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Who Is the Israel of God in the New Covenant?
Prophecy Questions Blog ^ | March 18, 2024 | Charles Meek

Posted on 03/19/2024 5:45:28 PM PDT by grumpa

Summary. The Israel of God is no longer fleshly, natural Israel, but rather all believers in Jesus―along with a remnant of Godly believers of old. Jesus fulfilled all of the promises to Old Covenant Israel (Luke 1:67-79; 2 Corinthians 1:20). “Not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel” (Romans 9:5-8). The church extends beyond natural Israel to include Gentiles (Luke 2:32; Acts 9:15; 11:1, 18; Romans 11:11-32; Galatians 3:6-9, 25-29). This is not “replacement theology, but rather “inclusion theology.” Here is a sampling of passages about this:

Galatians 6:14-16. In the context of the rest of Galatians, Paul refers to the “ISRAEL OF GOD” as those who walk according to the Spirit—by faith in Jesus Christ (and specifically not by works of the Jewish Old Covenant Law, including circumcision).

Galatians 4:21-31. Physical Jerusalem, that is, the old covenant, is cast out making way for the New Spiritual Jerusalem (“the Jerusalem above”)—the new children of the promise.

Hebrews 12:22-24. Christians of the first century had already arrived at the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem—through Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant.

Matthew 3:7-11. John the Baptist tells the Pharisees and Sadducees not to count on their physical descent. Indeed, they are about to be cut down in the wrath about to come (AD 70).

Matthew 21:18-19. Jesus curses the fig tree, an Old Testament symbol for Old Covenant Israel (Jeremiah 24; Hosea 9:10; Luke 13:6-9), and the fig tree withered away forever.

Matthew 21:33-45. Parable of the Tenants. Jesus tells the Jews that the kingdom is being taken away from them and given to another group, obviously the church.

Matthew 22:1-4. The Parable of the Wedding Feast. It was obviously the Jews who were invited to the wedding, but their refusal to accept Christ as Messiah would lead to their demise—“destroyed those murderers and burned their city.” (Matthew 23, the next chapter, details why the Jews were the object of Jesus’ wrath. Not only were they exceedingly sinful, but also refused to accept Him as Savior.)

John 1:12-13. The children of God are believers, and not by blood.

John 8:31-47. Jesus explains to the Jews of his day that they are not truly offspring of Abraham, but rather are offspring of the devil.

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 the letter.”

Romans 9:5-8. Paul taught that not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel (“FOR THEY ARE NOT ALL ISRAEL WHO ARE ISRAEL”), and not all are children of Abraham. It is not the children of the flesh (i.e. their ethnicity) who are children of God (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:16.)

Romans 11:5, 11-32. Branches (of Israel) were broken off and Gentiles grafted in by faith. Whoever accepted Christ, both Gentiles and a remnant of Jews are saved (11:5).

Galatians 3:6-9, 25-29. Heirs to the promise, i.e. the true sons of Abraham, comes from faith in Christ, not physical descent.

Ephesians 2:11-3:13. Gentiles are no longer aliens but are fellow citizens in a new dwelling place, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets (cf. Revelation 21:14).

Ephesians 2:15-16. Jews and Gentiles became “one new man in place of two,” thus “one body.”

Philippians 3:3. The church is the real “circumcision.” Circumcision is the special sign of God’s covenant with Abraham and Israel (Genesis 17:10, 13), so the Christian church has become God’s covenantal people.

Colossians 2:6-3:17. Paul explains in this passage that physical circumcision had been replaced by spiritual circumcision, thus spiritual Israel—believers being made spiritually alive IN CHRIST. (See also Philippians 3:3).

Hebrews 8:5-13. The Old Covenant was being replaced by a New Covenant as predicted in the Old Testament (Jeremiah 31:31-34; etc.)

James 1:1; 2:1. The twelve tribes of Israel had become believers in Christ.

1 Peter 2:4-10. The new chosen race is the Christian church (building motif).

Revelation 2:9; 3:9. There are those who say they are Jews, but are really are a “synagogue of Satan.”

Revelation 19:7, 21:2, 9-27. The New Jerusalem is the bride of Christ, the church—which is built on the foundation of the apostles (ref. Ephesians 2:20).

