Who Is the Israel of God in the New Covenant?

Prophecy Questions Blog ^ | March 18, 2024 | Charles Meek

[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.

[Elsie]

And Easter always falls on the first Sunday, after the first full moon, after the vernal equinox.

[imardmd1]

Agree.

The assembly-accredited professor of unreserved belief in The Christ is to be inducted into The Company of The Committed Ones by means of the ritual of water immersion in the Name of (= by the delegated authority of) The Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

As the Risen Jesus affirmed and applied in His command to His Disciple/Apostles in Mt. 20:19, the Name is, and must be, singular in the Greek, as it is applied to the unified personification of the term Authority; that is, a title encompassing all three of the Trinity.

In the English, that term is singular and capitalized as being the state of a proper noun, and accorded the definite article, not being "a god"; but rather being "The God" above whom there is no higher honor, or power of administration or force, or authority.

In the New Testament Greek, that is "το θεός" (John 1:1 TR), which is distinguished in honor by using the definite article.

But in the Hebrew, the Name of the Trinity appears first in Genesis 1:1 as אלהים, a uniplural noun sounded as "Elohim" and translated as "God". In Cnapter 3 it is amplified buy adding the honorific "Jehovah," thus making His Name יהוה אלהים, sounded as Jehovah Elohim, and translated into the highest honoring form of English as "the LORD God" Who is the entity preceding all other, and the Creator of all that is in the temporal natural dimension.

So it is the One Title, Jehovah Elohim, The LORD God, comprises all Three Manifestations of The Godhead, of which the Risen יהוה (Jehovah = LORD), Kύριος Ἰησοῦς (Kurios Yesous), Lord Jesus has the executive role of Jehovah Elohim, LORD God.

Selah.

[delchiante]

Yup.

This year Easter falls within His Feast of Unleavened Bread, but not on His 16th Day,First Fruits and Resurrection Day, which is always the 3rd Day from Passover, that the scriptures teach.

[Philsworld]

——>If you know what God said and don’t do it, that is sin.

Excellent point from an excellent post. Those who are presented with the truth and choose not to believe it, will not be saved. Many think they’ll get a second chance if they’re wrong the first time. They will have chosen poorly.

2 Thess 2:
10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:

12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

[Philsworld]

Was Abraham a Jew?

Was the Sabbath made for the Jew?

Mark 2:27Then Jesus declared, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28Therefore, the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.

Genesis 26:4I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations of the earth will be blessed, 5because Abraham listened to My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”

[Philsworld]

Oh, post 64 is for you too.

[Elsie]

But in the Hebrew, the Name of the Trinity appears first in Genesis 1:1 as אלהים, a uniplural noun sounded as "Elohim" and translated as "God".

And, in English, we find...

... let US make man in OUR image.

[Elsie]

...My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”

Were given AFTER Sodom and Gomorrah - grievously sinning.

[imardmd1]

Elohim is a uni-plural noun asd used in the OT, leading to the All-In-One reference "US." (Writting a bit more on this.)

But thanks, Els, for the hint that was instantly on my mind also.

[imardmd1]

Also, in my Post #62, a mistype, should have been Mt. 28:19 (Jesus commissioning His disciples to act in his place with full authority to go forth into the world of tribes, to recruit, induct, and instruct new Babes in Christ under one Authority; to wit, The Godhead, Jehovah Elohim.)

[Philsworld]

Were given?

[Elsie]

Were given?

---

Genesis 13:13

Now the men of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the LORD.

Genesis 18:20-21
20. Then the LORD said, "The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous
21. that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know."

Genesis 19:4-7
4. Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom--both young and old--surrounded the house.
5. They called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them."
6. Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him
7. and said, "No, my friends. Don't do this wicked thing.

Yup...

 

 

[Elsie]

Even the Noahide folks can’t point to where homo sin was noted before the Genesis account.

The best I can find is...

Genesis 2:24
Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave unto his wife.

