Israel of Christ

For those of you who want to take the time to read it, here is my paper for Theology III with Dr. Wellum.

THE ISRAEL OF CHRIST

Introduction
Though it is probably not a subject that will keep many people from sleep at night, the question of the identity of Israel does have great bearing on the Christian’s understanding of the Bible and its central object. In the history of the church, there has been a preponderance of views on the identity of Israel, particularly the Israel of the New Testament. To many people, Romans nine through eleven seem to be a curious anomaly in Paul’s writing, an after thought that really does not seem to belong to the rest of the book. The question that this paper will address is, “Who is the Israel of the New Covenant, as particularly seen in Romans 9-11?” This question will be addressed by examining the two most common evangelical answers to this question and then by examining the biblical evidence. The theme of Israel will then be examined as it is seen in the Bible. Subsequently, this paper will focus on Romans 9:6: “But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel” and Romans 11:26: “And in this way all Israel will be saved.”

Two Views
In order to gain an understanding of the general perspective from evangelicalism, two views on the identity of Israel will be examined. Although there are many more opinions, most fit generally into these two categories. First, there are those who believe that Israel refers to the ethnic socio-political Israel and that the “all Israel” of Romans 11:26 is the modern state of Israel, upon whom will be conferred the entire fulfillment of the promises to Abraham in a millennium setting. The second view holds that Israel is not simply a national entity. Rather, Israel refers either to the Jews that God has chosen for salvation or to the totality of “true Israel or all of God’s people for all time. One view holds to a temporal, geographical fulfillment of salvation; the other holds to an eternal, spiritual fulfillment.

Ethnic Israel
There is a view held by many people today that asserts that, after God has finished with the church, he will again bring the nation of Israel to prominence, literally fulfilling the promise of land made to Abraham. Commonly, this view fits with Dispensationalism and adheres to a temporal reading of Romans 11:26.1 Very simply, those who hold this position believe that God will save all of the Gentiles that he intends to save, temporarily leaving the Jews out of his plan. At the end the church age, at which time all of the Gentiles will have been saved, God will restore the nation of Israel to himself and save the nation as a whole through the fulfillment of his promises to them.2
“[D]ispensationalists are committed to a literal interpretation of Bible prophecy. They insist that Old Testament prophecy regarding national Israel will be fulfilled by the modern state of Israel. . . . [T]he church age functions as “plan B” during this present dispensation. Israel has rejected the kingdom offer made by Jesus, creating the present parenthesis phase of redemption until God again deals with ethnic Israel at the beginning of the great tribulation after the rapture of the Gentile church.”3

A Dispensational reading of Romans requires an end time millennial fulfillment of God’s promises to Israel, and this reading inherently sees the passage in eschatological terms. Steven Kreloff succinctly states the traditional dispensational view:
“The nation of Israel will remain hardened to the gospel until the church is raptured at the close of this age. Then, during the seven-year tribulation period, God will again focus His attention on Israel in order to bring her to Himself and to restore her to a place of blessing.”4


True Israel
The other prominent view among evangelicals is that the Israel of Romans 11:26 refers not to a geo-political Israel. Rather, either Israel refers to the elect remnant of Jews that God has chosen to eternal salvation, or it could refer to all of the people that God has predestined to himself, both Jews and Gentiles, for all time. The “and so” is read not with a temporal understanding of “and then,” but understanding that “and so” means “in this way.” This interpretation stems from the nature of the promises made to Abraham, that he should be the father of many nations.
"But what we have forgot to include in our reasoning is a very simple fact: God, at the very outset of his selecting Abraham, promised to make him a “great goy” – a great Gentile! (Gen. 12:2). God declared to Abraham, “You shall be the father of a multitude of goyim” –a multitude of Gentiles (Gen. 17:5). The implication seems clear: in the fulfilled plan of God, the distinction between Israel and the Gentiles would cease. One redeemed family would remain."5

Another issue to consider is the central focus of Scripture. If the primary goal of the Bible is to tell the story of the nation of Israel, then it would make sense that there should be a final fulfillment in the nature of a restoration of land to the ethnic people of Israel. However, if this is not the goal of Scripture, then the fulfillment of the promises must be reexamined. This view that holds that Israel refers to the people of God for all time sees the goal and focus of Scripture focused on Jesus Christ. Therefore, everything in Scripture must center around him, including the definition of his people. The people of God belong to Christ, and his people are all of a spiritual birth, rather than of a physical descent.
“Why hadn’t the Word of God failed? Paul said, “For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel” (Romans 9:6). This short sentence is of paramount importance. Paul’s point was that being a physical descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob doesn’t make one a recipient of God’s promises to Israel, since only the spiritual descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are the recipients of those promises.”6

Israel then must refer to the spiritual children of God, apart from any genealogical tracing.


