Why Israel has not and can never be replaced by the church
We hear the church has been replaced Israel especially based on the statement of Jesus as He concludes one of His parables,
“Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.”
(Matthew 21:43–44)
The take away from this? Jesus is explicitly saying that the kingdom has been taken away from Israel and now bestowed upon the church! The case is closed, the mass is ended, go in peace and serve the Lord as the new Israel! God bless…
But wait a minute, what does the very next verse say?
“Now when the chief priests and Pharisees heard His parables, they perceived that He was speaking of them. But when they sought to lay hands on Him, they feared the multitudes, because they took Him for a prophet.”
(Matthew 21:45)
Matthew notes that it is the chief priests and the Pharisees who the parable was directed towards. It is them who the kingdom has been taken away from. The kingdom will be given to a nation but what nation? The nation of those who will accept and believe in Jesus as the Messiah! Mark’s version of this parable leads to a similar conclusion,
“Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vinedressers, and give the vineyard to others.”
(Mark 12:9)
And then again, the response was,
“And they sought to lay hands on Him, but feared the multitude, for they knew He had spoken the parable against them. So they left Him and went away.”
(Mark 12:12)
Who are the they? We go back to the previous chapter,
“..And as He was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to Him. And they said to Him, “By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority to do these things?”
(Mark 11:27–28)
The “they” were the chief priests, the scribes and the elders who were questioning Jesus’ authority. Now Jesus’ statement to the effect that the vineyard would be given to others could well be interpreted again as the kingdom being taken from Israel and given to non-Israelites. The problem though is that in the same chapter, it also says,
“…And the common people heard Him gladly.”
(Mark 12:37)
So even in Israel, Jesus had those who heard Him gladly while the ones the kingdom was being taken away from, the chief priests, scribes and elders, walked away. This would mean there were some Israelites accepting the kingdom. So to interpret that one statement from Jesus to say Israel is done and has been replaced by the church is tenuous at best.
Further, Jesus Himself never taught that the kingdom was going to be taken away from Israel. For example, He gives the keys to the kingdom to Peter and implicitly to His disciples who were all Jews,
“And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
(Matthew 16:19)
And again,
“Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
(Matthew 18:18)
Again, Jesus elsewhere talks about the nature of His flock, the very flock He was Good Shepherd over,
“I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.”
(John 10:15–16)
This is clearly an allusion to the sheep who hear His voice from His immediate Jewish audience and then there are sheep outside His current audience (Non-Jews) who will also hear His voice and both flock (Jews and Non-Jews) will be made into one flock (the church) and Jesus would be the One Shepherd over them. Does this sound like the “nation” who would bear fruit which Jesus referenced in Matthew? This one nation who bear fruit would be made up of Jews and Gentiles alike.
Paul taught the exact same thing in Ephesians when He wrote,
“Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh — who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands — that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.”
(Ephesians 2:11–16)
We will come to Paul in a moment, but sticking with Jesus for the time being.
Jesus towards the end of His earthly ministry also says to His disciples,
“And I bestow upon you a kingdom, just as My Father bestowed one upon Me, that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”
(Luke 22:29–30)
Jesus is here again promising His Israelite disciples a kingdom where they will judge the twelve tribes of Israel who presumably would be in the same kingdom! Some might have some sort of metaphorical interpretation to avoid this implication but I think there is yet one more very clear example where Jesus affirms that Israel is still essential to God’s divine plan and kingdom.
After Jesus’ resurrection, his disciples ask him,
“Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”
(Acts 1:6)
This would be the perfect time for Jesus to lecture the disciples about how the kingdom is now going to be replaced by His followers who will become the church. How does Jesus respond?
“And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.””
(Acts 1:7)
So Jesus here does not dispute that the kingdom will be restored to Israel. It is the timing of this He says is within the authority of the Father. Jesus takes for granted that the kingdom will be restored to Israel so according to the overall corpus of Jesus’ teachings, Israel still has a role to play.
Over to the New Testament…
Paul in Romans, the epistle where he lays down the gospel as he teaches it weighs in extensively on replacement theology. What does Paul say about the gospel?
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.”
(Romans 1:16)
Paul says the gospel is first to the Jew, i.e. primarily to the Jew, which makes sense given the whole of the Hebrew scriptures is the basis of the gospel. The gospel is first to the Jew because they are the ones to whom the promise of God, the gospel and the Messiah was given since the time of Abraham. Paul writes in the same epistle,
“For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises; of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.”
(Romans 9:3–5)
Not only that, Paul specifically dedicates a substantial portion of his discourse on Romans (chapters 9 to 11) to emphasize that God is not done with Israel. He writes,
“I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew…”
(Romans 11:1–2)
Paul goes on to explain the specific reason why he is confident of his position,
“…Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying, Lord, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life”? But what does the divine response say to him? “I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace.”
