The Bible Nerd

One of the most beautiful reports that I have heard about is that there is a church in Israel where both Jewish and Palestinian Christians come together to worship God in one place.  I am sure that there might be more, but my home church has supported and visited this church of rare brotherhood (I won’t mention its name or location for security reasons).  It lets me know what is possible in Christ and in this world, and gives me hope for the future.

There are two issues that I am asked about that didn’t fit into the previous posts.  Are all Gentile Christians called to support the Jews and Israel?  In missions and life, we usually talk about each Christian being called to a specific people group (often their own) or sub group in society (like businessmen).  But, in addition, are we all called to the Jews as Gentiles?  The most often quoted passage in support of this is Psalms 122:6 “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!”.  When David writes this, Jerusalem has just become the capital of Israel, God’s theocracy.  The other passage is Romans 15:27, “For they were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings.”  Here Paul was trying to raise funds from the Gentile church to help the Jews of Palestine and Jerusalem afflicted by a famine.  He saw the offering as a crown on his theology of the olive tree (Rom. 11), Gentiles grafted into one tree with the Jews.

There is a difference however between praying for the peace of Jerusalem, giving to help the poor, and giving money to a secular government or to a lobbying firm in Washington, D.C.  I am not making a value statement here, but I am saying that you should be careful before saying that what you are doing has a “Biblical mandate” behind it.

The other issue is will Israel be the place of the final battle and return of Jesus?  This question can only be answered by a larger look at eschatology that we will do later in this series on top Bible questions.  In a short answer, people who hold a view called premillenial dispensationalism believe that the end times predictions are speaking about literal Israel, and so 1948 and the formation of modern Israel was key to end times prophecies.  Another view called amillenialism believes that the end times predictions are speaking of spiritual or figurative Israel, and so Jesus’ return to Earth will be all at once and global in nature.  The posts on the millenium quetion will go more into detail.

I would like to finish this series of posts with three warnings. First, let’s not simply write off the Jews as being irrelevant to the future of the church.  Paul makes it clear in 11:12 of Romans what their salvation would mean for the world, and it sounds pretty good to me (especially since I am one :).  There is a reason that Paul would go first to the synagogue and then switch to the Gentiles when he entered a new city.  He knew the foundation of theology and the Old Testament that the Jews already had, propelling them forward much faster in their Christianity once they accepted Jesus.

Second, let’s not ignore what is ACTUALLY happening in the modern nation of Israel, giving any of the parties involved a “free pass” to commit crimes and atrocities.  No matter what view you end up with, we can not excuse the violation, torture, or killing of any people group.  God is love (1 John 1), and we as Christians should be known for our love.  I have seen too many Christians turn a blind eye to sins committed by a people group due to their eschatology or views on Israel.

Third, we must not forget that a key focus of the New Testament when it comes to the church is the unity of the people.  Ephesians 4:1ff grind this into the heads of the believers with the repetition of “one”, “one”, “one”.  Not only is this a call to see the reconciliation of Jews and Palestinians, but also among Christians who have differing views on Israel.  What is happening in Israel is difficult and sad, but what is happening with division in the church is inexcusable.  We are one body, one new man, and one church of Jesus Christ.  He is the God of Jews, but also of the Gentiles.  And He is one, right?

Being in Israel was a odd mix of experiences and learning opportunities.  On one level, there was the connection with Biblical history and archeology.  On another level, there was the modern political situation with the issues between the Israelis and the Palestinians.  One moment, I would be looking at various layers of destruction in the ruins of Jericho, and the next moment I was being shown a checkpoint where someone blew themselves up last year.  All of it served to complicate my views on Israel and God’s plan.  Things were much simpler sitting in a classroom in the United States, far removed from the pain and suffering of the land.

