- Isaiah 11:10-11
I often get caught between the dispensationalists on one side, who talk breathlessly of the founding of the modern State of Israel as a fulfillment of prophecy, and so-called "replacement theologians" on the other, who claim that God has no further plan for ethnic Israel, because the only Israel under the New Covenant is, they claim, the church. Each end wrongly puts lumps me with the other.
Let me start by saying that I do consider the church to be the true, spiritual Israel, both in the Old and in the New Testaments, consisting of all elect Jews and Gentiles. I deny that there are two peoples of God. That alone excludes me from the dispensationalist camp. However, I also deny that God has finished with His purposes for ethnic Israel, as a group, so that excludes me from the "replacement theology" camp.
These verses are part of why. They begin with a reference to "the root of Jesse." That phrase sounds odd, but it is merely a poetic reference to Jesus Christ. Notice that Paul applies the phrase exactly in the same way in Romans 15:8-12. Thus, these verses are a prophecy of something that will happen in Christ. That excludes the dispensationalist, literalist use of the following verse, verse, 12, which tells us that "[God] will assemble the banished of Israel, and gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth." This cannot be a reference to the 1948 gathering of the Jews in the modern State of Israel, because that is not, emphatically not, in Christ. Rather, it must be a reference to the gathering of the Jews into the church, as they repent of their rebellion and turn to Jesus as their long-awaited Messiah.
We see this described beautifully in Zechariah 12:10: "I [God] will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a
spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on Me, on Him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for Him, as one mourns for
an only child, and weep bitterly over Him, as one weeps over a firstborn." And also by Paul in Romans 11:25-28: "'The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will banish ungodliness from Jacob'; 'and this will be My covenant with them when I take away their sins.'
Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written,
'As
regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards
election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers.'"
God certainly has a plan for the remnant of ethnic Israel. Though they have been hardened, as a group, for their rejection of Christ two thousand years ago, a day will come when they will repent of that rejection, and be received again as God's people, not separately from the church, or from the Gentiles in the church, but as one people of God, the church!
God certainly has a plan for the remnant of ethnic Israel. Though they have been hardened, as a group, for their rejection of Christ two thousand years ago, a day will come when they will repent of that rejection, and be received again as God's people, not separately from the church, or from the Gentiles in the church, but as one people of God, the church!
I'm interested in your comments. They sound balanced to me. My convictions are closest to amillennialism but, unlike some amillennarians, I do think there must be some specific working out of the prophecies for natural Israel, especially relating to Rom 11. I like your interpretation of the return of Israel being to the church. That's a good way of putting it. The pictures of the future heavenly home in Isaiah, Micah, and in most if not all the Old Testament prophets cannot be literal pictures of a kingdom here on this earth because they all assume the Levitical priesthood and animal sacrifices are still happening in this paradisial new home. We know from Hebrews 8-10 that the Old Covenant is now obsolete and inadequate. God will not go back to relations with natural Israel according to the OC, now He has abolished it and replaced it with the New. Correct "replacement theology is not by any means replacing the Jews with the church; it is replacing the Old Covenant with the New, and seeing the arising of the "One New Man" of Eph 2. The New Man represents both Jew and Gentile, now one people of God, with all divisions removed. Hallelujah!! Hopefully your site will be a sensible haven where we can discuss these weighty matters sensibly.
ReplyDeleteNo, they don't assume that the ceremonies will still be performed. Rather, the prophecies are expressed in language appropriate to their audience. The ceremonies were still current when the prophecies were written. So, look at them, not in terms of the Mosaic language, but rather in terms of Him to which those ceremonies directed the faithful.
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