Transcript

ANNOUNCER: What is the distinction between the Church and Israel? What is replacement theology? Has the New Testament Church replaced Israel? Let’s talk about these questions today. Here on Grace in Focus, and we appreciate you joining us today, this is a ministry of the Grace Evangelical Society. We have a website, faithalone.org. Lots to learn about us there. And we also have a YouTube channel, YouTube Grace Evangelical Society. We release videos weekly, and we want you to come sign up and enjoy those videos like them. And it is YouTube Grace Evangelical Society. Once again, our website is faithalone.org. 

And now with today’s question and answer discussion, here’s Bob Wilkin, along with Sam Marr. 

BOB: I think you have a question, Sam, from someone about Israel and the Church?SAM: Yeah, it’s a question from Ron. He said, basically, he was trying to explain the distinction between the Church and Israel to someone, and he feels he didn’t do a great job of it. So he wants one, some Scripture to point to, that shows that they’re distinct, and then two, if you were explaining this to someone that either believes that the Church replaced Israel or just doesn’t really have an opinion on it, how would you explain this to them clearly? 

BOB: Okay, so a really good question, Ron. Thank you for asking it. Let me start by discussing what this issue is. It’s called replacement theology, or sometimes it’s called supercessionism. Replacement theology is the idea that because of Israel’s long rejection of God and rebellion against God, and His rule over Israel, culminating when Jesus came, when Messiah came, the nation rejected him. Replacement theology says, at that point, God washed His hands of Israel, the former Israel had been God’s chosen people, but now the Church became God’s chosen people. 

And of course, there’s all the promises made to Israel, the promises made to Abraham, to Isaac, to Jacob. They were promised that they were going to have the land, and they were promised that the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob would be numbered like the stars, and like the sands of the seashore. Well, that’s never happened. Israel has never been the dominant world power. It’s never been a huge nation. There is a day coming when Israel will be that, and that’s going to be the Millennium, and on the new earth, Israel will be the world power. Jesus will rule from the new Jerusalem. 

So, replacement theology ultimately means that the promises made have been taken away. If you have your Bible there, Sam, look at Romans chapter 11. I believe it’s verse 29 that talks about the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. 

SAM: Yep, 29 says, “For the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable. For as you were once disobedient to God, yet now have obtained mercy through their disobedience.”

BOB: Right. Now, if you look at that, the word irrevocable is essentially a synonym for irreplaceable. And if you look earlier in verse 26, Paul says, what then all Israel will be saved? 

SAM: Yep, and so all Israel will be saved as it is written. And he quotes from the Old Testament.

BOB: Yeah. What happens is at the end of the Tribulation, every adult Jew will be a believer. And when it talks about all Israel will be saved, it means more than all Israel will be born again. It means all of the adult Jews in Israel will be delivered from Gentile domination and will become part of the ruling nation. It doesn’t mean that all the children in Israel are going to be born again. They won’t. Babies in Israel are going to go into the kingdom and children are going to go into the kingdom, but that doesn’t mean they’re born again, but they’re all going to be saved. Even all of the children will be saved, just like they were saved out of Egypt when the nation was brought out of slavery from Egypt. So the nation will be saved from Gentile domination. 

Replacement theology is very dangerous for many reasons. One of which is it contradicts Scripture. In other words, if the gifts and calling of God are revocable, well, then how do I know that my salvation is not going to be taken away, right? How would Ron know that his everlasting life is really everlasting life? 

SAM: Yeah. Or from the Church’s perspective, if the Church replaced Israel, but then if the Church is disobedient, let’s say for 2000 years, then is there going to be a third party that receives it? Because it’s revoked from the Church and given to another group?

BOB: Yeah, that’s a very good point. In fact, there’s a verse in 1 Corinthians. Maybe you can look at 1 Corinthians 10:32. Lots of dispensationalists believe this verse points out, not only the three groups who exist today, but the three groups that will exist in eternity.

SAM: Yeah, it says,”Give no offense either to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the Church of God.” 

BOB: Okay, no offense to the Jews, the Greeks, the Church of God. The Greeks are the nations or the Gentiles. The Jews are Israel, and that would include both redeemed and unredeemed Jews. In Romans 9:10-11, Paul talks about a remnant. There’s a remnant of Jews who are born again in his generation and in every generation. Or to the Church of God. So today, there are people who are born again, and that’s the Church of God. But there are also Greeks, that is, Gentiles, who are not born of God, and there are Jews, that is Jews who are not born of God. 

