Transcript

One author insightfully wrote this, “Speech-act theory makes a convincing case that our words not only convey information; they get things done. However, God’s words have power infinitely beyond our own. God’s words are identical with His actions.

“We humans say, ‘Let there be light in this room,’ but first we have to make sure the room has been properly wired. Then we have to walk across the room and flick a switch, or go to the cabinet and grab some matches so we can light a candle.

“Our words need deeds to back them up and can fail to achieve their purposes. God’s words, however, cannot fail their purposes because, for God, speaking and acting are the same things.” Thus when God said, Let there be light, there was light

There is no question about whether God’s words will be fulfilled. They have to be. They are tied to God’s very nature of faithfulness and truth. When God speaks, His words must be and they will be carried out to the letter.

In the next few episodes we’re going to be looking at the question of what happened to Israel. This question is tied to God’s faithfulness to His Word. God promised the nation Israel many things in His Word, many things that have not yet been fulfilled.

So will they be fulfilled? And the answer is, yes, to the letter. Everything God promised Israel in His Word will take place, exactly as He has said. It must be, because again it is tied to God’s nature of faithfulness and truth.

One of the major issues theologians have wrestled with for generations is the question of where and how the nation of Israel fits into God’s plan for the present and the future.

Understanding this is important because it shapes our belief about Israel’s past promises, the nature of the church today, and the fulfillment of Bible prophecy in the future.

When we rightly divide the Word of truth between God’s earthly program with Israel and His heavenly program with the Body of Christ, we can explain what happened to Israel, and we can clearly understand both God’s present plan and His future plans for her.

Galatians 6:15-16: “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.”

To answer the question what happened to Israel, we need to first explain what didn’t happen to Israel. Because it is often taught that the Church replaced Israel in God’s dealings with mankind.

Galatians 6:16 is used as the basis for the position and the claim that now the Body of Christ is the “Israel of God.”

The Church replacing Israel is sometimes called “Replacement Theology.”

Replacement Theology means that the church, has now and for all time, replaced national Israel as God’s people in His plans and purposes. It holds that God is never going to have anything to do with Israel again and that the Church has taken the place of Israel.

This theology teaches that God has forever set Israel aside in unbelief and transferred all the promises He made to her to the Church.

For centuries, theologians have been teaching this doctrine. To support this view, the many promises, the covenants, the blessings and even curses for Israel are spiritualized and spiritually applied to the church of this age to fit this doctrine.

Adherents to replacement theology deny the literal fulfillment of prophecy and covenants made to the nation of Israel. Bible prophecy made about Israel is spiritualized or taken in a non-literal way to make Scripture fit this doctrine.

In other words, Replacement Theology rejects the teaching that God will one day regather and reestablish national Israel in the Promised Land as His chosen people with Israel’s Messiah reigning over all the earth as King.

The prophecies regarding the blessings of regathered Israel in the Promised Land are spiritualized into the Church’s blessings.

And the Church becomes “spiritual Israel” or the new Israel. The literal, earthly, 1000 year kingdom promised to Israel becomes a spiritual kingdom being carried out in the Church today, along with its promises. And the Promised Land becomes heaven.

This system of theology is born out of 5 things: (1) rejecting dispensational theology, (2) failing to recognize the message of grace committed to Paul, (3) desiring to claim all of God’s promises, (4) seeing the lack of fulfillment of prophecy today, knowing that there is still much prophecy to be fulfilled, and (5) seeing Israel’s current condition.

These are all reasons either partially, respectively and/or collectively that has given birth to this theology.

This system of interpretation, however, creates some serious problems. First, it allows for claiming that the clear words of Scripture do not actually mean what they say.

Instead of taking Scripture at face value and being able to just read Scripture and understand it literally for what it says and believe it, this system of interpretation leaves at the mercy of the spiritualizing theologians to tell us what the Bible means.

They and their denominations become the authority rather than God’s Word.

But God has given us His Word in written form that we each might read it, understand it, believe it, proclaim it, and live our lives by it. God says what He means and means what He says. And we should read it and interpret it accordingly.

The second severe problem this theology raises is that it calls God’s faithfulness into question. As it’s been said, “If the obvious, natural meaning of the Old Testament promises is not to be depended upon, how can we depend upon any promise of God.”

God has promised that He will never forsake Israel or His promises to her.

Jeremiah 31:35-37 reads, “Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is His name:

“If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever. Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD.”

If God would abandon Israel and go back on His Word to her, how could we have any assurance of our salvation? It would make us wonder, might He not abandon us sometime in the future as well? If God permanently forsook Israel, then, rightly so, we could never fully trust any of the promises He has made to the Church in Paul’s letters.

But the Lord has given His word that as long as the sun and the moon and the stars appear in the sky, we can know without a doubt that He has not permanently cast Israel aside. This truth brings comfort to the heart of the believer today.

Because as we see that sun each day, and the moon and the stars each night, we can know and trust that God is faithful. He is faithful to His Word. He is faithful to ALL His promises to Israel. He is faithful to ALL His promises to us.