Conclusions. This is about the changing of the covenants. Israel’s covenant with God was contingent on obedience (Deuteronomy 28-32)! Throughout the Bible, Israel’s relationship with God is portrayed as a marriage (Isaiah 54:5; 62:4; Jeremiah 2:2; 3:14, 20; 31:31-34; Ezekiel 16:8, 32, 38; Hosea 2:2, 7, 16; Malachi 2:14). Whenever Israel was unfaithful, she is characterized as a harlot or adulterer (Deuteronomy 31:16-18; Isaiah 1:21; Jeremiah 2:20; 3:6-9; Ezekiel 6:8-9; 16:15, 26, 28; Hosea 1:2; 6:10; 9:1). The central theme of Revelation is a story of two women—the harlot Babylon who is judged/divorced (Revelation 17:1, 5, 15; 18:9, 21; 19:2) and God’s new bride the New Jerusalem (Revelation 19:7; 21:2, 9). The faithless harlot is apostate Old Covenant Israel. The new bride is the Christian church, the wife of the Lamb, the New Jerusalem (Revelation 3:12; 19:7; 21:2, 9-27). Compare to the Parable of the Wedding Feast in Matthew 22:1-14, as well as such passages as John 3:29; 2 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 5:25-27.

The notion that Israel is separate from the church, and that Israel will re-emerge as pre-eminent among nations is not supported by the texts.


TOPICS: Theology
KEYWORDS: antisemitism; covenant; falseprophet; ibtz; israel; lol; lookwhohatesjews; new; zot
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To: fso301

To: fso301

Unfilled promises?

Joshua 21:43-45 says that the land promises had been fulfilled.

Joshua 23:16 and Deuteronomy 28 makes it clear that the promises were contingent on obedience.

See this link for more detail: https://prophecyquestions.com/were-gods-promises-to-israel-forever/


21 posted on 03/19/2024 7:09:05 PM PDT by grumpa
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To: grumpa

JOEL 3:2

“I will also gather all nations, And bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; And I will enter into judgment with them there On account of My people, My heritage Israel, Whom they have scattered among the nations; They have also divided up My land.”

REPENT


22 posted on 03/19/2024 7:14:55 PM PDT by Dogbert41 (“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” -Matthew 5:9)
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To: grumpa

1. Re-instituted temple sacrifices would be blasphemous to Jesus.
= = =
Yes.

But would stop some Jews from doing sacrifices? Nope. Jesus is already blasophemous to them.

And their temple and sacrifices would not solve their sin problem.


23 posted on 03/19/2024 7:20:29 PM PDT by Scrambler Bob (Running Rampant, and not endorsing nonsense)
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To: grumpa
Joshua 23:16 and Deuteronomy 28 makes it clear that the promises were contingent on obedience.

and they disobeyed and were scattered as promised but you somehow believe they will not be regathered as promised?

24 posted on 03/19/2024 7:22:59 PM PDT by fso301
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To: grumpa; Scrambler Bob
About that re-built temple. 7 reasons why such is not biblical:

What bible?? Mine is quite clear that there will be a third temple and a fourth.

25 posted on 03/19/2024 7:25:40 PM PDT by fso301
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To: howlinhound

Jehovah is a made up word and not the name of God.


26 posted on 03/19/2024 7:31:36 PM PDT by Petrosius
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To: aMorePerfectUnion

He’s a heretic ...


27 posted on 03/19/2024 7:37:29 PM PDT by dartuser
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To: grumpa
The notion that Israel is separate from the church, and that Israel will re-emerge as pre-eminent among nations is not supported by the texts.

The entire OT teaches this ...

28 posted on 03/19/2024 7:40:06 PM PDT by dartuser
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To: fso301

I gave 7 reasons why no more temples. You gave none why your think there will be not only a 3rd but a fourth. . . .


29 posted on 03/19/2024 7:40:25 PM PDT by grumpa
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To: dartuser

Heretic?

Please excuse me, but it’s amazing the vitriol that comes from professing Christians. It’s easy to make glaring statements, but a lot harder to defend your views from God’s Word. It seems that you are about defending presuppositions, rather than relying on the Bible. But if you use the Bible as your source, I’m all ears. I provided numerous Bible passages as evidence; so far you have not.