So, when people ask me about my views on Israel, I have my views from political science, my views from the Bible, and then I have my personal feelings as an ethnic Jew who has visited the modern nation.  Even though I can discuss passages that pertain to Israel, like we have done the last two posts, in the end, my view of Israel comes from looking at the whole of God’s redemptive plan.  From Genesis to Deuteronomy, God unfolds His plan to create a holy nation bound to Him in covenant and love.  That theocracy was to be guided by priests, prophets, and elders to serve a holy, loving God.  Under civil, ceremonial, and moral law, Israel was given the blessing of being a witness to the surrounding nations by being set apart.

Unfortunately, as the story goes on from Judges to Esther, it is one long, sad tale of their disobedience, idolatry, and social injustice.  This covenant breaking was met with stiff justice as they were taken out of the land and exiled, stripped of the temple, kingship, and their homes. It is abundantly clear that man can’t obtain his own righteousness through the law.  As a physical nation, Israel “blasphemed the name of God among the nations” (Romans 2:24, Isaiah 52:5), and God spoke through the prophets that a new covenant would be needed (Jeremiah 31:31-34).  In this “New” covenant, the law would be on their hearts (Jer. 31), God’s Spirit would be in them (Joel 2:28), and the Suffering Servant would die so that they might have forgiveness from sins (Isaiah 53).

When Jesus did come to earth, He made it clear that He was not there to be king nor to establish a physical kingdom (John 6:15).  The disciples and Jews struggled with this as their messianic expectations were for Israel to be restored and the Romans expelled.  Instead of staying in Jerusalem, Jesus commanded the early church to go out to the “ends of Earth” (Acts 1:8).  Paul’s definition of the “body of Christ”, the church, is one that is spiritual and made up of all ethnicities all over the world (Ephesians 2:14-22).  The old covenant, law, was seen by Paul and the author of Hebrews as a “shadow” of the New Covenant (Hebrews 10:1).  Hebrews 1 – 10 is a consistent argument to not look back to the old covenant, as something much better is here now in Christ.

The question then is, does it fit with this plan to go back to a physical kingdom?  Why would God reestablish Israel as a nation in our modern times, almost two thousand years after it fell to the Romans?  I have heard two different arguments about this, and neither necessitate you being a believer in replacement theology or Christian Zionism.

First, many believe that God is not “going back” to a physical kingdom, but He is merely adding the physical kingdom to the already existing spiritual one in the church.  They point to numerous Scriptures that they feel support their view.  In Acts 1:6, the disciples ask Jesus if He is now going to restore the kingdom of Israel.  Jesus’ reply in Acts 1:7 says, “It is not for you to know the times”.  Jesus doesn’t say, “I am never going to do that”, but instead just tells them that it isn’t their place to know when this will occur.  In Romans 11:11-32, Paul talks about God’s plan to bring the Jews to Him through jealousy of the Gentile believers.  “All Israel being saved” in 11:26 is interpreted to be a huge wave of Jews that will turn back to God shortly before the return of Jesus.  Obviously, this view then interprets most of the Old Testament predictions about the Jews return and Israel in a literal fashion.

Second, some believe that God has concrete plans for the Jews and Israel, but that they are not fulfillments of Biblical prophecy.  This view states that the old covenant is dead, and with it was His focus on a physical nation.  Jesus came to reveal the spiritual kingdom, and it would make no sense to go back to a physical nation anymore.  God does love the Jews and has given them special blessings and gifts, but their existence as a political nation is not necessary for the return of Jesus.  Fitting with this view, they interpret most Old Testament predictions about the future of Israel as pertaining to the church (spiritual fulfillment).  They don’t view the church as replacing Israel at all, but rather they have been “grafted in” to true Israel alongside their Jewish Christian brothers and sisters.  There was never a “replacement”, only an “addition”.

In the next post, I will wrap up this question by addressing a few passages that didn’t fit yet with our previous posts.  Again, there is no way to do full justice to this issue on a blog, but my prayer is that these posts help you and spur you to press into the word of God.  There are so many books and sermons out there on this subject, but we should build our foundation from the Bible alone.  No matter what our view ends up being, let us not grow weary in praying for peace in this situation.  Jews and Palestinians have suffered for so long, and much of our world has given up on the peace process all together.  One new man in Christ.