Israel in Scripture
Old Covenant
There are many covenants to be found in the Bible, the majority of them coming in the Old Testament. First, there is the covenant with Adam. Adam failed, and as the federal head, all of humanity failed in him. Therefore, God makes the first covenant promise of a redeemer (Genesis 3). The next major covenant is the one that God made with Abraham. He promised that Abraham would be the father of many nations (Genesis 17:4). Abraham believed, and his faith was counted to him for righteousness, though his body being old and Sarah’s womb being closed (Genesis 15:5-6). He believed that God was able and would be faithful to his promises. In addition, when he was required to sacrifice Isaac, he obeyed, also trusting that God was able to raise him from the dead if necessary (Hebrews 11:17-19).
Then came the Mosaic covenant, in which God revealed his law and requirements of obedience to that law. Knowing that the people were unable to obey that law, he instituted a sacrificial system temporarily to atone for the sins of the people (Exodus, Leviticus). Should they obey, God would be satisfied with their obedience in faith. The Spirit did not reside in each person, only in a select few (Joel 2:28-29). Rather, the presence of God dwelt within the tabernacle made by hands. In the day, he led the people as in the form of a cloud. By night, he led them as a pillar of fire (Exodus 13:21). Moses longed for the day when the Spirit would be upon each person, and not just on select leaders (Numbers 11:26-30). This Mosaic covenant is the central covenant of the Old Testament, and much of the Old Testament focuses on how time and again, the Israelites failed to obey the requirements of the law. However, the law was given for just such a purpose that sin might be made known to the people that they might repent (Romans 5).
The Davidic Covenant followed the Mosaic Covenant, and its primary tenet is that there should always be one from the line of David sitting on the throne (Isaiah 9:6-7). This was partially fulfilled in David, Solomon, and Solomon’s sons. However, since both Israel and Judah fell, there was not yet a final fulfillment of the promise. Then in the books of the prophets, we see God making promises to Israel— promises of a new covenant. This is seen very clearly in Jeremiah 31:

“In those days they will not say again, ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, And the children’s teeth are set on edge.’ “But everyone will die for his own iniquity; each man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth will be set on edge. “Behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD. “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God and they shall be my people. “They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the LORD, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more” (Jeremiah 31:29-34)7

Thus, it is that the nation of Israel looks forward to a Messiah and a return to a time of greatness, seeking the new covenant that has been promised. Even in this passage, it is clear that this new covenant is not based upon birth or ethnicity, and the author of Hebrews interprets the passage to mean that the covenant applies to all who believe in the promise. As Matthew Poole says:
"The apostle’s application of this, Heb. viii 8-10, puts us out of doubt that this promise referred to the gospel times. It was not only made with the Jews, but all those who should be ingrafted into that olive; but it is said to be made with them, either as those two terms signify the whole church, with whom that covenant was made. "8

Thus, it is that we see whispers of a larger plan for the people of God than has previously been stated.

Fulfillment in Christ
Having already discussed the three most prominent views on the identity of Israel, it is necessary to examine the biblical text, and most importantly, to examine the theme of the whole of Scripture. It becomes clear that the central theme of the Bible is Christ and the Father's exaltation of him throughout history. To view the nation of Israel as being the central theme of Scripture misses the point. God did not choose a people to himself because of their worthiness or greatness; he chose a people to himself because of their very unworthiness, to make His greatness appear even greater.
“To be a Christian is to recognize in Jesus Christ the goal of all things including the goal of the history of redemption. Because Jesus Christ is the perfect image of God (Colossians 1:15-20, 2:9-10, Hebrews 1:3) we see him as the one towards whom all the former revelation of God is leading, and in whom it is fulfilled and given its meaning. That the Old Testament anticipates the New and is fulfilled in the new is underlined by many general statements from the New Testament.”9