30 posted on 03/19/2024 7:42:51 PM PDT by grumpa
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To: grumpa

I gave 7 reasons why no more temples. You gave none why your think there will be not only a 3rd but a fourth. . . .

Read Rev 11 for the 3rd temple and Eze 40-48 for the 4th temple.


31 posted on 03/19/2024 7:49:00 PM PDT by fso301
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To: grumpa; .45 Long Colt; Apple Pan Dowdy; BDParrish; Big Red Badger; BlueDragon; boatbums; bonfire; ..
ISRAEL: CHOSEN OR FORGOTTEN? (Rm. 11)
32 posted on 03/19/2024 9:00:06 PM PDT by daniel1212 (Turn 2 the Lord Jesus who saves damned+destitute sinners on His acct, believe, b baptized+follow HIM)
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To: howlinhound

The Binary teaching started MUCH sooner: Let US make man in OUR image.


33 posted on 03/19/2024 9:25:21 PM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: grumpa

“...a republic. If you can keep it.”


34 posted on 03/19/2024 9:26:46 PM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: fso301

I shant worry two seconds whether GOD is on my side or not.

However, I will contemplate deeply on whether I am on His.


35 posted on 03/19/2024 9:29:48 PM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: grumpa

Wow, I havent seen someone kick up a cultist nest like this in quite a while.

Keep up the good work.


36 posted on 03/19/2024 9:48:01 PM PDT by gnarledmaw (Hivemind liberals worship leaders, sovereign conservatives select servants.)
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To: Petrosius

“Jehovah is a made up word and not the name of God”

In ancient Hebrew scripture it was spelled “YHWH” there are no vowels in that language. Th Jews called Him Yahweh. Various writers and translations over time ended up with the English translation of Jehovah. The name may be pronounced in different ways but we know who it is referring to.


37 posted on 03/19/2024 10:52:25 PM PDT by howlinhound (Tagline in the shop for repairs.)
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To: grumpa

If the Church is grafted onto the Tree of Abraham it stands to reason if the tree dies the graft dies as well.


38 posted on 03/19/2024 11:51:08 PM PDT by LukeL
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To: grumpa
It's 2am for me so I can't spend that much time on the bilge I just read.

The Old and New Testament is one book written by the Holy Spirit. The old Testament is still in effect. The Law that Jesus paid for was the Law of sin and death. Matthew 5:17-20 tells you the Law is still in effect (The 10 Commandments). Jesus said "John_14:15 "If you love Me, keep My commandments.

Jesus didn't start a new religion. You still need the Old Testament. To learn who Israel is just read Gen 48 and learn Jacob (renamed "Israel") adopted 2 Gentile children of Joseph so they could receive an inheritance in the promised land from God. There are No, none, nada, covenants made with Gentiles, you must be adopted into God's family,... Israel to receive Heaven. You are adopted by the blessing of the "cross" of Jacob in Gen 48:16-22. Jesus said "Salvation is from the Jews". You must be adopted to receive an inheritance from God.

Generally, when you read about Ephraim in Scripture it's referring to the line of Jesus as Joseph was a type of Jesus. God married the Jews at Mt Sinai when the Jews told Moses "All this we will do" when Moses told them what God said on the tablets. Jesus will marry His church when they are raptured on some future Feast of Trumpets. In the Last Days we will be joined with the Jews as in Ezekiel 37:16-28.

Jesus was born a Jew, Lived as a Jew, followed the Leviticus 23 feast Days, Observed the Sabbath on Saturday, died as a Jew, and sits on His throne in Heaven as the Lion of Judah. He will come back to rescue His people and His land in Israel in the last days. Satan's plan has been from the beginning to kill God's people and take God's land. Knowing that, choose which side to be on,...Hamas or Israel. Israel is literally your adopted brothers if you are a Christian. Hamas is from Satan and is hell bound.

39 posted on 03/20/2024 12:58:14 AM PDT by chuckles
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To: chuckles

Re the Old Covenant law. Theologians (Westminster Confession) make a distinction between civil, ceremonial, and moral law. The New Testament abrogated the civil and ceremonial aspects of the law, but moral law continues. Indeed, Jesus strengthened moral law. At least 9 of the 10 commandments were reiterated as valid in the New Testament.


40 posted on 03/20/2024 4:55:56 AM PDT by grumpa
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