Does The Church Replace Israel? Part Five

 

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In the crisp November air, the sights of Autumn are everywhere. Orange pumpkins, yellow, green, and white gourds, speckled Indian corn, fallen leaves of every shade, and cornstalks bundled with colorful bows. And can’t you almost smell the turkey roasting, taste the sweet tartness of apple cider, and let’s not forget pumpkin pie smothered with whipped cream.

 

What beauty and bounty the LORD created!

 

He’s given us the privilege of using His handiwork to not only feed our families, but also to make our homes beautiful. Yet, some struggle in these times. Painful memories, empty pockets, and maybe, twinges of jealousy. We wonder what it would be like to live in a stunning home with ample money, enjoying lavish Thanksgiving feasts, and presents galore.

 

But then it’s back to reality. Although we’d love to have what they have, as Christians, we know to thank God for His provision and trust Him with our future.

 

Still, God created human nature. He knew sin entering would produce all kinds of destructive emotions, jealousy being one. And while it is caustic, jealousy motivates. So, to provoke the Jews to jealousy, He gave salvation to Gentiles.

 

We have Israel’s Messiah.

 

You see, God’s Word, settled forever in heaven, must be fulfilled.[1] The virgin birth of Jesus, His life, ministry, and His crucifixion, demanded by Jews, carried out by Gentiles, would be accomplished. Therefore, He blinded Israel in part.

 

Israel’s whole existence was to honor and obey the One True and Living God and to usher in the Promised Messiah who would crush the serpent’s head. But they missed Him when He came. Why?

 

Salvation has always been by faith,

not by the works of the Law.

 

Consider this. Had Israel clearly understood who Jesus, God in flesh, was when He first came, but then also seeing their salvation depended upon them crucifying God, think of the agony they would have suffered. So…

 

God, in His mercy, hid this knowledge.

 

There were other reasons, too. But after Jesus’s ascension, salvation with eyes to see Israel’s True Messiah was sent to His other sheep, the Gentiles. Some Jews have found Jesus and, praise God, they’ve become part of the church.

 

Replacement Theology says that’s all God meant for Israel.

 

But if that were true, why would God tell Isaiah the stump would remain, and then years later have Paul use a metaphor of olive trees, one cultivated and one wild?

 

The stump of Israel remained because God’s plan

DID NOT END when Israel rejected Jesus.

 

In Romans 11, Israel represents the cultivated olive tree. Their patriarchs are the roots and the holy firstfruit. Gentiles are wild olive branches grafted into the cultivated tree, becoming partakers of the tree’s nourishment. This is our Judeo-Christian heritage.

 

The New Testament

makes no sense without the Old.

 

For this “church” age, Israel has been SET ASIDE, but NOT cut off. They remain God’s chosen people. We Gentiles are not to be ignorant of this mystery or wise in our own opinion. Why?

 

Partial blindness happened to Israel

ONLY UNTIL

the full number of Gentiles comes in.

 

Twenty years after Jesus resurrected and ascended to heaven, God said through Paul, “…And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: ‘The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and HE will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; for this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins.”[2] This is a future physical event.

 

Was ALL Israel saved at Jesus’s first coming?

No! When would this happen?

At the second coming of Jesus,

God the Son. (Proverbs 30:4)

 

Zechariah prophesied, “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced…they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn…In that day a fountain shall be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness.”[3]

 

Did any of this happen on the day Jesus was actually pierced and the fountain of His blood was opened? No! The disciples mourned, but the Jews celebrated. Ungodliness was not turned away, and neither was Israel’s sin cleansed. But…

 

God keeps His promises.

What was written must come to pass.

 

Daniel’s final week of years was for the Jews and Jerusalem, and in AD 95, John gave details. In that day when Jesus returns physically to this earth,[4]  He will present Himself to Israel’s remnant, fulfilling Zechariah’s prophecy, and keeping His forever covenant.

 

“Concerning the gospel

they are enemies for your sake,

but concerning the election

they are beloved for the sake of the fathers.”[5]

 

Enemies? Blinded in part, yet beloved for the sake of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? Yes!

 

And why, after all these years, would this still be true?

 

“For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”[6]

 

Fellow true believers in Jesus Christ, what a glorious, faithful,

AND Holy God we serve.

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[1] Psalm 119:89; Mark 9:12; Luke 18:31; Luke 21:22; Luke 24:44

[2] Romans 11:26-27; Isaiah 59:20-21; Isaiah 27:9

[3] Zechariah 12:10-11a; Zechariah 13:1

[4] Revelation 12:13-17; Revelation 19:11-16

[5] Romans 11:28

[6] Romans 11:29