To see Jesus Christ, however, as the fulfillment of all of the old covenant and the author and ruler of the new covenant avoids the extremes of the prior two positions.
There are several areas in Scripture where we see Jesus named as the fulfillment of individual elements of the Old Testament. Through his fulfillment of all of the law and the prophets, Jesus has gathered to himself all worthy titles and the highest inheritance and exaltation of God. First, Jesus is the new Adam. Where Adam failed in his testing, Jesus not only remained innocent, but also conquered the temptation, fulfilling the righteousness of God and bringing life, not death, to his people (Romans 5). Jesus is also the fulfillment to the Abrahamic covenant, for in saving many, he has truly made Abraham the father of many nations (Galatians 3:5-9). Prior to the coming of Jesus, Israel was known chiefly as the nation; but in the gospels, Jesus tells the Pharisees that they are not the sons of Abraham, implying that there is a spiritual lineage that transcends physical heritage (John 8:31-40).
Not only has Christ fulfilled the Abrahamic Covenant, he has also fulfilled the Mosaic and the Davidic covenants. This is seen in many ways. First, Jesus is the fulfillment of the sacrificial system, having made a perfect sacrifice for sin once for all to satisfy the wrath of God (Hebrews 9-10). Whereas, in the Mosaic covenant, people were required to go through the priests to gain access to God, Christ has been made the perfect high priest of all eternity. With the coming of the law, the Israelites were also compelled to go to the tabernacle (and later, the temple) to bring sacrifices and make atonement for sin. The presence of God dwelt not with the people individually, but at the temple. During his time on earth, Jesus declared himself the temple of God that would be destroyed and raised up again in three days, and this is what he was (John 2:19-22). With his death, the curtain that had separated the people from access to the presence of God was shredded, removing the barriers of the law (Mark 15:38).
Whereas David lived only for a while and then died, and Solomon and his sons followed the same pattern, Jesus finally completed line of David. Having descended from David, as witnessed by the genealogies of the gospels, Jesus fit the requirement for a king of Judah. However, unlike the previous kings who died and remained dead, Jesus rose from the grave, reigns in heaven over all of creation, and will continue to do so throughout all eternity. He is truly the victorious Lion of Judah (Revelation 5:5).
Jesus has fulfilled more than the roles of the covenants; even the names and titles bestowed in the old covenants have been gathered to Christ. Solomon was formerly the figurehead of wisdom, but Jesus is the One who is greater than Solomon was. Of past times, Israel was the vine (Hosea 10:1-2); Christ is the True Vine (John 15). Most significantly, Jacob was renamed Israel, but Christ is now True Israel. Where before, everything had been shadows of things to come, accurate yet incomplete pictures created by God, those types have been fulfilled perfectly and completely by Christ.
“In Israel’s history, the people of God is essentially the descendants of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob. In prophetic hope, the people of God is the faithful remnant of Israel. In the gospel, the people of God is Jesus Christ.”10

What was once a shadow is now a blazing light, lacking in no thing. Because Christ is the center of Scripture, and all things point towards him, we can better understand what might otherwise be confusing language in Romans 9-11.


The Place of the Church
Since then Christ is the fulfillment of the old covenants, what happens to the people of God in the New Covenant? Prior to the incarnation of Christ, the people of God were primarily known by their ethnicity. However, it is obvious that terminology has changed in the New Testament. The best approach to understanding a seeming confusion over language and promises is to look at the people of God in relation to Christ. When God’s people are saved, they are not merely made morally neutral, nor are they freed to become whatever they wish. Several times throughout the New Testament, Christians are described as those who are “in Christ” (Romans 8:1). They are the children of God who have been adopted into the family of God; they are the bride of Christ, being prepared for the coming of Jesus. These are not merely quaint word pictures, but descriptions of the reality into which Christians have been placed. What once described the nation of Israel has now been applied to the church. “In Exodus (19:6), Israel is described as “a kingdom of priests.” John applies these words to the church: “He has made us to be a kingdom, priests unto God.”11 The Spirit who vindicated Christ is the same Spirit who seals those who have been redeemed by Christ.
Consequently, the titles that God has bestowed on his people are accompanied by a multitude of gifts and roles. It is by Jesus and for Jesus that all of redemption was accomplished. As Christ has been made heir of all things, so then we are co-heirs with him (Ephesians 1:11). Because God has adopted his elect into his family, Christians are no longer servants but sons and brothers with Christ. As the bride of Christ, the church receives all of the benefits that Christ bequeaths upon his bride. One common factor that ties all of these images together is that the church, the people of God, becomes full partakers in the exaltation and inheritance of Christ. Just as a bride receives her husband’s name, the church also receives the name of Christ, and is truly in him. Everything that belongs to Jesus is made a gift for the people of God; as the church will perfectly reflect the image of Christ, it will be the partaker of all the privileges of being inseparably joined to Christ.

