Unedited transcript:
Thank you. Israel and the Church. The nation of Israel is in the news continually.
The world recently witnessed the end of the long war between Israel and its enemies in Gaza, resulting in the last hostages being set free. The terms of peace that have been reached in the region, while precarious, are yet remarkable. And, before the Knesset in Jerusalem, the President of the United States acknowledged publicly that thanks is to be given to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Whatever position one takes on the political side of things, God has a purpose for Israel. He has not cast off His people which He foreknew. Sadly, most Jews in Israel and throughout the world continue in unbelief.
But the Holy Spirit reveals the future of Israel. All Israel shall be saved. And yet the Church is often referred to as the Israel of God.
As God separated the people of Israel to Himself, so He has called His Church to be His own distinctive people. The Church of the Old Testament is essentially one with the Church of the New Testament. While the Church was confined to one nation under the Old Testament, now the Church encompasses all nations.
Why is the name Israel given to the Church? Has the Church replaced Israel? If the name of Israel is applied to the Church, why do the people of Israel, as a people, no longer have an identity or special place in the providence of God for the Church and the world? These are some of the questions that this paper will attempt to answer. Christ has promised to build His Church, and it is important to know what this involves, historically, at present, and in the future. The aim of this discussion is to discover the scriptural view of the Church and its relation to Israel, what the purpose of God is for both, whether it is correct to say that the Church is the new Israel, and whether a distinction should be maintained between the Church and Israel.
So first, we will look at the meaning of Israel. Secondly, the meaning of Church. Thirdly, the Church and the name Israel.
Fourth, the relationship between ethnic Israel and the Church of Christ. And fifth, the use of the words Israel and Church. First, the meaning of Israel.
The first time the name Israel is found in the Word of God is when Jacob wrestled with the angel. And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.
And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel. For as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.
Genesis 32, 26 to 28. Jacob wrestled in prayer with God as he wrestled physically with the angel. Through grace, Jacob prevailed in both, and he was given the name Israel to commemorate his victory.
Israel means he contends with God, which teaches us to be earnest in prayer to the Most High. The angel, however, declares that Jacob has power with God and with men, and has prevailed. This indicates the patriarch would be able to overcome the adversaries that confronted him throughout his life, and Esau in particular.
This is surely a promise for all the spiritual seed of Israel as well. Surely shall one say, In the Lord have I righteousness and strength. Even to him shall men come, and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed.
In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory. Isaiah 45, 24 to 25. Those who, like Jacob, are earnest in prayer to God will also prevail with God and with men.
Later, God confirmed to Jacob that his name was Israel. When Jacob returned to Bethel, God appeared to him, and God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob. Thy name shall not be called anymore, Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name.
And he called his name Israel. Genesis 35, 10. It was on this occasion that God promised Jacob that he would become a great nation.
And God said unto him, I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins.
And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land. Verses 11 to 12. Thus Jacob, now called Israel, was given a renewed affirmation that his descendants would be a nation ruled by kings, and that his descendants would possess the land.
This was the nation that would be called by the name of Israel, and this is the people that would continue to comprise the visible church of the Old Testament. The name Israel is used synonymously with Jacob to designate the nation God called into a special relationship with himself. Israel is used primarily for the descendants of Jacob, as in the children of Israel.
This nation formally came into existence after Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt. When Israel was a child, then I loved him and called my son out of Egypt. Hosea 11.1. At Mount Sinai, God entered into a covenant with his people, and the Ten Commandments were given, as well as the ceremonial law and other judicial laws.
There God pronounced the children of Israel a kingdom of priests, a holy nation, Exodus 19.6, and his own peculiar treasure, verse 5. Thus Israel was the church of the Old Testament, while the New Testament church carries on the privilege that every believer is a priest, as the Apostle declares, ye also as lively stones are built up a spiritual house and holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ, 1 Peter 2.5. The name Israel sets forth the honor and comfort given to God’s people, in that God is willing to be prevailed upon for the good of his people. John Murray writes, commenting on Paul’s use of the word Israelites in Romans 9.4, this name harks back to Genesis 32.28, and is reminiscent of the dignity bestowed upon Jacob in the reception of the name Israel, a dignity conferred also upon his seed. Compare Genesis 48.16, Isaiah 48.1. In the book of Hosea, God reminds Israel of their father Jacob who wrestled with the angel.
