We’re on our way, fellow sojourners!  We reiterated yesterday that Israel is God’s chosen land and the Jews are God’s chosen people.  Last week we learned that, though no earthly nation will stand with Israel in the end, God will stand in defense!  We also know that God’s covenant with Israel is FOREVER!

 

However, there is “pop theology” growing today that says, “Because the Jews rejected God, God has therefore rejected Israel.  Thus, the church has replaced Israel.”  This is called Replacement Theology, and we need to know the truth of this idea in order to clearly understand end time events.

 

So, has God rejected His people?  Both the Old Testament and New Testament provide the answer, so let’s take a look at what Scripture says?

 

Let’s examine passages in Jeremiah 31-33 for an Old Testament perspective.   Jeremiah 32:37-42 says:

Behold, I will gather them out of all the lands to which I have driven them in My anger, in My wrath and in great indignation; and I will bring them back to this place and make them dwell in safety. They shall be My people, and I will be their God; and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me always, for their own good and for the good of their children after them. I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; and I will put the fear of Me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from Me. I will rejoice over them to do them good and will faithfully plant them in this land with all My heart and with all My soul. For thus says the Lord, ‘Just as I brought all this great disaster on this people, so I am going to bring on them all the good that I am promising them.

 

Notice that this is a partially fulfilled prophecy.  In last week’s study we learned that God has indeed brought the Israelites back into their land and they are His people.  Though they missed their messiah, He is still their God!  Thus, fear of Him in their hearts has yet to bring them to a place where they will not turn away from Him.  Yet, in the midst of that passage, God reminds us that His covenant with them is an everlasting covenant.  Despite their rejection of Him, God will not reject them!

 

Is it possible that God’s covenant could be broken?  Let’s examine Jeremiah 33:19-21, 25-26:

The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, “Thus says the Lord, ‘If you can break My covenant for the day and My covenant for the night, so that day and night will not be at their appointed time, then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant so that he will not have a son to reign on his throne, and with the Levitical priests, My ministers….Thus says the Lord, ‘If My covenant for day and night stand not, and the fixed patterns of heaven and earth I have not established, then I would reject the descendants of Jacob and David My servant, not taking from his descendants rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But I will restore their fortunes and will have mercy on them.’”

 

The word of the Lord to Jeremiah was straight-forward: God’s covenant can no more be broken than a human being can disrupt God’s order of day and night or the fixed patterns of heaven and earth!  God promises not to reject the descendants of Jacob and David…the Jewish people!  In fact, He promises to restore their fortunes and have mercy on them.

 

Let’s go one step further in Jeremiah 31:35-37:

Thus says the Lord,
Who gives the sun for light by day
And the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night,
Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar;
The Lord of hosts is His name:
“If this fixed order departs
From before Me,” declares the Lord,
“Then the offspring of Israel also will cease
From being a nation before Me forever.”

Thus says the Lord,

“If the heavens above can be measured
And the foundations of the earth searched out below,
Then I will also cast off all the offspring of Israel
For all that they have done,” declares the Lord.

 

The Lord of hosts, who gives the sun, fixes the order of the moon and stars, and stirs up the sea, declares that the chances of His rejection of Israel is as likely as the heavens being measured and the foundations of the earth being searched out.  Not happening!

 

The New Testament provides evidence as strong as the Old Testament.  If you have a Bible with chapter headings, what does the heading to Romans 11 say?  The New American Standard translation says, “Israel is Not Cast Away.”  Now, headings are not “inspired Scripture,” simply hints about what the passage is about.  So, let’s dig into “inspired Scripture!”

 

Romans 11:1-2a:

I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew.

 

The apostle Paul, a Jew himself, said adamantly that God has not rejected His people…and this was AFTER the Jews rejected Jesus!

 

Let’s put it to rest:  The church HAS NOT replaced Israel in any way.  God’s promises to Israel have not been “transferred” to the church, nor have God’s covenants been “transferred” to the church.  God will forever uphold His promises to Israel…including protecting her in the coming northern invasion.

 

To close, though, let’s re-affirm a secondary truth.  Because God so loved the world, His grace made a way for Gentiles to be “grafted in” to the root of David.  That is different than the church replacing Israel.  Being “grafted in” simply means Gentiles who put their faith in Jesus the Messiah are recipients of God’s salvation via the New Testament covenant of grace.  It does not mean that God has taken away His promises to the Jews and given them to the church.

 

The apostle Paul addressed this in Romans 11 as well.  Romans 11:11-12 says that salvation has come to the Gentiles in order to bring jealousy to the Jews.  You see, God is so committed to His covenant with the Jewish people that He will even use Gentile salvation to draw His chosen ones to Himself!

 

Verses 25-29 go on to say that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, so all Israel will be saved!  God intends to save Israel!  Meanwhile, the pause button on God’s plan for the Jews has been pressed, allowing Gentiles to experience salvation!

 

Indeed, the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable…and so is His covenant with His chosen people!

 

Whether Jew or Gentile, I hope you are blessed by our study together.    We’ve got a great week ahead, so join us tomorrow for the who, what, when, where and how of Ezekiel 38!

 

Shalom!