ANNOUNCER: What is replacement theology and how does the Old Testament stand to refute it? Is there a distinction between the Church and Israel? Has one taken the place of the other and how should we think about all this? Thanks for listening today, friend. This is Grace in Focus, a ministry of the Grace Evangelical Society. Our website is faithalone.org. There you can find out about the Grace Evangelical Theological Seminary. It’s our online seminary with full scholarships available for students maintaining good academic standing because of our generous donors. We are in the window for application and registration right now. If you want to study with us in the fall semester, get started on your application right away. All the details will be found at faithalone.org/seminary. 

And now with today’s question and answer discussion, here are Bob Wilkin and David Renfro. 

BOB: We’re going through talking about various questions I’ve been asked over the years about the Old Testament. I like to speak at a church in Las Vegas called Upland Bible Church, shout out to all the believers at Upland Bible Church, pastor Rich and his wife Debbie and Tim and Dari [unintelligible]. I’ve stayed at their house many times over the years. I remember one year, Pastor Rich Olson, he asked me to speak on replacement theology. And I was happy to do it, but it was the first time anyone had ever asked me to speak on that. So I thought we would talk about it and what the Old Testament and the New Testament has to say about that. But first let’s define it. What is replacement theology? 

DAVID: I want you to define it. I want you to replace my definition. 

BOB: All right. So replacement theology is basically a term that has been coined to say that the Church has replaced Israel in God’s plan. God’s original plan, everybody reading the Old Testament says God chose or elected Israel. That’s why we have ministries like Chosen People Ministries, right? Because Israel is God’s chosen people.

But some people say, no, no, no, Israel, don’t use the word “is.” They say Israel was God’s chosen people. But then God replaced Israel and all the promises made to Israel have been transferred over to the Church. And so they read this to say that the Church is now taking the place of Israel. And the promises made to Israel are now for the Church. Of course, they don’t quite see the land promises as fulfilled in the Church that somehow the Church is going to have all the land that was promised to Israel. 

DAVID: I was looking forward to that. 

BOB: Or that the Church is actually a nation. The Church is made up of people from all over the planet. Whereas Israel was literally and is literally a nation of ethnic Jews, right? So replacement theology is very popular among Calvinists. And Luther, for example, was a pretty renowned anti-semite. He had lots of good things. But his view toward Israel was not, and toward the Jewish people was not one of the good things about Luther. 

A lot of people believe that there is no future for Israel. And by the way, this is even carried over into some progressive dispensationalists. We were trained, you and I, David, at Dallas Seminary, under what’s called dispensationalism. That is, there are various dispensations or ages in which God’s laws change. The typical number is seven dispensations, but some have had as few as four and some have had more than seven. But the point is, there was a shift from the garden to after the garden. We go from an age of innocence to an age of conscience. And then you ultimately get the law of Moses. And then you get the church age. And then some people would call the Tribulation a different dispensation. Some people would say, no, that’s all part of the kingdom. Some people might see Tribulation, Millennium, new earth is all one dispensation or maybe two. But in any regard within dispensationalism, Israel was always seen as the chosen people and they’re going to be the people Jesus rules and reigns over and from, He’s going to rule from Jerusalem in the Millennium from the New Jerusalem in Revelation 21 and 22. 

However, I remember one time I was at the Evangelical Theological Society and I had lunch with a friend of mine who had graduated a few years, I think he graduated with you in 70, 80. Might have even graduated from Dallas Seminary in 76, a guy named Jim and a guy named Tovyah. God is good, right? Tov for good and yah is Yahweh. So the Lord is good. And Tovyah works, I think he worked for Jews for Jesus. I was talking to them and I told them that Arnold Fruchtenbaum, I had heard him say that he thought Jewish believers during the church age will be dual citizens in the kingdom. That is citizens of the new Israel, but they will also be members of the Church. And I said, what do you guys think of this? 

Tovyah said, I don’t understand what you’re talking about. And I said, well, you know, in the Millennium, Jesus is going to rule from Israel and on the new earth, he’s going to rule from the new Israel. And he said, no, no, I believe there’s going to be one people of God forever and there won’t be a distinction between Jew and Gentile. He’ll just be ruling and there’s no specific promise for Israel. And I was like, this guy works for one of the Jewish organizations and yet he doesn’t believe in the future rule and reign of Messiah over Israel? 