The people of Israel are exhorted to return to their God and wait upon him continually, Hosea 12.6. The name Israel is therefore not only a mark of honor, but also a constant reminder to live answerably to the name and be stirred up to importunate prayer for God’s blessing. The children of Israel, as the visible church of the Old Testament, were given numerous privileges. They had the oracles of God, the promises and prophecies.
The feast days and ceremonies pointed them to the Messiah. Above all, it was to Israel that Christ came who is over all, God bless forever, Romans 9.5. And although the nation rejected Christ and continues at present in unbelief, the day will come when they as a people will be grafted again into their own olive tree, united with the church rooted in the patriarchs. Though outside the church now, they will be reunited with it, which will be a time of spiritual riches and blessing for the world.
Having frequently referred to the church in Israel, constituting the visible church of the Old Testament, what is the meaning of the word church? In the second place, the meaning of the word church is called out. The Greek word for church is ecclesia, and it is made up of two Greek words, ek, meaning out, and kaleo, which means to call, called out. The idea behind this word is that God has called out a people from the world around them to be his own special people, just as God called Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldees.
The people of God are separated from the world to God himself. Theologians make a distinction between the visible church and the invisible church. That is not to say there are two churches, but there is one church with two aspects, the church as it is visible and the church as it is invisible, as Calvin is known to call the latter, the church as it really is before God.
The church invisible, as it really is before God, is within the visible church. The invisible church consists of the elect, as the Westminster Confession of Faith states in chapter 25, section 1. The Catholic or universal church, which is invisible, consists of the whole number of elect that have been, are, or shall be gathered into one under Christ the head thereof, and is the spouse, the body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all. In practical terms, the invisible church includes those so far who have been born again.
True believers alone make up the invisible church, and one should examine himself whether he is within the church as it really is before God. The visible church, on the other hand, according to our confession, chapter 25, section 2, which is also Catholic or universal under the gospel, not confined to one nation as before under the law, consists of all those throughout the world that profess the true religion and of their children, and is the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, the house and family of God, out of which there is no ordinary possibility of salvation. The profession of the true religion identified the people of God in the Old Testament.
Professing the true religion involved believing the doctrines of God’s word and obeying the precepts God commanded. But, as the confession indicates, the visible church is no longer confined to the nation of Israel, but people of every nation throughout the world who profess the true religion and their children are within the visible church. The church did not come into being when Christ came and the gospel was preached to all nations.
The same church that existed from Old Testament times was extended to embrace all nations. Dispensationalists, on the other hand, have a different view of the church in Israel. Traditionally, dispensationalists have taught that God deals with humanity in different dispensations of testing man’s obedience.
Dispensationalist views have changed quite a bit since Scofield first produced his Scofield Reference Bible in 1909. Still, however, dispensationalists insist that there are, in fact, two peoples of God, the church and Israel. While the church and Israel continue along separate lines throughout history, they hold that Israel will experience corporate salvation at the end of the world or during the next dispensation.
Daryl Bach, who is a progressive dispensationalist, maintains the difference between Israel as a nation and the church as a distinct entity, quote, Israel in the Old Testament was a nation of people looking for Messiah and hope. The church is a transnational structure with a Messiah having come but not yet having brought all things to fulfillment, end of quote. The Word of God, however, says nothing of two different religious bodies.
The visible church of the Old Testament comprised the nation of Israel. The church of the New Testament is a continuation of the same church. In the Book of Acts, the Greek word ecclesia, church, is used to refer to Israel in the Old Testament.
Stephen, speaking in his defense to the council, spoke of Moses and the children of Israel. This is he that was in the church, ecclesia, in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the Mount Sinai and with our fathers who received the lively oracles to give unto us, Acts 7 38. The church of the Old Testament and the church of the New Testament is one church.
There is one covenant of grace and one mediator for both. The outward token of the covenant has changed from circumcision to baptism and the ceremonies of the old dispensation are abrogated, but the covenant itself remains the same. The covenant of grace revealed to Abraham has been called the charter of the visible church.
