

Paul says in no uncertain terms that a true Jew is one in heart (a believer) and not just one outwardly (or ethnically). Some might try to argue that a true Jew would have to be both an ethnic Jew and a believer for this to apply, and that it is an unfounded assumption that it could ever be said of a Gentile that they are a true Jew. However, Paul says just two verses earlier, “Therefore if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision?” (Romans 2:26). Paul literally says that the uncircumcised (Gentiles) who are circumcised in their heart are more Jew than the circumcised Israelite who has not been circumcised in heart. 

From Romans 3:21 to 8:39, Paul shifts his argument, reasoning that if all were condemned (Jew and Gentile), then all who have been pardoned by Christ (both Jew and Gentile) should have a unity that far exceeds our traditions and preferences, confirming again that believers in Christ are God’s chosen people. 

At the beginning of Romans 9, Paul preemptively answers the question that he knew would be burning in the hearts of his Jewish readers. If believers in Christ are God’s chosen people, and Israel as a nation rejected Christ, then did God fail in keeping His promises to Israel? The answer that Paul gives is found in Romans 9:6, “Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel.” In other words, not all of Israel (ethnic) belongs to Israel (spiritual). To further drive this home, Paul says in the verses following, “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.” (Romans 9:7-8)” Notice the clear distinction between Abraham’s fleshly children (ethnic Israel) and the children of God (spiritual Israel). 

Over the next several verses, Paul hashes out the point by giving examples of spiritual Israel within ethnic Israel: Isaac over Ishmael, Jacob over Esau, etc. See, Romans 9 isn’t about nations, it's about God’s election of a remnant within a nation. This leads to our next point. 

All Roads Lead to the Abrahamic Covenant

It would take an entire blog series to do justice to all of the intricacies concerning the Abrahamic Covenant. For the purposes of this blog, I will only focus on one specific aspect. Genesis 15:4-5 says, “And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.” The million-dollar question is, who is this numberless seed promised to Abraham? Is it his physical seed (ethnic Israel), or his spiritual seed (spiritual Israel)? The answer is “yes.” 

As with many OT prophecies, there was a near fillment, and a far fulfillment. Indeed, Abraham had many ethnic children, who went on to form the nation of Israel. However, Paul offers his own commentary on the ultimate fulfillment of this text. “Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham…And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.” (Galatians 3:7, 29). Believers are the spiritual children of Abraham (spiritual Israel). 

At the end of his epistle to the Galatians, Paul rehashed this line of argumentation by saying, “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth 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.” (Galatians 6:14-16) Paul literally calls those who are in Christ Jesus “The Israel of God.” The context doesn’t allow for any other sensible interpretation. To this point, McKnight writes, 

“In this case, the 'whoever' and the 'Israel of God' are identical, just as 'peace' and 'mercy' are put together into a synthesis. In this view, the church is now the “Israel of God” (emphasizing the continuity of the covenant with Abraham). After all, all the church can be called “children of Abraham” and the “true circumcision” (3:29; Phil. 3:3).”

Jesus had a similar conversation with a group of dissenting Jews, “They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham.” (John 8:39). Jesus looked these ethnic descendents of Abraham in the eye and said that they weren’t really children of Abraham because they didn’t follow the God of Abraham. Again, believers are a spiritual Israel. 

Still Not Convinced? 

Think about the almost identical language that the Lord uses concerning Israel under the Old Covenant and Christians under the New Covenant. Concerning ethnic Israel, He said, “Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.” (Exodus 19:5-6). 

Peter, writing to New Testament believers, said, “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.” (I Peter 2:9-10). How can the serious Bible student read statements like this, or what we have seen in Romans, or in Galatians concerning the Abrahamic covenant, and completely dismiss the idea that the church is a spiritual Israel? The church is a spiritual Israel. Believers are the people of God. This leads to another natural question. 

Is Fulfillment the Same Thing As Replacement? 