[Philsworld]

Well, I wonder if those folks knew about murder or offering a sacrifice? (the Cain and Abel account) I wonder what it meant when Noah was described as a righteous man, blameless before God, that he walked with God? What does it mean to be righteous before God?

How about that Ham fella, and his “sin”?

What about all those poor people who died in the flood, being described as wicked and evil? They didn’t know any better? Do you suppose any of the stuff they did was against God’s 10 commandments listed in Exodus 20? Abraham seemed to know all about it in obeying God’s commandments, statutes, and laws. Who told him?

LOL Elsie, OSAS/OJAJ folks just don’t want to own up to God’s law applying to them.

[Philsworld]

---->7. and said, "No, my friends. Don't do this wicked thing.

Genesis 6:5And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

Maybe some of this was "homo sin", Elsie? (and a lot of other things) Hmmmm?

[Elsie]

Maybe it was, but it is not described, is it?

 

They had ONE rule: Do NOT eat of the tree in the middle of the garden.

 

And the fella(?) with the flamin' sword kinda took care of that!

 

 

 

Genesis 4
 And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to[c] you, but you must rule over it.”

 

 

What 'sin'?

[Philsworld]

——>What ‘sin’?

Unbelievable.

[Philsworld]

——>Maybe it was, but it is not described, is it?

Why would it need to be? You can’t figure it out for yourself?

[Philsworld]

——>They had ONE rule:

Yeah, about that one tree in the middle of the garden. What do you suppose God would have done if they made an idol and started worshipping it? Do you suppose there was a “rule” about that? Any other rules?

OSAS/OJAJ folks just don’t want to own up to God’s law applying to them. I still laugh when I think of what your friend said about God’s law, that it only applies to the UNSAVED. Funny, right?

[imardmd1]

I am astounded at the degree of your misinformation on Scriptural matters.

howlinhound: The Trinity teaching did not appear until the Middle Ages.

No, this is an untutored supposition that is ignorant of what Job and Moses recorded in the Old Testament, where each of the three manifestations of The Godhead, Jehovah Elohim, The Triune God, are documented many times.

howlinhound: Jehovah, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are three separate entities.

Nor is your claim here supported in any way. The Godhead is ONE entity with THREE manifestations. A similar example might be the element mercury, which existed as a solid below minus 38 degrees Centigrade, thus making a mercury-based liquid thermometer useless when this cold. Furthermore, vaporized mercury supports an electrical arc to start a fluorescent lamp. The entity is the substance mercury, and its manifestations are as solid, liquid, and vapor, all of which can coexist and be converted from one of the states of matter to one of the others.

The Pre-Incarnate Messiah Redeeming Savior Jesus, also identified as The Word (John 1:1), speaking to inspire Isaiah's written words, which Godly proclamation proves His Own existence as Trinity is translated thusly:

Isaiah 48:12-19 (AV; bolding and superscripted notes added for emphasis):

¹²Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am (H)e; I am the first^Alpha, I also am the last^{see Rev. 1:8}. 
¹³Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together. 
¹⁴All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear; which among them hath declared these things? The LORD hath loved him: he^{Cyrus, 2 Chr. 36:22-23, Ezr. 1:1-2} will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans^Babylonians. 
¹⁵I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him^Cyrus : I have brought him^{Israel figuratively}, and he^Cyrus shall make his^Israel way prosperous^{returning the temple riches and the people to Jerusalem}. 
¹⁶Come ye^{people of Israel} near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that |it was|^began, there am I: and now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath sent me^{the Redeemer, the Preincarnate Christ}. 
¹⁷Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer^{Jesus Messiah, Emmanuel}, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD^Jehovah thy God^Elohim which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go. 
¹⁸O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea: 
¹⁹Thy seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of thy bowels like the gravel thereof; his name should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before me. 
²⁰Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth; say ye, The LORD hath redeemed his servant Jacob. 

Here the Trinity is so obvious in Old Testament times, that the knowledge of God-in-Three-Persons cannot be denied.

Let me suggest that you obtain better counsel, my FRiend, before you make such doctrinally outrageous statements of a mind that knows Him not at all.