Does Israel Matter?

About that post that’s been going around on Facebook

There is a post about Israel going around on Facebook. Every time I scroll through my news feed, I see it shared by yet another friend. As of yesterday, the post had over 50,000 shares and 3.6 million reaches. And that is only the original post itself. It has also been copied and pasted by many people with the note at the end, “Borrowed from a friend.”

Here’s the post:

I want to say a couple of things before I go any further. Anyone who dares to say that the Church is the Israel of God and His promises is for them is framed by dispensationalists as “anti-Jew”. That is simply ridiculous.

Politically speaking, America should offer support and friendship to Israel. They are our only ally in the Middle East and they are a strong ally.

Morally speaking, we should be siding with Israel on this one. What Hamas has done to Israel is unspeakable and wrong. We should condemn it just as we would condemn atrocities that have happened in other parts of the world. We should condemn those things wherever we see them. Israel has every right to retaliate.

Theologically speaking, The Gentiles do not “replace” the Jews. They are grafted in. The Church does not replace Israel because the Church has always been Israel. As Dr. John Frame says,

“Israel was the church of the old covenant; the NT church is the Israel of the new covenant.” (From Dr. Frame’s Twitter page)

There is still only one tree. But its root is not in the dirt under Jerusalem. It is rooted in Christ, the true and perfect Israel of God, in whom every living branch, without distinction of Jew or Gentile, is maintained and every dead branch, without distinction of Jew or Gentile, is cut off.

Christ is the true vine and we are the branches (John 15). Christ is the true root of the olive tree and we have been grafted into Him (Romans 11). Christ is the true Israel and those who are in Him are Israel by way of their union with Him.

Jerusalem is not the epicenter of God’s work on earth. Christ Himself is. This is not replacement theology. This is fulfillment theology.

Should we pray for the peace of Jerusalem as Psalm 122 instructs? Of course. Pray for the Christians who are in Israel, Gaza, and the whole surrounding area. They (the Christians) are all Jerusalem. And the Church in that region needs our prayers desperately.

What I want to do here is take a look into scripture concerning these things. This post that’s been shared on Facebook is the kind of thing that just sends everybody into a frenzy. It’s the kind of sentiment that makes it more likely for Christians to throw in support for American military involvement around Israel.

What we have so often in these talks about Israel is people just grabbing several proof texts from all over the Bible and throwing them together like a salad onto a plate. What I want to do is go through some Scripture and show you a different perspective than this popular Facebook post offers.

I want you to think about what scripture says. Put aside a Facebook post for a moment. Put aside what somebody that you’ve never met and do not know has said. Let’s consult God’s Word on the question of Israel.

The Jerusalem Above

“Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman. But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise. Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. For it is written, “Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear; break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor! For the children of the desolate one will be more than those of the one who has a husband.” Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now. But what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.” So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman.” (Galatians 4:21‭-‬31, ESV)

Paul says that Hagar corresponds to the present Jerusalem. He’s not talking about Jerusalem in the year 2023. He wasn’t writing this in the year 2023. He’s talking about Jerusalem in the first century. That was the “present Jerusalem.” He’s talking about the Jerusalem and temple that will be destroyed in 70 AD.

Paul says it’s allegorical and, like Hagar, the present Jerusalem is in slavery with her children.

But the Jerusalem above is free and she is our mother. Paul is talking to Gentile believers and he’s telling them they are children of the true Jerusalem, which is not of this earth. It is the Jerusalem above. He also tells them they are children of the promise, just like Isaac.

One New Man in Place of the Two

“Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands- remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to 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 us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:11‭-‬22, ESV)

Christ has made both Jews and Gentiles “one body through the cross.” He has created “in Himself one new man in place of the two.” This new body is the Church, the “saints and members of the household of God.” The Church, which is the new unified body and the children of the Jerusalem above, is “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone.” The Church, consisting of believing Jews and Gentiles, “grows into a holy temple in the Lord.”

We are not waiting for a final temple structure to be erected in the Middle East. We are the final temple structure (1 Peter 2:4–10) by way of our union with the true temple, Jesus Christ.

Isn’t it interesting that the new Jerusalem comes down out of heaven (the Jerusalem above), being called “the Bride, the wife of the Lamb,” and bearing the names of the Apostles on its foundations (Rev. 21)?

The new Jerusalem is not some awkward square monstrosity that descends from the cosmos and lands on earth. It is the Church, the Bride of Christ.

The city has no temple in it because Christ, who is the fulfillment of the temple, dwells among His people (Rev. 21:22).

The Apostle Paul Has Entered the Chat

“What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.” Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.” (2 Corinthians 6:16‭-‬7:1, ESV)

That Facebook post that’s been going around pulls out a few scripture texts that are just kind of thrown out there. One of them from the New Testament and four of them from the Old Testament. It seems like a lot of our eschatology these days is practiced in that way, just throwing a bunch of individual proof texts into the wind.

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could get the Apostle Paul’s thoughts? What if we could bring Paul back and ask him to tie together the OT promises concerning Israel and how they apply today? We can’t bring Paul back, but fortunately, he wrote it down for us.

In 2 Corinthians 6, Paul takes several verses from the Old Testament and he references them all together in just a three-verse span, applying them to New Testament believers. He says very clearly that we are the temple of the living God.

The sad reality is that the Jews are trying so hard to rebuild the temple. Meanwhile, the temple is being built all around them and they cannot see it.

I will list the references Paul pulls from. For the sake of time, I will leave it up to you to look them up.

In verse 16, Paul references:

• Leviticus 26:11-12
• Jeremiah 31:31-33
• Jeremiah 32:36-38
• Ezekiel 37:25-28

In verse 17, Paul references:

• Isaiah 52:7-12

In verse 18, Paul references:

• 2 Samuel 7:12-16
• Isaiah 43:1-7
• Hosea 1:10

After referencing all of these OT promises to Israel, Paul says, “Since we have these promises, beloved …(2 Cor. 7:1)” What Paul is saying is clear.

The Church has the promises of Israel because the Church, without distinction of Jew or Gentile, is the Israel of God.

What’s happening in the Middle East could have far-reaching impacts on the world. No one is denying that. But if you want to monitor the end times you should not be glued to the nation of Israel. Instead, watch Christ and His Church.

Originally published at https://theverse.substack.com.