But in the Millennium, there will be Israel, which will be made up of believing and unbelieving Jews, the nations, the Greeks, which will be made up of believing and unbelieving Gentiles, and the Church, which will be made up exclusively of regenerate people who have been glorified. So we will be in glorified bodies. Some in Israel will be in glorified bodies. Some in the nations will be in glorified bodies, but there will be people in natural bodies in Israel and the nations during the Millennium. 

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BOB: By the way, I have a quote here, Sam, from gotquestions.org about this question. Maybe you could read what they say. I like their statement here. 

SAM: Right. It says, “According to Genesis 15:18 and Joshua 1:4, the land God gave to Israel included everything from the Nile River in Egypt to Lebanon, and everything from the Mediterranean to the Euphrates River. So on today’s map, the land God promised to Israel included everything in modern day Israel, plus the territory occupied by the Palestinians, plus some of Egypt and Syria, plus some of Jordan, some of Saudi Arabia, some of Iraq.” So basically what they’re saying is, the land that Israel was promised, they have never fully attained. They’ve never had all of the land that God promised them in Genesis. 

BOB: And these land promises were unconditional promises. They weren’t conditioned upon anything. It’s true that the nation had to be a believing nation and a repentant nation. So in that sense, they were conditional. But they were unconditional in the sense that God guaranteed this would be fulfilled. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were guaranteed this would happen to them, and they would be in the land in the future as part of Israel. And so the idea that somehow they’re not going to get this is wrong. 

By the way, have you ever heard the chant, “from the river to the sea”. Well, do you notice that quote? They have from the river to the sea in two different ways. You know, and the river to the sea is not promised to the quote-unquote Palestinians from the river to the sea is promised to Israel. And they’ve never had the land they’ve been promised. So that will be fulfilled one day. 

Now, there’s also a danger, a great danger that if we adopt replacement theology, it will ultimately lead toward anti-Semitism. Now, it doesn’t always, but there are lots of people within Christianity who believe in replacement theology, Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and many Protestant traditions believe in replacement theology. And historically, this has been true. 

For example, Martin Luther, later in life became anti-Semitic. He wrote a book in 1543 called, The Jews and Their Lies. And in it, he recommended a lot of hostile acts toward the Jewish people. For example, Noam Marans has written a review of that book (see here). And in it, he said, “Frustrated by Jewish steadfastness and misinformed regarding Jewish practices, Luther in his later life undid his early openness toward the Jewish people.” 

So, Noam is saying, yeah, early on, he was very open to the Jewish people. And Noam goes on, “and penned anti-Jewish rants. On the Jews and Their Lies is a patently anti-Semitic doctrine.” And he goes on to say that he recommended razing synagogues, destroying Jewish homes, confiscating Jewish holy books, banning Jewish religious worship, expropriating Jewish money and deporting Jews. So, replacement theology led Martin Luther to anti-Semitism. 

And the same was true in the Catholic Church for many years. I would also suggest reading a book, a 1999 book by John Cornwell called Hitler’s Pope, the Secret History of Pius XII. In it, he relates that the Cardinal who became Pope made an agreement with Hitler that he would not be critical of Nazi Germany. And he wasn’t during World War II and the lead-up to World War II. Some people have criticized the book, you can see what you think, but I would recommend the book. And I think it shows some of the problems with replacement theology. 

Replacement theology, Sam, may be well-intentioned, but it’s unbiblical. It takes away the promises made to Israel, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It undercuts the Abrahamic covenant and undercuts the Davidic covenant. It undercuts the land promises. And so, no matter how well-intentioned it is, it’s wrong. God is going to be faithful to Israel. Israel is, was, and will be God’s chosen people. Now, admittedly, now it’s not a believing nation. But there are a remnant of believing Jews around the planet. And Israel will come to faith during the Tribulation. 

And so, we should be praying for the peace of Israel, praying for the peace of Jerusalem. And we should love the Jewish people. I hope that helps Ron. And remember, keep grace in focus. 

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On our next episode: what’s with the angel and the stirring up of the waters at the pool of Bethesda? Join us next time and until then, let’s keep grace in focus.