You have to love those “Ah ha” moments in life.  Like when you figure out that you have to push the bottle cap DOWN as you twist it off (stupid child proof caps).  Or when you realize that the speed limit on that road wasn’t 65 mph, but actually 45 mph, and the police don’t seem to care about your ignorance.  Maybe it is when you finally figure out how to start a new roll of toilet paper without ripping off three layers (seriously, you couldn’t design this any easier???).  For me, I love those “ah ha” moments when you are reading the Bible.  One of my biggest ones came while reading Romans 9.

In Romans 9:6 says, “It is not as though God’s word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.”  What???  What does that mean that “not all who are descended from Israel are Israel”??? That seems to be a completely illogical statement from Paul.  As you read the rest of the chapter, you begin to understand what Paul is doing.  He creates two different Israels in this chapter:  one is the literal nation made up of the physical Jewish people group; the other is a figurative Israel, or spiritual Israel, that has nothing to do with bloodlines and heritage, but has everything to do with faith in Jesus.  He describes how to be in this spiritual Israel in verse 8, “In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring.”  He makes this same point in Galatians 3:7-9, “Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.” So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.”

Paul had been building up to this point in the whole book of Romans.  The church of Rome had split into groups of both Jewish and Gentile home churches.  There was much fighting and ethnic issues between the two groups (Rom. 14:1-15:13).  Paul needed to show them how they are now one body, both Jew and Gentile, in the church of Christ.  He starts with creating a figurative circumcision and Jew in Rom. 2:28-29, “A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God.”  This would have been radical enough if Paul stopped there, but he didn’t.  He went on in chapter 4 to declare that there are figurative descendants of Abraham.  As we saw from Galatians, these spiritual descendants are both Jew and Gentile, and are only Abraham’s children due to their faith in Jesus.

So, if we have figurative circumcision, Jews, and Abraham’s children, the next step was just a logical progression:  we can have a figurative (or spiritual) Israel.  This does NOT mean that there is no longer a physical Israel, or that it isn’t important.  In chapters 9 – 11, Paul continues to go back and forth from the physical Jews to spiritual Israel.  I believe that this teaching of Paul’s is one reason that replacement theologians went in the direction that they did.  They had solid Biblical truth in the concept of spiritual Israel.  The real questions however are: 1) how does the teaching of spiritual Israel affect God’s current plans for the Jewish people?; and 2) how does the concept of spiritual Israel affect our interpretation of the fulifillment of Old Testament predictions?  As we saw already, replacement theology sees spiritual Israel as completely replacing physical Israel, therefore God is only focusing on the spiritual Israel in New Testament times, and all Old Testament predictions not fulfilled already in history or Jesus, should be applied to the church.

Let’s tackle the question on Old Testament predictions first, and then we can deal with God’s overall redemptive plan in the next post.  If all Old Testament predictions were fulfilled either in a literal or figurative way, we would have an easy job.  Unfortunately, the Bible just doesn’t do that.  Some predictions have a very literal fulfillment, which is exactly what we would expect to happen.  For example, Micah 5:2 predicts that the Messiah, Jesus, would be born in Bethlehem, and in Matthew 2:1-6, that is exactly what happened.  However, in Amos 9:11-12, Amos predicts that “David’s shelter” will be rebuilt, Jerusalem will be restored, and that they will possess the surrounding nations.  We would expect this to be fulfilled in a literal way.  In Acts 15:12-21, James, the brother of Jesus, stands up and declares that Amos’s prediction has been fulfilled through the Gentile inclusion in the church.  This means that there is a figurative or spiritual fulifillment of Amos in that God is buidling up the spiritual Jerusalem (Galatians 4:26).