And that’s pretty common where people think that there’s going to be one people of God. There’s not going to be distinction. But 1 Corinthians 10:32, Paul says, give no offense and he mentions three groups. He mentioned the Church. He mentions Israel and he mentions the Greeks or the Gentiles. And I believe those three groups are represented in Revelation 21 and 22. There’s going to be the new Jerusalem and the new Israel. There’s going to be the nations that bring their tribute to the new Jerusalem every year, Revelation 21:24. And even though the Church is not specifically mentioned, we know the Church will be part of that experience. 

DAVID: Because the Church isn’t necessarily an ethnic group or a nationality. 

BOB: Exactly. 

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BOB: So replacement theology, the problem is, God promised Abraham that he would make his descendants like the stars of the sky and the sands of the seashore, which they say there are hundreds of trillions of stars. Well, there haven’t been hundreds of trillions descendants of Abraham. And Abraham, according to the book of Hebrews, was looking for a city, the new Jerusalem. And Jesus said Abraham rejoiced to see My day. So the promises made to Abraham are not going to be replaced by the Church. The Church is not Israel. 

And the idea that the Church is Israel is a misreading of Galatians 6:16. For example, I think the Israel of God in Galatians 6:16 refers to Jewish believers in the first century, which Paul calls a remnant. But ultimately, Paul did say in Romans 11:26, then all Israel will be saved. And what he means by that is all Israel is going to be delivered from Gentile rule. And more than all Israel will be believing, he means all Israel will be saved from the Tribulation wrath and will go into the Millennium as God’s chosen people. 

And so the idea that somehow Israel has been replaced would means that God’s promises to Abraham were somehow abrogated. 

DAVID: Or worse, meaningless. 

BOB: And all of Hebrews 11 tells us about these Old Testament saints. And how they’re going to have a future experience. The angel is talking to Daniel about his people Israel and that these things will be fulfilled in the reign of Messiah. So the idea somehow that the Church replaces Israel is a complete rejection of the Old Testament and the New Testament for that matter. 

DAVID: I think so too. It’s just, I don’t think there’s anything that even comes close to explicitly stating that. I think you have to read into the Scriptures what you want to get out of it. 

BOB: Well, some people do that with the Church was grafted into this olive tree. But what they need to recognize there is, that the natural olive tree is going to continue to exist forever. And in fact, Paul goes on to say, be careful unless you be cut off. And that’s not talking about loss of eternal life. That’s saying there is going to be a time when the time of the Gentile ceases, Luke 21:24 and the time of the Jews is going to begin once again. And I believe that is going to occur at the end of the Tribulation when Jerusalem is surrounded by Gentile armies and Joel 2:32, whoever calls upon the name of the Lord is going to be delivered from this death that’s going to be surrounding Jerusalem. 

And so Israel is God’s chosen people. Israel was God’s chosen people and Israel will be God’s chosen people. And Jesus isn’t going to rule from Detroit. He’s not going to rule for New York. 

DAVID: Not even a suburb of Detroit. 

BOB: He’s not going to rule from Los Angeles or a suburb of Los Angeles. He’s going to rule from the New Jerusalem. Or Jerusalem in the Millennium and the New Jerusalem. And so Jesus, I know this isn’t a shock to you, David, is Jewish. 

DAVID: Oh, jump back. 

BOB: Jump back, right? Now there are Jewish believers in the church age. That’s great. But you’re a member of the Church. That’s your identity as you’re part of the body of Christ. Israel is going to rise again. And even though Israel is not a believing nation today, there are believers in Israel. Thousands. 

DAVID: Having been there and talked to some people there, there’s more than you think. 

BOB: Ultimately, there’s going to be millions of Jewish believers during the Tribulation. And by the end of the Tribulation, all the adults surviving the Tribulation will be believers because He will, any unfaithful believers will be taken and all the unbelievers will be taken. If they’re adults, that is. 

Well, I hope this helped you. You can read more about replacement theology by looking online. I think we may have an article at our website on this, if we don’t, I’ll add one. But make sure that you remember that God loves His chosen people and the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. So He’s not going to take away His calling of Israel. 

DAVID: No, there’s no way. 

BOB: And this is important for us to keep grace in focus. 

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On our next episode: were Jonah and Job real people, and why does it matter? We’ll look for you next episode and until then, let’s keep grace in focus.