If the covenant of grace is essentially one for the church of both Old and New Testaments and the same saving blessings enjoyed through the same mediator, the church itself is one and the same throughout the history of redemption. When Christ came into the world, he fulfilled the types and ceremonies of the Old Testament and so removed the barrier of the ceremonial law between Jew and Gentile. Referring to Ephesians 2 14 to 19, David Brown points out what he identifies as an important distinction, quote, on the wall of partition being broken down, the Jews are not said to have gone out to the Gentiles, but the Gentiles are said to have come in to the Jews, end of quote.
Gentiles are now fellow citizens with the saints, the same saints of the Old Testament and of the same household of God. The same church that comprised Israel is now composed of both Jews and Gentiles as one continuing church. The confession of faith in chapter 25 section 3 goes on to state that unto this Catholic visible church Christ had given the ministry, oracles and ordinances of God for the gathering and perfecting of the saints in this life to the end of the world and doth by his own presence and spirit according to his promise make them effectual thereunto.
In the Old Testament era, the children of Israel were given the scriptures, the types and sacrifices as means of grace through which the elect obtained salvation. Now in the New Testament times, the ordinances are much simpler, including the preaching of the word, the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Through these means, Christ gathers in his elect from all over the world.
This is how he builds his church in the world. When Christ was alone with his disciples toward the latter part of his ministry, he asked them, whom do men say that I the Son of Man am? Matthew 16 13. After giving various answers as to what people of that day were saying of Christ, he asked them again, but whom say ye that I am? Peter answered, thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
Verses 15 to 16. After blessing Peter for the profession he made through the Father’s revelation to him, the Savior proclaimed that upon the rock of Peter’s profession, or upon Christ himself as professed by Peter, he would build his church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. This is the hope that believers have today, no matter how much spiritual darkness pervades the world.
But God had a mysterious way of building the church of Christ. Though Peter was an Israelite, and the rest of the disciples were Jews like Peter, and had the oracles and covenants, the day was soon approaching when the Jews as a people would reject Christ and the gospel. They were indeed the descendants of the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the root of Israel, but they were to be broken off their own olive tree and cast away.
But as the apostle says, their casting away would be the reconciling of the world. When the Jews for the most part refused to believe the gospel that Paul and others preached, the first missionaries turned to the Gentiles and preached to them. Through the unbelief and fall of the people of Israel, the Gentiles received salvation.
Romans 11 11. It is by the preaching of the word today that God continues to gather his people together with the clear gospel command and promise. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned.
He calls them out from the world around them. Wherefore, come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you. Second Corinthians 6 17.
But now the question arises. If the nation of Israel has fallen away for a time, does the church retain the name of Israel, and is the church the true Israel? In the third place, the church and the name Israel. It is not unusual for the name of a physical place to be given to the church.
In such cases, the designation has spiritual significance. One of the names most used to describe the church in the Old Testament is Zion, as found in Psalm 126. When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream.
Verse 1. Zion, in the first instance, was a hill in southeastern Jerusalem. Later it referred to the location of the first temple on what is known as the Temple Mount, the northern extension of the same hill. Zion came to symbolize the collective people of God, especially in corporate worship.
When God is said to turn back the captivity of Zion, we are not to think that the literal mountain had been in exile. The people represented by Zion were in Babylon, but God turned back Zion’s bondage when he delivered his people out of captivity in Babylon and brought them back to Judah. Zion was a figure for God’s people, the church of the Old Testament.
Zion is also the name used in the New Testament to describe the church of God. But ye are come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, Hebrews 12, 22-23. In the 11th chapter of Romans, where Paul mentions the name Israel several times, and undoubtedly refers to literal Israel, he also refers to Zion as spiritually indicating the church.
And so all Israel shall be saved, as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. Romans 11, 26. While all Israel is to be saved, it is because Christ has come out of Zion, or the church, to turn his ancient people from ungodliness and unbelief.
Bearing in mind that Israel was the visible church of the Old Testament, the book of Isaiah applies both Zion and Israel to the church. I bring near my righteousness, it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry, and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel, my glory. Isaiah 46, 13.
Likewise, the name Jerusalem may refer either to the literal city or to the church itself. In Galatians 4, 26, Paul declares, But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all, referring to the church of true believers. And John in the book of Revelation witnesses the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God.
21, 10 to 11. In both these instances, the name of the city is applied to the church of Christ, the people of God, primarily as the elect and the body of Christ, though the first reference perhaps includes her visible organization. But what about the name Israel? It may be argued that in the Old Testament there are many passages that speak of the true religion embracing the whole world, while the name of Israel is applied to such an extension.
