God's Israel Today
[Is National Israel Gods chosen & Holy Nation?]
[Part 2 of 3 Parts]
Important Notations
[Is National Israel Gods chosen & Holy Nation?]
[Part 2 of 3 Parts]
Important Notations
I pray these Essays on God's Israel will inspire you to reexamine this controversy. I also pray that if my consensus is off target and incorrect, God will reveal that to me in whatever form He chooses. But whatever route you take, agreeable or disagreeable, at least continue hearing me out. You will be no less my brother or sister in the Lord should you disagree. To reiterate, as I did in Part 1, National Israel in the Middle East has every right to defend herself against her enemies, those who want to "wipe her off the face of the earth." My target here is to convey the central idea from the Scriptures that current Israel in the Middle East is not God's community of the redeemed, the one body of believers, as noted by Paul in Ephesians 4:4.--Buff.
It is commendable that a few Evangelists are traveling to National Israel to share the Good News in an effort to convert them to Jesus the Messiah. But if Israel in the Middle East is God's Holy Nation and God's Chosen People, naturally or otherwise, as a few periodicals and magazines affirm incessantly, a vivid biblical conflict and collision surfaces. Please note that only redeemed believers are referred to as God's Holy Nation. "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession..." [I Peter 2:9]. The biblical communiqués relating to this do not embrace Israel in the Middle East.
It is emotionally upsetting when Evangelical Editors and their Staff, those who have adopted the doctrinal agendas of the Baptist factions relating to Israel in the Middle East, lend their allegiance to her because she is God's holy nation. They seem to enjoy taking pot-shots at those who cannot adopt their theological stance on natural Israel, and accuse us of being anti-Semitic. God has only one holy nation today, and she is the redeemed community or the one body of believers--not two bodies, but one. Yet these Evangelical Editors and their Staff point to a nation of non-believers, National Israel, and affirm she is God's holy entity. I envision this posture as non-biblical.
We can bless, support, and promote natural Israel until the “cows come home,” but present-day Israel in the Middle East is not the ekklesia of the redeemed. In spite of those who promote her as God’s holy nation, she is, per research, largely atheistic. So how in heaven's name can we bless and support a nation of non-believers? Yes, let it be said, however, that God has a remnant among the Jews in National Israel, as He has a remnant among all races. But to encourage Christian believers to bless and support a nation of non-believers is not an appropriate way to please God—in my opinion.
At this point, let it be said that God has not forsaken Jews. Nor has He forsaken Gentiles. He wants all of these races to come to His Son for deliverance and salvation. Romans 11 teaches a day is coming, assuming it hasn't come and gone, when Jews in large numbers will accept Jesus as their Messiah. This might possibly have occurred during the first century of the grace community, when innumerable Jews accepted Jesus as their Messiah. If this ensued, and it did, they were grafted in and became part of the one body of believers and part of God's holy nation.
Two-thousand years ago, Paul expressed it in these words, And if they [Jews] do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again (Rom. 11:23). If the Jews in natural/earthly Israel have not accepted Jesus as their Messiah, and it appears that, overall, they have not, then natural Israel has not been grafted in and should not be referred to as God's Holy People or God's Holy Nation.
Let's read from Paul again, In other words, it is not the natural children who are God's children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring (Rom. 9:6-9). Then again, A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly...No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly (Rom. 2:28-29).
Paul's testimony is quite convincing. God no longer recognizes natural Israel as His elected nation and chosen people. Israel is still Gods elected nation, but not earthly Israel. It is the New Covenant Israel, the redeemed community. Again, Paul says, "Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience" (Colossians 3:12 & 1 Peter 2:9).
It is commendable that a few Evangelists are traveling to National Israel to share the Good News in an effort to convert them to Jesus the Messiah. But if Israel in the Middle East is God's Holy Nation and God's Chosen People, naturally or otherwise, as a few periodicals and magazines affirm incessantly, a vivid biblical conflict and collision surfaces. Please note that only redeemed believers are referred to as God's Holy Nation. "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession..." [I Peter 2:9]. The biblical communiqués relating to this do not embrace Israel in the Middle East.
It is emotionally upsetting when Evangelical Editors and their Staff, those who have adopted the doctrinal agendas of the Baptist factions relating to Israel in the Middle East, lend their allegiance to her because she is God's holy nation. They seem to enjoy taking pot-shots at those who cannot adopt their theological stance on natural Israel, and accuse us of being anti-Semitic. God has only one holy nation today, and she is the redeemed community or the one body of believers--not two bodies, but one. Yet these Evangelical Editors and their Staff point to a nation of non-believers, National Israel, and affirm she is God's holy entity. I envision this posture as non-biblical.
We can bless, support, and promote natural Israel until the “cows come home,” but present-day Israel in the Middle East is not the ekklesia of the redeemed. In spite of those who promote her as God’s holy nation, she is, per research, largely atheistic. So how in heaven's name can we bless and support a nation of non-believers? Yes, let it be said, however, that God has a remnant among the Jews in National Israel, as He has a remnant among all races. But to encourage Christian believers to bless and support a nation of non-believers is not an appropriate way to please God—in my opinion.
At this point, let it be said that God has not forsaken Jews. Nor has He forsaken Gentiles. He wants all of these races to come to His Son for deliverance and salvation. Romans 11 teaches a day is coming, assuming it hasn't come and gone, when Jews in large numbers will accept Jesus as their Messiah. This might possibly have occurred during the first century of the grace community, when innumerable Jews accepted Jesus as their Messiah. If this ensued, and it did, they were grafted in and became part of the one body of believers and part of God's holy nation.
Two-thousand years ago, Paul expressed it in these words, And if they [Jews] do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again (Rom. 11:23). If the Jews in natural/earthly Israel have not accepted Jesus as their Messiah, and it appears that, overall, they have not, then natural Israel has not been grafted in and should not be referred to as God's Holy People or God's Holy Nation.
Let's read from Paul again, In other words, it is not the natural children who are God's children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring (Rom. 9:6-9). Then again, A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly...No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly (Rom. 2:28-29).
Paul's testimony is quite convincing. God no longer recognizes natural Israel as His elected nation and chosen people. Israel is still Gods elected nation, but not earthly Israel. It is the New Covenant Israel, the redeemed community. Again, Paul says, "Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience" (Colossians 3:12 & 1 Peter 2:9).
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Part 3 & Its Importance
In our final column on this topic, we will address the Lord's coming in judgment upon the Jewish people and Jerusalem in A. D. 67-70, when rebellions Israel was demolished by the Roman army, per biblical and national history. There was a universal massacre1,100,000 Jews perished, and 100,000 survivors were sold into slavery. This historical and horrible event was predicted in Matthew 24 and Luke 21, after which former Israel no longer prevailed, and new and current Israel, the redeemed community, superseded it. We'll explain next time around.--Buff.
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