The dilemma then is how do we know if an Old Testament prediction will have a literal or a figurative/spiritual fulfillment?  The real answer is that unless the New Testament specifically gives us the fulfillment, we can’t be 100% sure.  Remember how sure the disciples and Jews were about how they thought the predictions about the Messiah would be fulfilled.  They were all looking to a physical king who would come and kick out the Romans and reestablish Israel, and so they missed Jesus and his true mission often.  Hindsight is always 20/20 when it comes to Biblical predictions.  Isaiah 11:11 could have a literal fulfillment in God regathering the Jews, or it could have a figurative one.  We will have to find another way to make our decision on which one is right.  Don’t you love cliffhangers?  Tune in next time, when we tackle that issue.  It will take us to the ultimate big picture question: how does Israel fit into the overall redemptive plan of God for all time?  Easy, right?

At the time I thought, “This conversation is getting too strange for me.”  I was talking with a (Gentile) woman from Pennsylvania who was wearing a Jewish prayer shawl (that’s not the strange part).  She had started by telling me that she followed all the Old Testament laws, including the dietary laws of Leviticus.  Then, she threw the big one on me by telling me that Jews today aren’t saved by faith, but are still under the law.  God has two ways for people to gain righteousness and entrance to heaven.  One for Jews and one for Gentiles.  I am not sure what disturbed me more, this American, suburban woman who was basically converting to Judaism, or the fact that she believed Jews are still under the old covenant.

The first thing we need to establish as we discuss the Jews is what Paul clearly states in the book of Romans. Romans 10:11-13 says, “For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”  I don’t think it can be any clearer than that!  Whatever we say about modern Israel, we can’t hold any thoughts that would mean that God’s eternal salvation plan for the Jews is any different than the Gentiles.  The author of Hebrews also leaves little doubt that the whole old covenant is no longer binding. Hebrews 8:13 states, “In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.”

What is clear to me from Scripture is that though God doesn’t save the Jews in a different way, He still has a unique plan for them.  The problem with full blown replacement theology is that it leaves no place for this in the New Testament or God’s plan.  Paul states in Romans 11:28-29, “As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.” Yes, irrevocable means irrevocable.  We can’t “un-Jew” the Jews or “un-choose” them.  God has created this people group and given them special blessings, and no whining from Gentiles is going to change that.

The issue that is less clear in Scripture is what has become of the Abrahamic Covenant as regards the land of Israel.  Spiritually, Paul explains that Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of the promises made to Abram and the Jews in Genesis 12:1-4.  Galatians 3:16, “Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one,“And to your offspring,” who is Christ.”  Jesus is the “seed/offspring” that “all the families of the earth” are blessed in.  Through faith, we are all “children of Abraham”, both Jews and Gentiles.  What does this mean for the physical promises then?  We can’t quickly dismiss this covenant, because the New Testament never states that it has ended as we saw with the old covenant.

I have seen two answers to this issue.  First, some say that God ALREADY fulfilled the promise to give them the land as seen in 1 Kings 4:20-21, and no longer needs to do that today.  The problem with this view is that God keeps using the word “forever” to describe how long He has given the land to the Jews (Genesis 13:15, Exodus 32:13).  While it is true that we can pull out passages where God uses the word “forever” in regards to the old covenant (Exodus 28:42, Leviticus 3:17), and that is clearly over, we still don’t have God declaring that about the Abrahamic Covenant in the New Testament.  The second answer that I have heard is that the land is “spiritual” now and not physical.  Jesus repeatedly told his disciples that he came to bring a spiritual kingdom and not an earthly one.  God wouldn’t be going back to the physical anymore (Colossians 2:16-17, Hebrews 10:1).

The bottom line is that as inductive students of the Bible, I don’t believe there is enough evidence to say that the land doesn’t still belong to the Jews as promised by God.  This still leaves many questions however, such as:  who is a Jew?  do we use the Biblical test or modern Israel’s?  does Israel have to be following God to receive this promise, or is it unconditional?  Most Jews today  in Israel are not Christians, nor are they even following the laws of Judaism.