On the other hand, it could be argued that the Old Testament often speaks of New Testament times under the imagery of the Old Dispensation, using the language of the old economy. Similarly, the church of the New Testament could be prophesied of by the name of Israel, since it was the name of God’s people in the Old Testament. One prophecy seems to indicate plainly that believers among the Gentiles will be called by the name of Israel.
One shall say, I am the Lord’s, and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob, and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord, and surname himself by the name of Israel. Isaiah 44 verse 5. John Gill points out that the Jews themselves own that strangers or proselytes shall be called by the name of Israel. So they explain Isaiah 44 verse 5. When the heathen enter the kingdom of God, they will use the name of Israel as a title of honor.
Being identified with Israel indicates the dignity of all the people of God. Does this mean that the church today should be called the true Israel? There is one passage in the New Testament where the word Israel appears to refer not to the literal Israel, but to the church of God. In his epistle to the Galatians, Paul contends with the Judaizers who tried to persuade the Galatians to be circumcised.
Yet, if the Galatians embraced or practiced circumcision, they were obligated to keep the whole law, and Christ would profit them nothing. Chapter 5 verses 2 to 3. He concludes the whole epistle by reiterating, For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. Chapter 6 verse 15.
The requirements peculiar to the Old Testament dispensation have been set aside. What makes the difference between a true believer and the unregenerate is whether a person has been renewed by the Spirit. He continues, And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them and mercy and upon the Israel of God.
Verse 16. To walk according to this rule means to follow a guiding principle. The guiding principle is that outward distinctions are irrelevant, and that to have a new nature is essential.
The apostle pronounces peace to everyone who adheres to this principle. The blessing is also pronounced upon the Israel of God. It is interesting to note that commentators are divided in regard to what the Israel of God refers to.
Calvin states that the designation clearly applies to the church. Quote, In a word, he gives the appellation of the Israel of God to those whom he formerly denominated the children of Abraham by faith. Galatians 3 29.
And thus includes all believers, whether Jews or Gentiles, who were united into one church. End of quote. In his book, The Israel of God, O. Palmer Robertson is confident that, quote, only this explanation of the phrase suits the grammar and the context of Paul’s usage.
End of quote. He argues that to make this distinction would be to contradict what Paul had just announced, that outward differences are nothing but to be a new creature is what truly matters. It is possible, however, that the term applies to those belonging to the literal nation of Israel who were elect.
Just as Paul says in Romans 9 6, They are not all Israel, which are of Israel. Here he may be making a distinction between those who are Israelites indeed, and those who are not, such as the Judaizers who taught another gospel. When Paul speaks of as many as walk according to this rule, he may include both Jew and Gentile, and then refer particularly to the Israel of God, that is, the elect Israelites, to remind the Judaizers that to belong to the God of Israel is far more important than merely belonging to Israel as a nation.
It must not be forgotten that this is the same Paul who longed for the salvation of his own people Israel, and who wrote, For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, who are Israelites. Romans 9 3-4. John Eady, in his Commentary on Galatians, argues that the Israel of God refers to the literal Israel.
It is true that the conjunction and, in the Greek, can mean even, so that the meaning may be peace beyond them and mercy even upon the Israel of God. Yet he argues the usual meaning for this conjunction and is not to be departed from except on very strong grounds. He also reasons that, quote, the apostle is not in the habit of calling the church made up of Jews and Gentiles Israel.
Israel is used eleven times in Romans, but in all the instances it refers to Israel proper. End of quote. And he goes so far as to say that in every other portion of the New Testament, both Israel and Israelite, refer to the literal Israel.
This may seem startling at first, but it appears that to state otherwise, the burden of proof may not be so easily presented as one might think. On the other hand, many writers hold that since the apostle has throughout the epistle been speaking of the irrelevance of the distinction between Jew and Gentile, and that all believers are children of Abraham, Paul now applies the name Israel to the whole church of both Jew and Gentile. If so, it must be conceded that this would be a departure from his usual usage of Israel.