The short answer is “no.” This is where I part ways with many of my reformed friends on this issue. Just because the church is a spiritual fulfillment of Israel, it doesn’t mean that God is done with ethnic Israel. Paul anticipated this question, based on his statements in Romans 9 and 10. Romans 11 begins with, “I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew.” (Romans 11:1-2). 

Over the following several verses, Paul communicates that due to Israel’s rejection of Christ, God has judicially blinded them, and that He is reaching the Gentiles for a time. However, there will come a point in history when God will open the eyes of the Jews (I personally think this will happen during the Great Tribulation period). “And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.” (Romans 11:26-27). Based on everything that Paul has said in chapter 11, there is no other way to interpret this text than a widespread conversion and revival of the nation of Israel. 

However, there is a significant caveat that needs to be inserted here. Those ethnic Jews who come to faith in Christ will be grafted into the spiritual Israel of believers. So the true Israel is one people, made up of Jews and Gentiles: two groups, one people. Although we can distinguish between Jews and Gentiles as ethnic groups, we need not make the mistake of thinking that God has two peoples. God has only one people: believers, the true Israel.  

What is Our Responsibility Toward the Nation of Israel?

For starters, it would behoove us to adopt Paul's heart regarding the nation of Israel. “Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.” (Romans 10:1). We should pray for the Jewish people, support foreign missions in Israel, and share the gospel with Jews every chance we get. 

Second, we should avoid the ditches mentioned earlier in this blog. The first ditch, illustrated by Ted Cruz, places the nation of Israel on a pedestal that it doesn’t belong on. Although Cruz couldn’t remember the verse reference in his interview with Tucker Carlson, he quoted from Genesis 12:2-3- “And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” I think this may be one of the most abused texts in the Old Testament. Notice that it says nothing about blessing or cursing the nation of Israel. Rather, God blessed Abraham so that all families of the earth (Jews and Gentiles) would be blessed. This is the promise of the gospel. Is God promising blessings and cursings based on how people respond to national Israel, or is God promising blessings or cursing based on their response to the gospel? The latter is the only viable option, unless we are to throw out the central message of the entire Bible, for a distorted interpretation of a single, isolated verse. Waltke writes, 

“After Jesus’s execution and resurrection, God promises that the Jewish people will now see all the nations finding blessing through them and along with them, as he has said to Abraham (Acts 3:25–26) And it happens. People who trust in Jesus and thus belong to him do count as the offspring of Abraham and are among the heirs of his promise, whatever their race or social position or gender. In the giving of the Spirit, the blessing of Abraham comes to them, the blessing destined for all nations (Gal. 3:8, 14, 28–29).”

Decades of faulty theology in America have elevated the nation of Israel and its leaders to an almost unquestionable cult-like status. Not everything that Israel does is right, simply because it’s Israel doing it. Please hear this: Israel absolutely has a right to its own sovereign borders. Israel has the right to defend itself from its enemies, both foreign and domestic. They absolutely have the right to exist in peace. However, they do not have the right to a blank checkbook from the U.S. They do not deserve a blind allegiance that never questions their policies or procedures. We have to get out of this mindset. Israel is not above reproach. 

When it comes to our pulpits, we need to stick to preaching Jesus and stop preaching the Jerusalem Times. We cannot allow our sermons to be hijacked every time a 10-year-old kid shoots off bottle rockets with his parents in the Israeli countryside. 

The other ditch that must be avoided is the replacement, antisemitic ditch that has produced hot, juicy garbage being pumped out by the likes of Candace Owens, Joel Webbon, and Corey Mahler with the Stone Choir Podcast (thank God it was recently discontinued). All Christians everywhere should condemn that hellish nonsense in the strongest terms possible.   

Conclusion

As with many other polarizing issues within the church, Israel is more complex than most would like it to be. It’s not an either/or scenario, but a both/and. There is an ethnic Israel, and there is a Spiritual Israel. As Paul stated in Romans 2 and Galatians 3, it’s not your ethnicity or outward traditions that matter; it’s faith in Christ. Do you know Him? Are you a believer? Do you belong to the church, the Spiritual Israel? Ephesians 2:8-9 says, For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” (Acts 16:31).