In the end, I believe both the verses from Paul about “irrevocable gifts” combined with the Abrahamic Covenant, make replacement theology hard to justify.  Though it leaves us still with many questions about whether modern Israel is a fulfillment of Biblical prophecy or not, it is fitting more with what we see in Scripture.  Next, we will examine the whole teaching on “spiritual Israel” and see what impact it has on our remaining questions.  I realize that fitting stuff like this into a post is ridiculous sometimes.  Any chance you guys would like to read a 50 page post?  I didn’t think so.

There I was in Israel, having a picnic lunch next to the ancient ruins of Megiddo.  We had just finished hiking around the sites and listening to explanations of the different levels of destruction.  Suddenly, a massive armada of tour buses pulled up, and scores of tour guides poured out of the buses with their extremely American looking passengers.  The main leader of the tour was a famous Christian television personality who shall remain nameless (you’ll see why in a minute).  After a gospel quartet performed (bizarre place to do that), the TV guy preceded to give a teaching on how Megiddo figured into his end times views.  Then he dropped the bomb, “The antichrist is most likely here on Earth already, and I believe he is probably Jewish.”

Seriously??? Right there at the Israeli National Park of Megiddo, with Jews all around, this American Christian says that the antichrist is a Jew.  My point here is that people’s views on Israel and the Jews is all over the board.  From replacement theology to Christian Zionism, the church today has all kinds of “interesting” views on what God is doing with Israel.  For most of church history up until 1948 A.D., this discussion was moot since Israel didn’t exist as a nation.  Something then happened that seemed impossible and against all odds, the Jews reclaimed the promised land and Christians around the world scrambled to explain what was happening.

Replacement theologians explained that all we are witnessing is a modern historical event without Biblical significance.  They believe that in the New Covenant, the church has “replaced” Israel (physical) as God’s people.  All the Old Testament and New Testament predictions that were yet to be fulfilled will all be fulfilled in the church, not the physical nation of Israel.  Of course, saved Jews are part of the church, so God has not rejected the Jews at all.  Merely, the kingdom of Jesus was a spiritual one, not a physical one, where there is no more, “Jew or Greek (Galatians 3:28)”.  The view is not anti-Semitic, but sees no necessity for Israel to be a nation now for end times events to occur.

Christian Zionism falls at the exact opposite side of the spectrum.  They believe that the events happening now in modern Israel are a direct fulfillment of Old Testament predictions that God will “gather His people” and “restore them to the land (Isaiah 11:11-12)”.  Israel will be the site of the final battle in Revelation, and it is the church’s role to support Israel however it can.  This can include giving funds for Jews to return to Israel, lobbying their own governments to support Israel, and praying daily for the “peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6)”.  Most still believe Jews are saved by faith just like Gentiles, but still hold a special calling or status still in God’s eyes (the chosen people).

I have an interesting personal twist to my journey to explore the Bible on this topic.  I am Jewish.  Ok, ok, I am ethnically Jewish, but was raised as a Christian, and never even realized I was Jewish until I was in my 20’s.  I never thought through the care packages we got from my Mom’s family that included those flat, tasteless crackers (Matzah bread- unleavened bread for Passover).  Since it comes from my mother’s side, I could have applied to become an Israeli citizen, as they consider you 100% Jewish if it comes from your mother’s side.  I have gotten some interesting responses from people when I have shared this with them.  The most unusual was that in some Asian countries, they had this starry kind of look in their eye, like I was suddenly seen as being more “special”.

Starting in the next post, I will attempt to do what we have always done on this blog, digging into the Bible and trying to see what it says about this issue.  Don’t try to skip ahead to the end of this series and just look for “what Sean really thinks about all this”.  I will be presenting views and passages, not making absolute conclusions.  Honestly, there are godly, brilliant people on all sides of this issue, and the goal is to challenge us to ponder and pray.  Remember that the church has done everything from killing Jews in the Crusades to giving millions of dollars to support modern Israel.  That is an extreme difference.