Perhaps the safest view of the passage is advocated by John Gill, when he says that this is a name that includes all God’s elect, whether Jews or Gentiles, though it may have a particular respect to such of the Israelites or Jews God had foreknown and reserved for himself, and who believed in Christ and walked as new creatures without confidence in the flesh. So, while not excluding Gentile believers, the Israel of God may refer especially to ethnic Israelites who are truly God’s people. The book of Galatians sheds much light on the subject of the historical Israel and the church.
Whether or not Israel is precisely the name for the whole church, especially the visible church, it is clear that class distinctions are irrelevant in the New Testament dispensation. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female, for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Galatians 3 28 to 29. When the Jews as a people will be brought into the church again, they will not have religious prominence over the Gentiles. While the visible token of the covenant of grace belonged to Israel in the Old Testament, in the New Testament the privileges are equally enjoyed by both Jews and Gentiles, all who profess the true religion and their children.
The true religion is not any longer confined to Israel. The Gentiles do not need to come to Israel to embrace the true religion as before. The gospel is to be preached to all nations.
All are invited to come and receive the blessings of salvation. The mountain of the Lord of hosts is for all people, offering to sinners as such a feast of fat things. For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same, my name shall be great among the Gentiles, and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering.
For my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of hosts. Malachi 1 11. In the fourth place, the relationship between ethnic Israel and the church of Christ.
Now the question may be asked, why does Israel remain a separate nation and people, if some of them are now, and all of them will be in the future, part of the one church of Christ? If the church is called the Israel of God, are the ancient people irrelevant? Some theologians deny any place or category for the people of Israel. They cite Galatians 3 28 and 6 13, passages already referred to, as proof. It is true that regarding the religious privileges of believers, there is no distinction whatsoever.
But to suggest that Israel has no place in the wonderful counsel of God in the world and in the church, seems to fly in the face of scripture evidence. Some of these theologians claim that the church has replaced Israel. This position is known as replacement theology, or supersessionism, viewed as a pejorative term by some, which asserts that Israel has been superseded by the church.
It is thought that the early church fathers, to one degree or another, began to teach that the church has replaced Israel as a people, and that the latter are no longer relevant. Justin Martyr is said to be the first who called the church the true Israel. Augustine is attributed with identifying the church as the new Israel.
There are varying degrees of supersessionism. Some are labeled supersessionists, merely for denying Israel’s restoration to its national and state identity. Others have taken an extreme position, from the deists to Schleiermacher, who even called for the elimination of the Hebrew scriptures from being read in the churches.
Some Reformed theologians of the AMillennial viewpoint have a less than encouraging view of Israel as a people. While they readily concede that the church has not replaced Israel, yet they firmly hold that Israel as a people are insignificant in God’s purpose and providence today. In his article entitled, Two Peoples of God, on the website called Heidelblog, which appears to be distinctively AMillennial, Dan Burden writes, quote, the church does not replace national Israel.
The covenant community is simply expanded beyond the borders of the nation of Israel, end of quote. This is a safe position for sure, but he goes precariously further, quote, the New Testament teaches that any physical differences, including ethnicity, among the elect in Christ are irrelevant. There is one people of God and there are no distinctions regarding physical characteristics, end of quote.
Then, in keeping with the AMillennial perspective, he writes categorically, national Israel went out of existence and the church of Jesus Christ became home to the covenant community. While Borven reassures the reader again in his article that the church has not replaced Israel, there is no mention of Israel being gathered as a mass into the visible church once again. It is surprising and disappointing that Lorraine Boettner, while promoting the postmillennial perspective, has little to say about the coming restoration of the Jews.
He outright denies that the Jews have any special place in the extension of the kingdom of God, quote, but the fact of the matter is that God is through with them as a unified national group having anything more to do with the evangelization of the world, end of quote. This is not how Patrick Fairbairn views the matter when he writes, their providential preservation certainly has been wonderful and we can scarcely doubt is destined in the issue to work out more signally God’s great purpose of mercy for the world. Boettner indeed acknowledges that for individual Jews, the way is open for them to come back into their own olive tree and be saved, and that when converted, there are, quote, no other people more appreciative or more zealous for the faith than are the Jews, end of quote.
But as far as any national capacity is concerned, he writes, with the fulfillment and passing away of the old covenant and the institution of the new, the special mission of the Jews in the divine plan was at an end. Given the numerous promises of God made to Israel as a nation, these statements above can make one feel uncomfortable. Contrary to such dim views of the ancient nation, the scriptures point us to a people for whom God has a special place in his purpose.
