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.
Just to put a point with a pun on it:
It depends on what the meaning of IS-rael IS.
More blog pimping?? After you’ve been discredited.
JESUS CHRIST IS THE SAME, YESTERDAY, TODAY AND FOREVER. HE IS THE GOD OF ISRAEL.
Galatians 3:29
“If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
Jehovah is the God of Israel. Jesus is His son.
JESUS is JEHOVHA. THE TRINIRY IS ONE.
And there you have it. Done. First He came to the Jews, then to the gentiles.
The Trinity teaching did not appear until the Middle Ages. Jehovah, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are three separate entities.
3 Persons, 1 GOD
Yes.
Your link does not prove what you think it does.
This Charles Meek guy you push here sure doesnt seem trained in how to rightly divide the Word of Truth.
He comes across as unschooled in the basic fields of study one would learn in seminary.
The Israel of God consists of the children of Israel.
There you go.
The “Israel of God” is different from the family of God or the children of God or the Kingdom of God.
Who shall I say sent me? I AM.
You leave out the most important verses.
Why would you leave out the verses that directly answer your thesis that God is finished with Israel?
Answer Romans 11:1-7
Is there no place for Israel then in the future and Heaven?
Answer: The Twelve tribes of Israel are shown in Rev 7.
God is not a man in that He changes His mind. (Numbers 23:19)
Satan has, from DAY ONE wanted to destroy Israel, and the Messiah (see Rev 12).
Why do you hate the Jews?
Thank you for your heartfelt comment. It’s easy to make glaring statements, but a lot harder to defend your views from God’s Word. 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.
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.
= = =
Maybe so, but that will not stop the Jews in Israel from building a temple and doing sacrifices.
What will it gain them? If they are aware, they will realize that their performances and sacrifices still do not absolve their sin. And some will realize that the Jesus they crucified is the answer for them.
Is any of this prophesied? Yeah some is.
To: Scrambler Bob
About that re-built temple. 7 reasons why such is not biblical:
It seems to me that Christians too often are more interested in defending a position, rather than surrendering to what the Bible teaches. Let’s see what the Bible teaches about a rebuilt temple. Fear not to be challenged and changed.
1. Re-instituted temple sacrifices would be blasphemous to Jesus. The New Covenant began in the first century; there is no New New Covenant. SUPPORTING EVIDENCE: The writer of Hebrews said that Jesus’ sacrifice was ONCE FOR ALL (Hebrews 10:8-14).
2. All promises of restoration of Israel have come true in Messiah Jesus (Luke 1:54-55, 69-75; 2 Corinthians 1:20). Jesus replaced the temple as the focus of our faith. He is the cornerstone and believers are living stones. So, the physical temple has been replaced by a spiritual one. SUPPORTING EVIDENCE: Matthew 21:42; 27:40; Mark 14:58; John 2:19-21; Acts 4:11; 1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19; 2 Corinthians 1:20; 6:16; Ephesians 2:19-22; 1 Peter 2:5; Revelation 21:22.
3. The Abomination of Desolation (Matthew 24:15) has already happened. SUPPORTING EVIDENCE: Jesus told his contemporaries that THEY would witness it. (“When YOU see the abomination of desolation. . . .”) “YOU” are the people to whom Jesus was speaking. It happened when the temple was defiled by the zealots and then by the Romans in the Jewish-Roman War of AD 66-70.
4. The Man of Lawlessness (2 Thessalonians 2:3) was already at work when the inspired Apostle Paul was writing. SUPPORTING EVIDENCE: Paul himself said so in 2 Thessalonians 2:7. While there are several first-century candidates, a likely suspect for the Man of Lawlessness was the zealot leader Eleazar ben Ananus, the ruthless instigator of the rebellion that caused the Romans to attack in AD 66―leading to the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in AD 70. Eleazar sat in the temple and acted lawlessly in the very manner Paul described. Jewish historian Josephus described him as if defying God in his lawlessness, abominations, and atrocities.
5. There is not a 2,000-year gap between Daniel’s 69th and 70th week in Daniel 9:26-27. SUPPORTING EVIDENCE: There is no hint of a large gap in the text. Inserting one there is reading something into the text that simply isn’t there. Daniel’s 490-year prophecy ends in the first century with the Abomination of Desolation and the “end to sacrifice and offering.” That happened in AD 70 when the temple was destroyed (cf. Daniel 12:7, 11).
6. The Great Tribulation was not a worldwide event and it has already happened. SUPPORTING EVIDENCE: Jesus told his followers they could escape it by fleeing to the mountains (Matthew 24: 16). This would happen when Jerusalem was surrounded by armies in AD 66 (Luke 21:20-21). Ancient historian Eusebius wrote that the Christians followed Jesus’ advice and did in fact flee the city to avoid the coming devastation of the war.
7. The Antichrist was already at work when John was writing. SUPPORTING EVIDENCE: John said so (1 John 4:3). John also proclaimed that IT WAS THE LAST HOUR (1 John 2:18).
What about all those unfulfilled promises made to Israel in the Old Testament? Do we just throw that book away?
—> I provided numerous Bible passages as evidence; so far you have not.
Sure you did, but you just quoted that Meek guy, who seems to not understand how to rightly divide the Scriptures.
Look around, you can do far better than his blog.
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