Israel means to have power with God, or to be an overcomer in faith. Jacob received this name in type. Israel as a nation received this name in type. But they fell short of its meaning. They hardened their heart and turned away from God. But God had a remnant, who was the real Israel, or those whom He had a relationship with.
Remnant theology is throughout the Old Testament. These were the people of God.
Israel is a bit like the church today. The church as an organisation carries the name church, but it is not the church. The church is the body of Christ, those who are born again, who are in the household of faith, not in a brick building. The world thinks of the organisation, but the church is those who are in Christ. Israel is the same. It is not a nation. It is the people of God.
David’s house was considered the remnant after the ten northern tribes defected. This left Judah. But even Judah fell. David’s lineage itself fell away from God. At the end there was none that overcame in God’s faith. Even the remnant fell short. The Bible says that God looked and there was no man, therefore His arm brought salvation (Is 59:16). The prophets called Israel a cut down tree, totally cut off in judgement, with no man or remnant remaining (Is 11:1, 10).
This means that all from Jacob fell short of the faith that the term Israel portrayed. Was this to be the end? Israel had its hope in David’s offspring, but David’s house was in judgement. But God had one from David’s house who would not fail. He would overcome when tried. He would remain faithful. He would inherit the promises. He would fulfil everything meant by Israel and be the hope of our salvation.
It is at this point that Christ came forth, “the shoot”, “the root of the stem of Jesse” and the “branch”. Jesse was David’s father, or David’s house. His house had been cut down in judgement, so only the stump was left in the ground. There was no hope from any among man or from any remnant. So God brought forth Christ as a shoot from the stump and from Christ He brought salvation to His people.
When Israel fell and none could be counted as Israel, none had kept the faith. Christ alone was left. He alone overcame in His faith (John 14:31,16:33). This means that He perfectly obeyed the Father. Christ is God’s Israel. According to Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary Israel means “He will rule as God.”. He, as in one: seed, as in singular. This was not Jacob. Jacob was a type. Christ is Israel, the Servant of the Lord.
Read Isaiah chapter 42 onwards, which depicts Jesus as Israel the Servant, along with Jacob whom the Servant redeemed (us). Israel was to serve God spreading His word in the world, but failed, so Jesus becomes that Servant to succeed and to redeem mankind. Here Jacob means the people of the Servant, believers from the Jews and from all the Gentile nations, the total elect whom the Servant saved.
You are My Servant O Israel, in whom I will be glorified. (Is 49:3).
It is a light thing that You should be My Servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved of Israel. I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, that You may be salvation to the ends of the earth. (Is 49:6).
Israel is Jesus Christ, in whom are the restored and preserved (elect) of the nation Israel and the elect of all nations of the Gentiles, to the ends of the earth. This is Israel and Jacob, the family of God in Jesus Christ. The prophets could not have made it any clearer.
Tuesday, 13 April 2010
Monday, 12 April 2010
Fulfilled in Christ
The Gospel of John is full of I am’s: “I am the bread of Life”; “I am the light of the world”; “Before Abraham was, I am…”; “I am the good shepherd”; “I am the door”; “I am the way the truth and the life”. It is clear also that John was putting Jesus forward as the hope of Israel.
If Jesus fulfilled all the Old Covenant shadows, such as the priesthood, Sabbath and temple, etc. why do some not include in this that Jesus also fulfilled the imagery of the term Israel and the Promised Land? What is the difference? We should include the nation of Israel and the land. Jesus fulfilled them all.
Take for example Jacob. His name was changed to Israel. Did Jacob really overcome by his own works and merits, or was he given that blessing in Christ? The name Israel that was accredited to Jacob was really fulfilled in Jesus Christ. We know certainly that Jesus Christ alone overcame. Jacob (Israel) therefore was a picture of Christ and spoke of the coming redeemer.
Concerning the land, Jesus said, “…believe Me, the hour comes, when you shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem worship the Father…But the hour comes and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in Spirit and in truth…” (John 4:21-23). With this one statement Jesus abrogated all holy land. It does not exist anymore. He is its fulfilment.