One, Paul the Apostle calls Israel God’s people, Romans 11 1. He emphatically denies that God has cast off his people. He himself is an Israelite. Plainly he regards Israel as God’s people in a way that is unique and different from other nations.
He goes on to say God has not cast off his people which he foreknew. Now this foreknowledge is either that of election, as individuals, or the people of God that he chose. It seems it is the latter.
As we read in Amos 3 2, you only have I known of all the families of the earth, therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities. If Paul is referring to the elect to salvation, if Paul is referring to the elect to salvation, he is abruptly changing the subject. Rather, Paul is writing about the Israelites as a nation whom God chose to set apart for himself.
And the evidence that God has not cast away the people which he foreknew is that there is indeed a remnant of them according to the election of grace. They are God’s people in such a way that no other nation can be called such. As Philhelmus Abrakel in his Systematic Theology explains, he does not call them the people of God due to their faith and conversion, for they were unbelieving and disobedient, but because of the covenant which God had established with Abraham and his seed.
Genesis 17 7. 2. Later in Romans 11, Paul plainly states that the people of Israel are beloved for the Father’s sakes. Romans 11. 28.
It is true that they are enemies to God because of their rejection of the gospel. Nevertheless, God has a purpose of love to them and will restore them. There is no other nation on earth of which the Holy Scripture says they are loved on account of their ancestors.
David Brown explains how this applies to the whole nation. When he says, in respect of that election, they are beloved for the Father’s sakes, he means that the bulk and body of the nation, now out of covenant, are beloved because of their ancestral connections, their lineal descent from and oneness in covenant with the fathers with whom God originally established his covenant. 3. The people of Israel remain a people providentially and eschatologically set apart for God.
Again, Romans 11. 16 states, for if the first fruit be holy, the lump is also holy, and if the root be holy, so are the branches. The root, symbolizing the patriarchs, ensures that the branches, which are the descendants, are holy.
That is, they are set apart for God. Yes, some of the branches were broken off, but God intends to graft them in again, for God is able to do so. Verse 23.
The apostle is here describing a people both consecrated and loved. How can these facts harmonize with the claim that the Jews as a people have no significance in the church today? 4. The promises for Israel’s future and their privileges of the past should make Christians today humble. Paul warns the Gentiles not to boast against the branches and enforces his warning by reminding them that they do not bear the root, but the root bears them.
Verse 18. The fact that the Gentiles are spiritually the children of Abraham shows the significance of the patriarchal root. This is a reminder to us that salvation is of the Jews.
Divine revelation for salvation was preserved in the nation of Israel. Were it not for the people of Israel, instrumentally there would be no Gentile church. Just as Mary was highly favored, so the people of Israel were and are highly favored that Christ came to them, and Christ will come to them again out of Zion and turn ungodliness from Jacob.
5. The Jews’ conversion will lead to greater blessing in the church and in the world. The people of Israel are chosen for this special honor. This spiritual blessing is called the riches of the world and the riches of the Gentiles, and finally, life from the dead.
Romans 11, 12, and 15. Is this not a highly privileged people whose conversion as a people will lead to such widespread blessing to the world? Just as a special promise was given that the Gentiles would eventually be brought into the church, there is a special promise that Israel would be restored to the church and instrumentally bring spiritual riches to the Gentiles. 6. It can be argued that the covenant of grace ensures the conversion of God’s ancient people as such.
When Paul confirms that the Jews as a whole nation will be converted, he quotes as usual from the Old Testament scriptures, and he goes back to the covenant. For this is my covenant unto them when I shall take away their sins. Romans 11, 27.
The new covenant itself provides for the restoration of Israel. In his book, The Restoration of the Jews, David Brown makes it one of his basic propositions that, quote, the New Testament sends us back to the old, and especially to the terms of the Abraham covenant as our primary warrant for expecting the recovery of all Israel. 7. If Paul calls the church the Israel of God, he also reveals that Israel as a nation will be saved.
And so all Israel shall be saved. Romans 11, 26. Many dispute that this phrase, all Israel, means Israel as a race or people.
