We get this question a lot. Sam received an email about it today.
The idea that the Church has replaced Israel is called Replacement Theology (or Supersessionism). Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and many Protestant traditions teach Replacement Theology.
This is the view that the Jews are no longer God’s chosen people, and Israel is no longer God’s chosen nation. Nor will they be His chosen people/nation in the future. The Church is, and forever will be, the new chosen people. The Church is the New Israel. The Jewish people forfeited the right to be God’s chosen people when they rejected the Lord Jesus Christ.
Dispensationalism disagrees. It says that Israel was, is, and always will be God’s chosen people. The Church is not Israel. The Church does not replace Israel. The promises made to Israel will be fulfilled for Israel, not the Church.
Replacement Theology eviscerates God’s unconditional promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It makes mincemeat of Romans 9–11 and Paul’s teaching concerning Israel that “the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable” (Rom 11:25–29). Irrevocable means irreplaceable!
Paul was very clear that there are three types of people today, and that these same three groups will be in the Millennium and populate the new earth. He wrote: “Give no offense, either to 1) the Jews or to 2) the Greeks or to 3) the church of God…” (I Cor 10:32, numbering added).
God promised Abraham an astronomical multitude of descendants. That has not happened yet. But it must happen, because God cannot lie. He promised that Abraham and his descendants, numbering like the stars in the sky, would inhabit and possess the land of Israel from the river to the sea. Israel has never possessed all the land promised to it.
GotQuestions.org (see here) comments:
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 (south to north) and everything from the Mediterranean Sea to the Euphrates River (west to east). On today’s map, the land God has stated belongs to Israel includes everything modern-day Israel possesses, plus all of the territory occupied by the Palestinians (the West Bank and Gaza), plus some of Egypt and Syria, plus all of Jordan, plus some of Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Thus, Israel currently possesses only a fraction of the land God has promised; the rest of their inheritance likely awaits the return of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. God has given His word that the nation of Israel will never cease as long as the sun still shines by day and the moon and stars still shine by night (Jeremiah 31:35–37).
Replacement Theology has sometimes led to antisemitism.
Martin Luther became antisemitic later in his life. In a 1543 book titled On the Jews and Their Lies, he recommended setting Jewish synagogues and schools on fire, destroying Jewish homes, and confiscating Jewish possessions and property.
Noam Marans writes (see here):
Frustrated by Jewish steadfastness, and misinformed regarding Jewish practices, Luther in his later years undid his early openness toward the Jewish people and penned anti-Jewish rants. “On the Jews and Their Lies” (1543) is a patently antisemitic document. He writes:
And so, dear Christian, beware of the Jews . . . you can see how God’s wrath has consigned them to the Devil, who has robbed them not only of a proper understanding of the Scriptures, but also of common human reason, modesty and sense. . . . Thus, when you see a real Jew you may with a good conscience cross yourself, and boldly say, “There goes the Devil incarnate.”
Worse than that, Luther’s rage and increasing religious and political power were accompanied by a program for protecting Christian society from Jewish influence and contamination by burning or razing synagogues, destroying Jewish homes, confiscating Jewish holy books, banning Jewish religious worship, expropriating Jewish money, and deporting Jews.
I also suggest reading the 1999 book, Hitler’s Pope: The Secret History of Pius XII, by John Cornwell. It relates that a cardinal who later became the pope made an agreement not to criticize the Nazis in exchange for Hitler’s allowing the Catholic churches to remain open.i
Replacement Theology may be well-intentioned. But it is unbiblical. It is antibiblical. It contradicts the Abrahamic and Davidic covenants and the teaching of the OT and NT.
Keep grace in focus and you will pray for the peace of Israel and look forward the future salvation of all Israel (Rom 11:26).
i There has since been criticism that the book was unbalanced and that the pope did help to save some Jews during the war. However, it is clear, at least to me, that the pope put politics over principle. Something he thought to be pragmatic was, in fact, making a deal with the devil. I would encourage you to read the book for yourself.