Jesus also said, “Wherever two or three are gathered, there am I in the midst of them.” (Matt 18:20). By this He meant that no one had to come to the temple or to Jerusalem to worship. He also said in the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.” (Matt 5:5).
The Greek word He used here for earth is ge. This term was used for land in general, or was used for Israel’s land. In religious terms it referred to the fulfilment of promise. The Bible portrays the Promised Land as being fulfilled in rest and symbolizing redemption (Heb 4:8). Christ Himself is the promise of rest and redemption for the meek. “Thank you Father, for You have hid this from the wise and revealed it to babes…Come to Me…and I will give you rest.” (Matt 11:25, 28).
The land refers to the Old Testament garden imagery: paradise. It means a place of rest, fulfilment, where there is no sin, where there is no frustration, where only good happens. This is not something to come, but it is our redemption. We hear this in secular songs, people wishing for such a place. We have such a place. He is Jesus, who overcomes sin in the heart with faith.
But many of the Jews were Zionists, meaning they wanted a restored kingdom in Israel, in Jerusalem. They wanted what they wanted, not what God was doing. This is not what Jesus came to do. All the apostles said that the church is the fulfilment of the Old Testament types and shadows. None of them mentioned any continuing role of any of these types, including Israel, the land, or the temple.
If Jesus fulfilled all the Old Covenant shadows, such as the priesthood, Sabbath and temple, etc. why do some not include in this that Jesus also fulfilled the imagery of the term Israel and the Promised Land? What is the difference? We should include the nation of Israel and the land. Jesus fulfilled them all.
Take for example Jacob. His name was changed to Israel. Did Jacob really overcome by his own works and merits, or was he given that blessing in Christ? The name Israel that was accredited to Jacob was really fulfilled in Jesus Christ. We know certainly that Jesus Christ alone overcame. Jacob (Israel) therefore was a picture of Christ and spoke of the coming redeemer.
Concerning the land, Jesus said, “…believe Me, the hour comes, when you shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem worship the Father…But the hour comes and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in Spirit and in truth…” (John 4:21-23). With this one statement Jesus abrogated all holy land. It does not exist anymore. He is its fulfilment.
Jesus also said, “Wherever two or three are gathered, there am I in the midst of them.” (Matt 18:20). By this He meant that no one had to come to the temple or to Jerusalem to worship. He also said in the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.” (Matt 5:5).
The Greek word He used here for earth is ge. This term was used for land in general, or was used for Israel’s land. In religious terms it referred to the fulfilment of promise. The Bible portrays the Promised Land as being fulfilled in rest and symbolizing redemption (Heb 4:8). Christ Himself is the promise of rest and redemption for the meek. “Thank you Father, for You have hid this from the wise and revealed it to babes…Come to Me…and I will give you rest.” (Matt 11:25, 28).
The land refers to the Old Testament garden imagery: paradise. It means a place of rest, fulfilment, where there is no sin, where there is no frustration, where only good happens. This is not something to come, but it is our redemption. We hear this in secular songs, people wishing for such a place. We have such a place. He is Jesus, who overcomes sin in the heart with faith.
But many of the Jews were Zionists, meaning they wanted a restored kingdom in Israel, in Jerusalem. They wanted what they wanted, not what God was doing. This is not what Jesus came to do. All the apostles said that the church is the fulfilment of the Old Testament types and shadows. None of them mentioned any continuing role of any of these types, including Israel, the land, or the temple.
Sunday, 11 April 2010
The Early Christian Church
All Old Covenant imagery relates to Christ and has its fulfilment in Him. This is what made the church distinctive in its early years. It claimed that Christ fulfilled all the expectations and hopes of Israel. A doctrine that does not find its fulfilment in Him, but in some peripheral idea or event, is not Christian. “Faith is the substance of things hoped for,” which means all the types under the Old Covenant (Heb 11:1
To think that the Jews, or a millennial kingdom in Israel, were to be a fulfilment of the Old Testament prophecy was unthinkable. All is fulfilled in Christ. Christ is everything. This is what makes Christianity Christianity and not a Judeo/Christian sect. There is no fulfilment of scripture outside of Christ. He is the theme of the entire word of God. This was Paul’s view:
But when the Jews spake against it, I was constrained to appeal to Caesar…because that for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain…he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses and out of the prophets, from morning till evening. (Acts 28:19-20, 23. See also Matt 5:17 and Luke 24:44).