(Romans 11:3–5)
Paul’s first reason is that he himself is a Jew, an Israelite, who follows Jesus Christ and accepts Him as the Messiah. Remember ANYONE who calls upon the name of the Lord would be saved, Jew or Gentile,
“For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
(Romans 10:12–13)
Paul is saying his acceptance of Jesus as the Messiah is also reflective of the fact there is a remnant of the people of Israel in his time who accept Jesus as the Messiah (just as there was in the time of Elijah) therefore God has certainly not abandoned His people because there is a remnant of His people who have accepted the Messiah He sent them.
Furthermore, Paul writes again,
“And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.
You will say then, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.” Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?”
(Romans 11:17–24)
I will emphasize only the bits in bold above, the other bits around are provided just for context. Paul’s point is that the Gentiles have been grafted into a Jewish tree and as such they should be careful not to be arrogant over and against the Jews. The Gentiles should bear in mind that if the natural branches — the Jews — were not spared when they were in unbelief, they as unnatural branches would not be spared either if they do not believe in Christ.
Note how Paul also concludes that section,
“For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?”
God is able to graft them in again if they do not continue in unbelief. if God is able to graft the unnatural branches of the Gentiles into the Jewish tree, how much more can he graft the natural Jewish branch to the Jewish tree?
If indeed the church has replaced Israel then in Paul’s analogy, the Jewish tree should have been cut off and the Gentile tree of the church planted in its place. However it is one Jewish tree and then the Gentile branches are grafted into that tree. The Gentiles, far from replacing the Jews, are now being invited into something Jewish.
Note how Paul concludes his discourse,
“And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:
“The Deliverer will come out of Zion,
And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;
For this is My covenant with them,
When I take away their sins.”
Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”
(Romans 11:26–29)
Paul states emphatically that all Israel will be saved and that Israel, because of God’s promise to the patriarchs, remain the chosen people of God. This is especially so because the calling of God upon Israel is irrevocable.
Paul absolutely destroys the whole idea of the church replacing Israel. The church to Paul is a combination of Jews and Gentiles who are now invited into the promise God made to the Jews (Ephesians 2 quoted above).
Finally, the writer of Hebrews delineates the clause of the New Testament as follows,
“Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah — not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”
(Hebrews 8:8–12)
This is a quotation from Jeremiah 31:33–34. Even the New covenant was instituted specifically with Israel and then the Gentiles are partakers of this covenant. Note what the rest of the Jeremiah passage which the author of Hebrews does not quote says,
“Thus says the Lord,
Who gives the sun for a light by day,
The ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night,
Who disturbs the sea,
And its waves roar
(The Lord of hosts is His name):
“If those ordinances depart
From before Me, says the Lord,
Then the seed of Israel shall also cease
From being a nation before Me forever.”
Thus says the Lord:
“If heaven above can be measured,
And the foundations of the earth searched out beneath,
I will also cast off all the seed of Israel
For all that they have done, says the Lord.”
(Jeremiah 31:35–37)
All the nations fighting against Israel (physically, mentally by protests and actually killing Jews as well as those like the Guardian, the BBC and co which pollute the air with propagandistic reporting which further inflame the current atmosphere of hatred towards Jews) and dreaming of eradicating them, all the “river to the sea” lot, I wish them the best of luck fighting against God — the suspense regarding who wins is killing me!
But I digress…
The same portion of Jeremiah emphatically states that Israel would never cease to be a nation before God and that He will never cast them off, so the notion that they have now been cast off in favour of the church contradicts the Old Testament promises of God to Israel.
In conclusion, the church includes Jews and Gentiles alike and Christianity is a Jewish faith (Sorry Adolf Hitler, Nick Fuentes and “Christian” Anti-Semites)through which Gentiles are, thanks to the work of Jesus Christ on the cross, brought into this age old story between God and the Jews, the story is still being written and will end with the Jews acknowledging Christ as the Messiah before the day of resurrection,
“For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?”
(Romans 11:15)
Jesus Himself promised the kingdom will be restored to Israel, His disciples will judge the twelve tribes of Israel, bestowed the kingdom to His Jewish disciples and instituted the covenant of Jeremiah 31:33–34 which was made to the house of Israel. It is no surprise that the gospel is first and foremost to the Jew.
Replacement theology is thus highly un-Biblical. Feel free to hate Jews all you want, it is a free world as long as you are not putting their lives in danger with your words and actions (interesting by disagreeing with the alphabet guys or criticising Islam, the world quickly condemns you for spreading hate and endangering lives but for some odd reason when it comes to other things like Donald Trump and Jews, that is not a factor at all…but I digress again) but do not enlist the Bible or Christianity as an ally in your crusade of hate against the Jews, neither Jesus nor the New Testament writers help your case.