It appears theologians of the amillennial view will use all the means at their disposal to interpret the phrase in line with their view of the end times, which excludes any expectation of a worldwide revival of the church. If the church is not to expect prevailing light and spiritual prosperity on an unprecedented scale, as post-millennialists rightly expect, then it would be out of keeping to expect Israel as a people to be converted en masse. Sadly, these theologians explain away the encouraging passages by claiming that the fullness of Israel, or the receiving of them, is to take place as elect individuals, one by one.
But if that is so, how is this different from the remnant that Paul comforted himself by in verse 5? Even so, then, at this present time also, there is a remnant according to the election of grace. It is clear that Paul goes beyond the remnant when he declares that the fullness and receiving of Israel, which, in contrast to the national falling away and diminishing in unbelief, is to be a restoration to light, awakening, faith and repentance, the reception of Christ and turning from ungodliness as a nation. The people of Israel as a whole rejected Christ.
The people of Israel as a whole will be restored. When Paul speaks of all Israel being saved, there is no other valid way to interpret it than that all Israel means Israel as a people. He is not speaking of the elect remnant of Jews, nor of the spiritual Israel comprising both Jew and Gentile.
Paul means exactly what he says, all Israel shall be saved. To interpret otherwise would be, as John Murray says, exegetical violence. To summarize, if Israel as a people are God’s people, holy or set apart, beloved, promised conversion, and promised to be a special means of blessing to the world when they are converted, having their restoration specifically promised to the covenant of grace, not as individuals merely, but as a nation, surely their role in the church has special significance.
Fairbairn, although opposed to the idea that the scriptures reveal a restoration of the Jews to their own land, concedes that the conversion of the Jews entails a people who may be eminently useful in the spread of the gospel. Quote, the Jews scattered condition, bringing them into contact with so many nations and making them familiar with so much suffering, may but render them the more thoroughly prepared when the time to favor Zion has come to do the part of the great evangelizers of the world. Even though the majority of Jews in the world continue in unbelief, it is unbecoming, to say the least, to hold the people of Israel in contempt.
Gentiles must not boast against the branches. It is only by faith that anyone stands, by grace, and not of works. Be not high-minded, but fear.
If the Jews are beloved for the Father’s sakes, as Abrahamic councils, we also ought to have the love of benevolence toward them. To say this does not mean one should support every action that the state of Israel performs, or agree with every proposal and decision the government makes. But we should pray earnestly for their conversion out of love to them, because they are beloved for the Father’s sakes, and knowing the special benefits that will accrue to the Church when they are restored.
Finally and fifthly, the use of the words Israel and Church. One may ask why the paper is entitled Israel and the Church? Does the distinction need to be made? The Church includes or will include Israel, as it will embrace all the nations of the world. Furthermore, there is no spiritual distinction between peoples and ethnicities in respect of the benefits of the covenant of grace.
In the Old Testament, the nation of Israel, as the visible Church, professed the true religion. They were the vineyard whom God planted. But when God sent His Son as the true heir to His own people, the Jewish nation rejected Him.
To again use Paul’s analogy in Romans 11, the natural branches were broken off. This is when the Gentiles entered into the kingdom. As Jesus warned the Jews in Matthew 21 43, Therefore I say unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation, bringing forth the fruits thereof.
The other nations were grafted into the olive tree of the Church, while Israel, the natural branches, were cast away. But God is able to graft them in again. In other words, the people of Israel will be gathered into the Church once again.
The Church will be seen again to be one new man, Ephesians 2 15. For in the eyes of God there is no distinction of outward status, race, or ethnicity. Christ has redeemed His people by His blood out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation.
Revelations 5 9. In the better days of the Church, as post-millennials hold, all the kingdoms of the world will become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ. National identities and separate states will continue as before. But all the nations, including Israel, will be found within the kingdom of Christ.
When the Jews are converted as a people, Israel will still be its own nation, and the Church will include Israel. So the question arises, if the Church and Israel are really one, and if the name Israel should be applied to the Church, what is the point in having two very different words, Israel and Church, for what is essentially the same thing? The question may be answered in two ways. First, it is not unusual to apply to the Church a name of a physical location, as discussed earlier.
We have seen this to be the case with the words Zion and Jerusalem. Each name conveys something unique to the Church. The Most High also has many names and titles to describe His character.
We are thus taught something of His being, perfections, and works. And the Church is given various titles that reveal its characteristics and indicate the special place it has in the love and providence of God. The name Israel recalls Jacob’s power over the angel and prevailing, and indicates the dignity and honor of God’s elect.
