Yesterday we focused on the inaccuracies leading young people to hold unfortunately poor views of Israel. Today, we’ll focus on another major concern among churches and pastors who lean into the dangerous doctrines of Replacement Theology.

Articles and information regarding Replacement Theology are becoming increasingly abundant and I recently ran across this one: The State of Israel is not the Israel of the Bible. If nothing else, the title alone gives me reason for concern. If state of Israel today is not the Isael of the Bible, then where is it? Also, what comes of God’s promise of an everlasting covenant? Does “everlasting” mean something other than everlasting?

The tag line led to further concern: The systematic dehumanization of Palestinians reflects not biblical justice but colonial domination. That begs the question of how one defines “dehumanization,” “biblical justice,” and “colonial domination.” We could spend a week defining those terms and perhaps splitting hairs, but suffice it to say, the article is making a strong point that Israel today is not the Israel of God’s promises. Rather Israel is a tyrannical aggressor with the intent of overrunning a legitimately “colonized” group of people, the Palestinians. I find it Biblically impossible to come to that conclusion. Where do you stand? (Do your own research and come to your own understanding.)

The author of the article immediately implies that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. We have addressed that issue before (including yesterday). If that is true, Israel is very bad at genocide because the population of Gaza has exploded since Gaza was unilaterally handed over to the Palestinians in 2005.

The author then makes this assertion: “A faithful reading of Scripture, grounded in historical truth, reveals that the modern state of Israel is not the Israel of the Bible.” He goes on to state that God’s promises were fulfilled in ancient Israel, not in 1948. But the fact remains, that God’s covenant promises were everlasting. (Particularly the Abrahamic covenant detailed in Genesis 17, but also other covenants as well.) Everlasting means forever, including ancient Israel, 1948 Israel, and future Israel.

The next point he made is that true Israel is fulfilled in Christ. He uses common proof texts to opine that those in Christ are Abraham’s seed, so heirs to the promises of God. He is correct in that, as believers in Jesus, we have been brought into (grafted into) the olive tree (“spiritual Israel.”) Yes, we inherit the benefits God promised to Abraham and his descendants in terms of our relationship to God.

But God promised Abraham 3 things: land, descendants and blessings. We certainly partake of the blessings of being grafted into Israel’s spiritual heritage. The doors of salvation opened to Gentiles. However, we were not grafted into Israel’s national heritage (land) or into Israel’s lineage (descendants). We are not born physically into Abraham’s family and are not descendants by birth. Nor are we partakers of Israel’s national privileges. The church has not become the land of Israel!

God made promises specifically to Abraham and his descendants, then He offered a means of salvation to us as Gentiles. We benefit from Israel’s spiritual privileges because that door was open. Salvation is of the Jews (John 4:22) and from the Jews, but is now open also to Gentiles. (Romans 11 describes this in detail!)

The final argument I will address is the author’s idea that Zionism is a political ideology, not God’s will. Zionism is a very contentious idea, so let’s define “Zionism.” I do not pretend to know the author’s definition, but here is my working definition: The idea that God intended a land, descendants, and blessings for the Jewish people (whom He brought into existence intentionally to be the vehicle of world redemption). Given that definition, it is most certainly God’s will, and His eternal covenant, that Israel has an everlasting land, descendants and blessings (as well as curses), and that they will bless all the families of the earth, as stated in Genesis 12:1-3, when God introduced the covenant to Abraham.

Among the takeaways are these:

• God made everlasting covenants with Abraham and others.
• Everlasting means everlasting.
• God also made a way of salvation for Gentiles, but that did not necessitate transferring of God’s promises from Israel to the church.
• As believers in Christ, we have the blessings of sharing in Israel’s spiritual privileges with God. In other words, we can relate to the One True God…the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
• God did not provide a means of “transferring His promises” of land and descendants to the church or to us as believers. Those promises were made to Abraham and his descendants and remain their promises.

Be careful friends! When the church begins to believe they have right to God’s promises of land and descendants, it creates a slippery slope in which we ignore the importance of the land of Israel. It belongs to the Jewish people and always will! They have every right to defend it, and are not committing genocide by defending their land and their people (particularly the hostages held inside Gaza).

Be Bible wise, and always stand on what God’s Word says. To do so means to study it out for yourself! Don’t take my word for it…go to Scripture and dig deeply.