Jesus is the hope of Israel, meaning that all of their hopes are fulfilled in Him. All of the prophetic and symbolic expectations are fulfilled in Jesus Christ. This is what the church stood to declare in the book of Acts. Israel’s hopes are not fulfilled in a national kingdom, but in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, for eternal life. The scriptures claim that those from Israel who do not follow Christ are cut off from God’s people (Deut 18:15-19, Acts 3:22-23). This is the plain teaching of the word of God.
To think that the Jews, or a millennial kingdom in Israel, were to be a fulfilment of the Old Testament prophecy was unthinkable. All is fulfilled in Christ. Christ is everything. This is what makes Christianity Christianity and not a Judeo/Christian sect. There is no fulfilment of scripture outside of Christ. He is the theme of the entire word of God. This was Paul’s view:
But when the Jews spake against it, I was constrained to appeal to Caesar…because that for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain…he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses and out of the prophets, from morning till evening. (Acts 28:19-20, 23. See also Matt 5:17 and Luke 24:44).
Jesus is the hope of Israel, meaning that all of their hopes are fulfilled in Him. All of the prophetic and symbolic expectations are fulfilled in Jesus Christ. This is what the church stood to declare in the book of Acts. Israel’s hopes are not fulfilled in a national kingdom, but in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, for eternal life. The scriptures claim that those from Israel who do not follow Christ are cut off from God’s people (Deut 18:15-19, Acts 3:22-23). This is the plain teaching of the word of God.
Saturday, 10 April 2010
Jesus and the Temple
Jesus stated that His kingdom was not of this world and that He fulfilled and thereby put away the Old Covenant types and shadows. For example, in John 7:37-39 He stated that He is the fulfilment of the Feast of Tabernacles and the Old Testament temple imagery. John 7:38 refers back to Ezekiel’s temple in Ezekiel 47, out of which flowed rivers of living water. Jesus’ interpretation of Ezekiel’s temple was not a rebuilt temple in Jerusalem, but the church.
Nowhere in the Gospels did Jesus interpret this in any other way, nor speak of any kingdom or temple in Israel to come. Jesus did not prophesy of a national kingdom of God in Israel during or after the church era on earth.
Jesus said to the Jews, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” (John 2:19). The temple He spoke of was His body. Jesus put Himself forward as the fulfilment of all Old Testament shadows and types. It is clear in scripture that He fulfilled:
1. The Old Covenant priesthood (Heb 8:1).
2. The promises to David that a king would not fail to sit on his throne forever (Zech 6:3).
3. The Sabbath.
4. All the feasts (festivals).
5. The Jubilee.
6. The tabernacle and temple.
7. The Old Covenant sacrifices.
8. Israel.
9. The Promised Land.
Jesus fulfilled all Old Covenant types and shadows, not some of them. The whole testimony of scripture is concerning Jesus Christ. He is the spirit of prophecy, meaning the whole word of God points to Him (Rev 19:10).
…I come, in the volume of the book it is written of Me, to do Your will, O God…He takes away the first that He may establish the second. (Heb 10:7, 9).
The first that He took away was the Old Covenant and all its imagery and types. He came to fulfil all. He is the will of God. The shadow is not the will of God and has been taken away by the reality of Jesus Christ.
Nowhere in the Gospels did Jesus interpret this in any other way, nor speak of any kingdom or temple in Israel to come. Jesus did not prophesy of a national kingdom of God in Israel during or after the church era on earth.
Jesus said to the Jews, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” (John 2:19). The temple He spoke of was His body. Jesus put Himself forward as the fulfilment of all Old Testament shadows and types. It is clear in scripture that He fulfilled:
1. The Old Covenant priesthood (Heb 8:1).
2. The promises to David that a king would not fail to sit on his throne forever (Zech 6:3).
3. The Sabbath.
4. All the feasts (festivals).
5. The Jubilee.
6. The tabernacle and temple.
7. The Old Covenant sacrifices.
8. Israel.
9. The Promised Land.
Jesus fulfilled all Old Covenant types and shadows, not some of them. The whole testimony of scripture is concerning Jesus Christ. He is the spirit of prophecy, meaning the whole word of God points to Him (Rev 19:10).