But another answer may be given, and the answer is put in the form of another question. Is it safe to claim that the Church is the true Israel? It is true that believers are identified by people and terms associated with the Old Testament dispensation. They are called the children of Abraham.
Paul says, we are the circumcision. Peter calls believers the holy nation, though it may be argued he is writing to ethnic Israelites. But it may be questioned whether in the New Testament the name Israel is ever used to describe the Church of both Jew and Gentile.
To say that the Church is the new Israel implies that God is finished with His ancient people, and there is nothing in store for Israel as a people in God’s purpose. This is what many believe. But the Apostle Paul clearly says, God has not cast off His people whom He foreknew.
Rather, Israel’s conversion is to lead to a time of worldwide revival. One can at least agree with Opalmer Robertson when he says, the Church is not taking the place of Israel. The Church is extended beyond Israel, while including Israel.
The Church was confined to Israel at first, but is now extended to include the length and breadth of the earth. If the name Israel is to be applied to the Church, it is here submitted that the designation would apply only to true believers, the invisible Church. If we are to be directed by the New Testament usage of the name, perhaps it is not correct to think of the visible Church as the new Israel.
We should apply scripture terms in a scriptural manner. If we are to call the Church Israel, it should be restricted to the elect, those who are new creatures in Christ, the Israel of God. Conclusion All true believers are the seed of Israel.
Ye that fear the Lord, praise him. All ye the seed of glorify him, and fear him. All ye the seed of Israel.
Psalm 22-23. They are Abraham’s seed. Galatians 3-29.
They walk in the steps of that faith of their father Abraham. They partake of the root and fatness of the olive tree, and the patriarchs, the root of the tree, bears them. One of those patriarchs was Jacob, who became Israel.
As Jacob contended with the angel and prevailed, so the Church does not cease to strive together in prayer to God for the restoring, healing, and building up of the Church, and that her children would stand in the ways and ask for the old paths the good way, and walk therein. Surely every individual believer who can identify himself with Nathanael and cry to the Lord, Thou art the King of Israel, can also take the comfort of the Savior’s words. Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile.
John 1-47. The Church of the New Testament is one with the Church of the Old Testament, and hence the God of Israel is the God of His people today. The God of Israel is He that giveth strength and power unto His people.
Psalm 68-35. Because the Church of Christ is one with the Church of Israel and the Old Testament, we can use the same psalms and receive the same comfort and instruction. As for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways, the Lord shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity, but peace shall be upon Israel.
Psalm 125-5. True believers should take up the spiritual heritage of Israel as their own. They should forget their Gentile father’s house of vanity and walk in the steps of the faith of their father Abraham.
The Exodus, the conquest of Canaan, the Davidic kingdom belong to them. Messiah the Prince is their Savior, and He at His sin-conquering grace is offered to sinners all over the world. It would be hard to conclude this paper without an encouragement to pray for the nation of Israel.
Sadly, the Jews as a people today are hardened against the Gospel, but God in infinite power is able to melt the heart of stone and take away the veil upon their hearts. The day is coming when all Israel will be saved, which means Israel as a people will be brought back into the Church. If we desire spiritual riches, if we long for the spiritual prosperity of the Church, then let us pray for the Jews.
When Israel is brought into the Church, the Church will be elevated spiritually. Believers will be greatly enriched in their souls, filled with grace by the Spirit. Many more will be gathered into the Church of every tribe and nation.
The preaching will come with greater power. The ordinances will be purely administered, and the knowledge of the truth will increase and spread throughout the earth. Moreover, the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the Lord bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.
Godliness will reach heights rarely seen, and God will comfort his people as never before. The time of the Church’s mourning and sackcloth will be over. For the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended.
Thy people also shall be all righteous. They shall inherit the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified. A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation.
I, the Lord, will hasten it in his time.” Isaiah 60, 20-22. If we long for reformation in the Church and the world, let us pray for the outpouring of the Spirit, and pray for the conversion of the Jews, when Israel will be gathered into the Church, and the Church will embrace Israel. And that’s my paper.
Thank you.
Speaker: Rev Jett Smith
Congregation
Text:
Date: 29 October 2025
Series: Theological Conference 2025