God is the God of truth. His Word is truth. He has spoken in His Word, and He has spoken very clearly. He is faithful to what He has said.

God will bring to pass and fulfill every promise He has made to the nation Israel regarding her eternal hope on the earth. And God will bring to pass and fulfill every promise He has made to the Body of Christ, regarding our eternal hope in the heavenlies.

It’s been said that “When we look back at the faithfulness of God, we praise Him. When we look forward to God’s faithfulness, we trust Him.”

As the Apostle Paul wrote, “For all the promises of God in Him [Christ] are yea, and in Him Amen…” (II Cor. 1:20). As believers in Christ, we have much to be thankful for and look forward to by faith because God is faithful and true to His Word. Everything will come to pass just as God has said and revealed in His Word.

And those who have placed their faith in Christ as their personal Savior have the sure “hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began.”

Now what does “the Israel of God” refer to in verse 16? In the book of Galatians, Paul dealt with the issue of circumcision.

A group of people, called Judaizers, had come among the Galatian believers and taught them that they needed to be circumcised to be accepted by God. They imposed circumcision and the law on these Galatians in addition to Paul’s gospel of grace.

The Galatians allowed themselves to be influenced to mix law and grace, both doctrinally and practically, and were putting themselves under law.

But to Paul, what they were being taught was that Christ was not enough, and that they must have a physical rite, works, and the law in addition to Christ and His grace.

So as Paul concludes the letter, he sums up by saying that whether one is circumcised or not circumcised doesn’t matter. What matters is whether or not one belongs to the “new creature” or the new creation that God has formed.

The new creation that God has formed is the Church, the Body of Christ.

Ephesians 2:15-16 says this about the new creation: “Having abolished in His flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one NEW man, so making peace; And that He might reconcile both [Jew and Gentile] unto God in ONE BODY by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby.”

The new creation, the new man, is the one Body, the Body of Christ, made up of believing Jews and Gentiles, reconciled to God by the Cross.

With the temporary setting aside of Israel and raising up of Paul and the beginning of the of the Church, the Body of Christ, God did not take Israel’s promises and blessings and transfer them to the church so that the church is now spiritual Israel.

Instead, we learn through Paul the Body of Christ is a “new” creation, a “new” man, with our own unique promises and blessings.

This Church, the Body of Christ, did not exist in the times of the Old Testament or the Gospels. It was hid in God.

Not until the Apostle Paul, did Christ reveal the mystery, the body of truth for this age, which revealed “a new creation,” a Church that is separate from Israel.

Paul wrote that the “mystery of Christ,” the message of grace for this dispensation was “in other ages…not made known unto the sons of men.”

Since what was revealed to Paul was not made known unto the sons of men in the past before him, then no prophecy and no promise given to Israel in the past before Paul, whether it is spiritualized or not, would or could refer to the church today.

Paul announced something that had been kept secret since the world began, which was distinct and separate from Israel and separate from God’s purpose for the earth in prophecy. He made known the truth of the NEW Church, the Body of Christ.

Instead of becoming spiritual Israel, Paul announced a whole new creation, the body of Christ, that is separate from Israel and God’s promises to her.

In that Church, Paul says “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” (Gal. 3:28).

Paul wrote in Ephesians 3:6, that in the new man, “That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ by the gospel.”

This new creation is made up of all who believe the gospel of grace, whether Jew or Gentile. We are all one in Him, fellowheirs in Christ. The church is not defined as Israel’s replacement, rather it comprises of all those who have placed their faith in the finished work of Christ, and that the church under grace is a brand new thing, a NEW creation.

In God’s dealings, Israel was set aside temporarily because of her unbelief, and God created a new entity called the body of Christ and revealed that church to Paul. Israel and the Body are two separate entities, with their own distinctive identities in Scripture.

The spiritual Israel concept has been created from a failure to understand the dispensational shift from God’s dealing with Israel to the new creation, the Body of Christ.

As we recognize the Mystery committed to Paul, there is no reason to alter prophecy or spiritualize those promises made specifically to Israel.

We can let them stand, let them mean what they say, and know by faith that they will be fulfilled exactly as God has said in His perfect time.

Then Paul wrote in Galatians 6:16, “And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy…” What rule is Paul talking about?

It’s the rule that in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but that the new creation is what truly avails and means everything.

So Paul bestows peace and mercy “on them,” that is, on those who are part of the new creation, the Body of Christ.

But there is a difference and a dividing line drawn between “as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them,” and “upon the Israel of God.” In other words, between Jews and Gentiles in the Body of Christ and “the Israel of God.”

But if God began a new entity known as the Body of Christ, then what happened to Israel? Is Israel out of the picture forever? Is God finished with Israel?

The answer is, no way. The Israel of God cannot be talking about the Body of Christ because in the Body of Christ, there is neither Jew nor Gentile according to Galatians 3:28. Thus, we know that Paul is talking about a different group of believers.

Paul wrote Galatians during the Acts period. During that time, there was another group of saints that still existed at that time, there were still believing Israelites saved under the ministry of John the Baptist, the Lord, and His apostles who were part of the kingdom church whose hope is earthly.