…I come, in the volume of the book it is written of Me, to do Your will, O God…He takes away the first that He may establish the second. (Heb 10:7, 9).
The first that He took away was the Old Covenant and all its imagery and types. He came to fulfil all. He is the will of God. The shadow is not the will of God and has been taken away by the reality of Jesus Christ.
Friday, 9 April 2010
Jesus’ View on Israel
We will start with John the Baptist, who introduced Jesus’ ministry. John said to the Jews:
Think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham as our father: for I say to you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham. (Matt 3:9).
Here it is clear that having a natural lineage from Abraham does not make us Abraham’s seed. This is the teaching right through the Gospels. Jesus said to some of the Jews that they were not Abraham’s children, but children of the devil:
They answered and said to Him, Abraham is our father. Jesus said to them, If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham. But now you seek to kill Me, a man that has told you the truth, which I have heard from God: this Abraham did not do…You are of your father the devil. (John 8:39-44).
Here Jesus claimed that whether we are children of Abraham depends on our deeds. Thus Jesus said that the children of Abraham shall come from afar and many in the racial kingdom of Israel shall not be included in Abraham’s seed:
And I say to you, That many shall come from the east and west and shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matt 8:11-12).
In Jesus mind it is clear that Abraham’s seed meant those who have the faith of and who walk in the steps of, Abraham.
Think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham as our father: for I say to you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham. (Matt 3:9).
Here it is clear that having a natural lineage from Abraham does not make us Abraham’s seed. This is the teaching right through the Gospels. Jesus said to some of the Jews that they were not Abraham’s children, but children of the devil:
They answered and said to Him, Abraham is our father. Jesus said to them, If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham. But now you seek to kill Me, a man that has told you the truth, which I have heard from God: this Abraham did not do…You are of your father the devil. (John 8:39-44).
Here Jesus claimed that whether we are children of Abraham depends on our deeds. Thus Jesus said that the children of Abraham shall come from afar and many in the racial kingdom of Israel shall not be included in Abraham’s seed:
And I say to you, That many shall come from the east and west and shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matt 8:11-12).
In Jesus mind it is clear that Abraham’s seed meant those who have the faith of and who walk in the steps of, Abraham.
Thursday, 8 April 2010
A Definition of Israel
Israel was a term used before Israel ever became a nation. It was used to designate the worshippers of Jehovah. Gerhard Kittel’s Theological Dictionary of the New Testament shows this ancient usage of Israel. It meant literally to have power with God, meaning relationship, or to overcome in faith. It means the people of God, to be in the family of God, to be the elect of God, to be called of grace through faith.
Israel is not a racial term. It is a theological term. It means to be the people of God by the election of grace. The first time we see this term in the Bible is with Jacob in the book of Genesis. He was called Jacob which means deceiver or swindler and that is what he did until the time that he met with God on his way back from staying with his uncle Laban.
God called Jacob according to His plan before he was born and met him face to face. This encounter changed Jacob’s character and from that time he was a changed man. Before that time he had a religious faith, but was still a deceiver. When he met with God his name was changed to Israel, which meant God’s heir, possessor of the promises, elect of God and one who is in God’s family.
Israel is not a racial term. It is a theological term. It means to be the people of God by the election of grace. The first time we see this term in the Bible is with Jacob in the book of Genesis. He was called Jacob which means deceiver or swindler and that is what he did until the time that he met with God on his way back from staying with his uncle Laban.
God called Jacob according to His plan before he was born and met him face to face. This encounter changed Jacob’s character and from that time he was a changed man. Before that time he had a religious faith, but was still a deceiver. When he met with God his name was changed to Israel, which meant God’s heir, possessor of the promises, elect of God and one who is in God’s family.
Wednesday, 7 April 2010
Christ is Israel
In this chapter we look at the meaning of the biblical term Israel. Topics include:
• The Old Testament view.
• Jesus’ view on Israel.
• Paul’s view on Israel.