Israel in Romans
It is with this in mind then that we come again to the question of, “Who is Israel?” Because Jesus is True Israel, all who are in him are of Israel, having taken on his name with him. A look at the passage in Romans will demonstrate that the best reading of the text is to understand that Israel refers to the elect people of God for all time.
"It is quite wrong-headed to interpret a distinction made in the Scriptures between the church and Israel—as Chafer and Pentecost argue—as a foundational point of agreement with one of the pillars of the dispensational hermeneutic, that God has two mutually exclusive purposes for national Israel and the Gentile church. Although the church and Israel occupy different roles and stages in redemptive history, that does not constitute an argument for distinct redemptive plans for each group. In fact, the evidence shows that the opposite is the case. In Christ, God takes the two peoples and makes them one."12

Logically, if Romans 9 through 11 refers to the socio-political entity of Israel, then the stability of Paul’s argument is lost. He is affirming that even though it seems that the people of Israel, to whom God had made many promises, had been abandoned. However, if it is not the national entity of Israel to whom God made those promises, then Israel must refer to some other group. This is Paul’s point. It is not as though God’s word had failed, for Israel is a spiritual Israel, made up of a people chosen for salvation.
“We may also note that in 9:8, “God” replaces Abraham as the father of Abraham’s elect descendants. . . . [T]he development of the argument (9:9-29) emphasizes God’s freedom from human constraints and assumptions. The purpose of election depends on the freedom, which, according to vv. 11 and 16, operates apart from human willing and doing. It is but a short step from here to the conclusion that God’s freedom in election might also manifest itself in the creation of children of God who stand outside the fleshly line of descent from Abraham.”13

As the rest of the New Testament points out, there is now no longer any difference between Jew and Gentile, slave and free, male and female. This inclusion of the Gentiles into the promise does not wholly belong to the New Testament. Whispers of such an inclusion are found in
Hosea 2.
Paul, in Romans 11, addresses the coming in of Gentiles. The picture that Paul uses is of grafting into an olive tree. Jews were cut out because of disobedience, and Gentiles were grafted in. The Gentiles must not become proud, for they too could be cut out because of disobedience. Though Paul maintains the distinction between the Jews and the Gentiles throughout this passage, there is one important thing to note. Although both Jews and Gentiles experience cutting and grafting, there is only one plant into which either people is grafted.
“There is, Paul tells us, one good olive tree. Some of the branches are broken off. Branches from a wild olive are grafted in among the branches which remain, that they “may partake of the root and fatness of the olive tree.” The new branches represent Gentile Christians. It would be difficult to state more clearly that the Gentiles in entering the Christian Church become members of a body, a church, or theocracy, which has its roots in the Abrahamic covenant and to which all true descendants of Abraham belong.”14

If Jews and Gentiles have been given different roles historically, there is now one people of God, one vine, and whose root is Christ. “Through the completion of the salvation of “all Israel,” the distinction between ethnic Israel and the Gentiles will truly be abolished.”15 We must remember the book of Hebrews, which gives the best exposition of the covenants. It is not as though the old covenant passed away. Rather, the old covenant has been over taken by the new, having been completely fulfilled in Christ; and the new covenant is much better than the old covenant, for it is sealed by the work of Christ. There is also a need to remember that it is God who calls his people, therefore, the definition of his people those who have been called by him, and God is not limited by race or nationality.
“The call of God constitutes the true Israel; conversely, the people who call on the name of the Lord meet the Lord’s requirement to become identified as Israel, without regard for ethnicity.”16

Conclusion
It is my view, that having considered the whole of Scripture, it is best to understand Israel in Romans 9-11, and particularly Israel in Romans 11:26 to be the whole people of God, both Jews and Gentiles. The cycle whereby the gospel is given to the Jews first and then is taken to the Gentiles, causing jealousy among the Jews, has been the pattern of redemptive history. Even now, there are Jews who are being saved, as are Gentiles. There is no reason to suspect, in light of the phrasing of verse 26, that the salvation of the ethnic Jews is being saved until the end of time.
“Before we turn to the passage itself, several matters which specifically relate to the millennial question need to be considered. . . . For one thing, Paul made no mention of the Jews returning to the promised land, nor do we find any reference to a millennial kingdom in which Jesus rules the earth as a Davidic king during an earthly millennium. Nor do we find any reference made by Paul to a postmillennial golden age in which the world will be largely Christianized. One would certainly think that since Paul is addressing the subject of Israel’s future and if Israel’s future entailed the things dispensationalists and postmillenarians claim that it does, this would be the ideal time for Paul to mention them. But he does not.”17

Paul made himself an example of how Jews, then and now are being saved. Though there are differences between Israel and the church, it is best to understand that the primary focus of Scripture is Jesus Christ’s work to ransom to himself a people for worship.
“The New Testament portrays the ‘Christ event’, which happened two thousand years ago, as the finished, perfect work of God for the salvation of all his people, both Jew and gentile. The gospel – the first coming of Christ – wins for believers all the riches of glory.”18

Therefore, it is vitally important that Christians always look to the gospel with praise and thanksgiving. Most importantly, however, Christians must read and study Scripture with a proper understanding of the goal of Scripture, to magnify the name of Jesus Christ in everything and then emulate that goal in our lives as a people who are found in him.

Footnotes and Bibliography