Israel and the Church

The place of Israel in the world and the church’s relationship to Israel and the Jews is a hot topic right now.

Some defend the the current nation state of Israel as those who can do no wrong. Others, out of fear of being labelled anti-semitic, refuse to say out loud that Israel, no different from any other nation in history, is actually capable of doing a great many things that are very wrong.

There’s also a group of people who are fostering the kind of anti-Jewish sentiment (real or imagined) whose rhetoric may well lead to bloodshed.

Much of it is political, and much of it is divisive propaganda. For the Christian, our interest is theological.

When we talk about Israel and the Jews, it’s important to start with a definition. And when we talk about definitions, we should start with the definitions given to us by God.

For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel… It is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise. (Romans 9:6, 8).

The promise referred to here is the promise of a miraculous seed (Galatians 4:28) of which Isaac was the shadow and Christ is the substance.

Put plainly, if you were to ask God to point to Israel, He wouldn’t point to lines on a map or DNA under a microscope. He would point to a very specific group of people. Those who have embraced the promises in obedient faith. Unto us a child is born.

The Israel of God consists of children who believed the promises before Christ came (Heb 11:13–16) and those who have believed the promises now that Christ has come (Rom 4:11–12).

True, being born into Abraham’s family did have its advantages (Rom 3:1–2) but it did not automatically confer covenant membership.

From the time of Abraham and continuing through Moses, covenant membership was through circumcision. And so,

Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh… shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant (Genesis 17:14).

Since this was the case, anyone could become a member of the covenant. We see this in the very formation of Israel as a nation during the Exodus, which was made up of a mixed multitude from Egypt (Ex 12:38).

Foreigners during Old Testament times could join if they submitted to the covenant sign.

 If a stranger shall sojourn with you… Let all his males be circumcised. Then he may come near and keep it; he shall be as a native of the land” (Exodus 12:48).

One people, under one covenant, with one law for all (Ex 12:49).

Membership in the covenant household was objective. Outwardly, you got circumcised and then made your way to the table (The Passover, cf. Ex 12:48–49).

Inwardly, you only enjoyed the blessings of the covenant through obedient faith.

The righteous shall live by his faith (Habakkuk 2:4).

And

…if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all His commandments… all these blessings shall come upon you… (Deuteronomy 28:1–2).

In the New Testament, baptism replaces circumcision as the visible sign of entry into the covenant (Col 2:12, Gal 3:27). Outwardly, you wash your hands, and you make your way to the table (The Lord’s Supper).

Inwardly, faith and obedience continue to define Israel, the true children of Abraham, and the recipients of covenantal blessings.

Abraham is the father of all who share his faith.

The principle hasn’t changed — only the administration.

From here, the question often arises, “What about the physical descendants of Abraham today?”

Even though covenant blessing depends on faith, and even though in Christ (and only in Christ) are all the promises ‘yes and amen’ (2 Cor 1:20), a promise remains for Abraham’s physical descendants.

Has God rejected his people? By no means! … and so all Israel will be saved… (Romans 11:1–2, 26).

(See also, Jer 31:35–37).

“All Israel” refers to the complete number of the descendants of Abraham, as determined by God, who will one day turn and accept Jesus Christ. It doesn’t mean every single descendant, just as “the fullness of the Gentiles” does not mean every single Gentile, but the complete number as called by God to salvation (Rom 11:25).

Across both covenants, faith and obedience were always essential. The signs of circumcision and baptism mark community membership, but the heart of faith and obedience directed towards Jesus Christ determines blessing.

Because this is the case, Paul could say that the Church is literally the Israel of God (Galatians 6:16), the continuation of God’s people, defined as those who are Jews inwardly through circumcision of the heart (Rom 2:28–29).

The Church, rooted in Israel and born of Jewish descent, inherits all the promises made to Abraham and his seed (Gal 3:16), which, as it turns out, is Jesus.

When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son (Matthew 2:15, Hosea 11:1).

The Church, the body of Christ and a mixed multitude, inherits the promises and carries forward the faith, hope, and covenant mercy first given to Abraham.

And those currently outside the covenant, whether Jew or Gentile, are being called by the Gospel to repent and be baptised in the name of Christ into one congregation, the children of God, the church, the body of Christ.

The Gospel fulfils all of the hopes and promises made to Abraham. The Land we long for is a New Heaven and New Earth. The Jerusalem we love is the City of God above, and the Temple we serve is Jesus Christ.

We do not march under a blue star. We do not kiss a wailing wall, and we have no business cheering on a hard heart under the superstition that because it’s a Jewish hard heart we will somehow be blessed.

The mission of God’s people today is not to return and rebuild as in the days of Nehemiah, but to increase and expand a kingdom that has come down from heaven, and to invite both Jew and Gentile in (Matthew 28:19-20).

There is neither Jew nor Greek… for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise. (Galatians 3:28–29)

One people. One Hope. One Kingdom (Galatians 3:28–29).