Remnants of those believing Israelites, the true Israel of faith, were still around, and just so the Galatians (and we to this day) understand that God had not forsaken these saints, Paul pronounced a double blessing here as he closes his Galatian epistle: (1) peace and mercy on the “new creation” and (2) peace and mercy upon “the Israel of God.”

Rather than this passage showing that the Body of Christ is the Israel of God, we see how instead it shows that they are two separate entities.

The Church, the Body of Christ is the “as many as walk according to this rule.” The “Israel of God” are believing Israelites of God’s earthly kingdom program, who trusted in Jesus as their Messiah and the Son of God.

Romans 4:9-12: “Cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision only, or upon the uncircumcision also? for we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness.

“How was it then reckoned? when he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision.

“And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also:

“And the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised.”

This passage is also sometimes used as a basis for the position that we are spiritual Israel, because Paul says that Abraham “is the father of all them that believe.”

“Cometh this blessedness” Paul wrote. What blessing is Paul talking about? The context shows that it is God’s righteousness and the forgiveness of sins.

Since he’s using Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation, as the example, Paul shows that God’s righteousness is available not only to the Jews, but also the Gentiles, or the nations.

Paul demonstrates in this chapter how Abraham did not receive the righteousness of God by his good works, by circumcision, or by the law, but by faith alone.

It’s important to this day, because there are many who believe they are saved by their good works, by a religious ceremony or rite, or by keeping the ten commandments.

In these verses, Paul first points out that Abraham was declared righteous by God before he ever received the sign of circumcision. When he was circumcised, it was merely “a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised” (v. 11).

Paul is making a case for the truth of justification by faith alone, that as verse 3 says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.”

In Verse 10, Paul asked, “how was it [or righteousness] then reckoned? When he was in circumcision or in uncircumcision.” Paul then answered his own question that Abraham was justified by faith and not by religious circumcision.

Abraham was justified by faith at least 14 years before he was ever circumcised. Abraham was not righteous before God because of the rite of circumcision, but because of his faith in God.

So the logic is that if an uncircumcised Abraham could be declared righteous by faith, then the “uncircumcision,” or the Gentiles, “though they be not circumcised,” can and are declared righteous by faith alone in this dispensation.

Abraham is the father of uncircumcised believers, or Gentiles, because he himself was made righteous by faith before he was ever circumcised. Because Gentiles are saved today like Abraham, by faith alone, Abraham is the father of all them that believe under grace.

Galatians 3:7 tells us this, “Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.”

But in the past, God desired a circumcised separate nation, and Abraham was the physical father of that nation as well as the spiritual father of believers within it, who “walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised.”

Therefore he is the father of all them that believe. Whether Gentiles under grace, or Israel under prophecy, he is the father of us all. And all saved under God’s various dispensations receive the same spiritual blessing as Abraham: righteousness.

But when it says that Abraham is “the father” of believing Gentiles, there is no thought of physical descent/lineage or that we become spiritual Israel or replace Israel.

In fact, Galatians 4:28 says this, “Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.” We are children of promise, Paul wrote, that is, the promise of righteousness and the promise of the Holy Spirit according to the context of that passage and Galatians.

But notice that we are not the children of Jacob, which is Israel. Galatians 4:28 tells us that we are as Isaac was. We precede Israel. Therefore, we are not and cannot be spiritual Israel.

Israel remains Israel, with her promises, prophecies and blessings to be fulfilled in the future in the promised land on the earth. And the Body of Christ remains the Body of Christ, with our promises and blessings to be fulfilled in the heavenlies.

Gentile believers under grace have Abraham as their father because as children do, they imitate. And we imitate Abraham’s faith and follow his pattern and example in order to be righteous: we just believe God and righteousness is imputed to our account.

Abraham is the parent believer, the model man of justification by faith, after whose example all follow under grace, whether Jew or Gentile, in order to be saved. Because by faith alone, trusting that Christ died for us and rose again, we are righteous.

Psalm 36:5 reads, “Thy mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; and Thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds.”

So what difference does all this make to our lives? How can we be transformed by grace by knowing God’s plan for Israel?

Life is all about change and we live in a world of constant change. But God’s great faithfulness, which reaches to the clouds, brings stability to our lives. We gain spiritual strength by resting in God’s faithfulness.

The faithfulness of God is foundational to our faith: If God is not faithful to His Word and His promises, then we have no security or assurance and our hope is empty.

But because God is always faithful and fulfills ALL His promises, both to Israel and us the Body of Christ, we know our faith is real and our hope and eternal destiny is secure.

God is faithful to Israel and to the Church and the promises He has made to each one as a whole. And God is faithful to each one of us individually. He is faithful be with us always and to never leave us as He comforts, guides, and strengthens us in the journey of life, and He is faithful to work in our lives to conform us into the image of His Son.

Because of His faithfulness, we are “confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:6).

When we allow God’s faithfulness to reassure and uplift our hearts and minds, our faith in Him grows and increases. And grace and faith work together. As we grow deeper in our faith, God, by His grace, will transform our lives.

Join us next time as we further investigate the question, “What happened to Israel?”