• The Promised Land.
• Romans chapter 11.
• What does national Israel mean today?
There are four main theories to explain the identity of Israel:
1. Israel is the racial nation of the Jews, today situated in the Middle East and scattered in other nations. We believe that in some contexts in the Bible the term is used for a racial group and in other instances it is used for a faith group.
2. Replacement Theology, which is the idea that the church has replaced Israel. This view holds that God has no restoration plan for racial Israel. This term is used more by detractors of the two views below. The replacement view is not seriously held by many.
3. Inclusion Theology, which means that the Gentiles are more widely included in the Commonwealth of Israel in the New Covenant era. This is view we hold in this chapter.
4. Christ is Israel and He includes with Him believing Jews and Gentiles. This is more exactly the view that we hold in this chapter.
There are other theories, such as British Israel (BI), which holds that British tribes are the lost tribes of the northern House of Israel. There is also Japanese Israel (JI) and many other forms, as various nations stake their claim. These are fables and harmful doctrines. Calling is in the cross of Christ, not through nationality.
Dispensationalists hold to the racial theory of Israel. In this view Israel according to the flesh (the natural descendants of Abraham) is Israel. This can be disproved in one statement: If the seed of the flesh are Israel, then Ishmael and Esau would be Israel also. They too are the sons of Abraham. Paul said this directly in Galatians 4, which we look at below.
This view also sees the land of Palestine today as the Holy Land. It sees the return of the Jews there today as a last-days event before the Second Coming of Christ. The view also holds that he who blesses Israel as a nation is blessing Abraham’s seed and so will be blessed of God. The view claims that we should pray in a particular way for the city of Jerusalem.
It is also said by some that there is spiritual merit, even a greater access to God in prayer, in travelling to Israel. Not all hold the teaching to this extreme, but this does show the potential for an antichrist position. There is one access to the Father and that is through the blood of Christ. Access is through Jesus Christ alone.
Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. (Rom 5:1-2).
Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter the holiest through the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He has consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, His flesh. (Heb 10:19-20).
• The Old Testament view.
• Jesus’ view on Israel.
• Paul’s view on Israel.
• The Promised Land.
• Romans chapter 11.
• What does national Israel mean today?
There are four main theories to explain the identity of Israel:
1. Israel is the racial nation of the Jews, today situated in the Middle East and scattered in other nations. We believe that in some contexts in the Bible the term is used for a racial group and in other instances it is used for a faith group.
2. Replacement Theology, which is the idea that the church has replaced Israel. This view holds that God has no restoration plan for racial Israel. This term is used more by detractors of the two views below. The replacement view is not seriously held by many.
3. Inclusion Theology, which means that the Gentiles are more widely included in the Commonwealth of Israel in the New Covenant era. This is view we hold in this chapter.
4. Christ is Israel and He includes with Him believing Jews and Gentiles. This is more exactly the view that we hold in this chapter.
There are other theories, such as British Israel (BI), which holds that British tribes are the lost tribes of the northern House of Israel. There is also Japanese Israel (JI) and many other forms, as various nations stake their claim. These are fables and harmful doctrines. Calling is in the cross of Christ, not through nationality.
Dispensationalists hold to the racial theory of Israel. In this view Israel according to the flesh (the natural descendants of Abraham) is Israel. This can be disproved in one statement: If the seed of the flesh are Israel, then Ishmael and Esau would be Israel also. They too are the sons of Abraham. Paul said this directly in Galatians 4, which we look at below.
This view also sees the land of Palestine today as the Holy Land. It sees the return of the Jews there today as a last-days event before the Second Coming of Christ. The view also holds that he who blesses Israel as a nation is blessing Abraham’s seed and so will be blessed of God. The view claims that we should pray in a particular way for the city of Jerusalem.
It is also said by some that there is spiritual merit, even a greater access to God in prayer, in travelling to Israel. Not all hold the teaching to this extreme, but this does show the potential for an antichrist position. There is one access to the Father and that is through the blood of Christ. Access is through Jesus Christ alone.
Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. (Rom 5:1-2).
Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter the holiest through the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He has consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, His flesh. (Heb 10:19-20).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)