Israel

How it relates to the Kingdom of God

Introduction

There is now a worldwide movement in which Christians of evangelical persuasion are suddenly realising that the Bible does not only consist of the New Testament, and that the Gospel is not only to be found in the epistles of Paul. People talk of a sudden realisation that they ought to keep the Law of Moses. Worldwide, many people report dreams in which the Holy Spirit revealed to them that the Law is not only for the Jews, but also for the followers of Jesus. Often these revelations are received without the intervention of others. As a result of these revelations, people start to rethink their views on Sunday and church feasts, and often come to the conclusion that the Sabbath and the biblical feasts also have great significance for Christians, and therefore seem to be a must for Christians as well.

However, this then provokes reactions from others in the sense that the Law does not apply to Christians, we are ‘not under the Law’ so to speak. Paul’s teaching, especially in Romans and Galatians, is often cited as the basis for many Christians claiming that Paul has a different message than Moses, and even a different message than Jesus in the Gospels. Paul would be the recipient of the gospel for the Gentiles, the so-called gospel of grace, while Jesus would proclaim the gospel of the Kingdom for the Jews. An oft-heard argument is that the Law is for the Jews and not for the Gentiles, an oft-heard statement is: “We are not Jews, are we?”

About 10 years ago, this also started to stir in me when I was confronted with teaching on the above issues, which led to my involvement for a while in the Messianic movement, which focuses on the Law of God, the Sabbath and the Biblical Feasts based on Leviticus 23.

Personally, for many years I have had big questions about many of the activities within the Church year. In particular, all the celebrations surrounding Christmas have raised great questions in my mind for years because of the origin of these celebrations, which are explicitly of pagan origin. We may have dressed them up with a Christian flavour, but that does not change the fact that they are pagan in origin. The birth of Jesus has absolutely nothing to do with December 25th, which is the worldwide birth date of the sun god. Within different cultures, the sun god may have different names, but the date of 25 December is almost the same everywhere. The very first to be given the title of Sun God was Nimrod, famous for building the Tower of Babel. This Nimrod is seen by many as the first appearance of the Antichrist. And yes, of course you would not celebrate the birth of Jesus on the day that his counterpart would have been born..

The big question that gradually arose in me thanks to this process was: ‘Who is Israel anyway, is it the Jewish people, and is the new state founded in the Middle East in 1948 the Israel of the Bible or a continuation of it? These are the questions I want to address in this article. When these questions have been answered, they also immediately provide a basis for further consideration of the Sabbath and the biblical feasts and their relationship to Gentile Christians.

In order to look more closely at these questions, I would first like to look at the historical perspective, that is

– The first church of the new testament
– The early church in second and third century
– The great councils of the 4th century,
– The Reformation,
– The dispensationalism of John Nelson Darby in the mid-19th century,
– The restoration of the state of Israel in the 20th century.

Then I will try to answer the question of who Israel is from the Bible.

This is not intended to be an exhaustive treatment of every issue, but rather a contribution to an ongoing discussion.

A historical perspective.

The first church of the new testament

When Jesus came to this earth, He came in the midst of His Jewish peers. The first disciples were recruited from this circle; they were all Jews. The whole account of the four Gospels takes place in the same piece of land in the Middle East. Jesus’ preaching was exclusively to Jews, the only pagan thing about it all was that the area called Galilee in the Bible is known as the Galilee of the Gentiles. There are a few hints in the gospels that Gentiles were allowed to share in the gospel, for example in Matthew 8 a Roman centurion is praised by Jesus for his great faith, which results in him being allowed to ‘sit in the kingdom of heaven with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob’ (see Matthew 8:5-13). Later in Matthew 15, we meet a Canaanite woman from the region of Tyre and Sidon who is similarly praised by Jesus. (see Matthew 15:21-28). In John 4 He has a conversation with a Samaritan woman, and Samaritans are not Jews either, but Gentiles from the surrounding countries who were sent to live there after the exile of the northern kingdom of the ten tribes (see 2 Kings 17:24-41). Everything else is Jewish. The first church in Jerusalem in the book of Acts is also almost exclusively Jewish, although in Acts 2 the term Proselytes is used, but these are Gentiles who have converted to Judaism. It is not until several years after the day of Pentecost that the first non-Jewish group comes into the picture, namely the Samaritans in Acts 8, who have some religious affinity with Judaism, and still later, in Acts 10, citizens of Rome, namely Cornelius and his household. For this Peter receives a vision which shows him that he should not regard Gentiles who believe in God as unholy. The great movement towards the Gentiles does not begin until Acts 11, from verse 20 onwards. Obviously people were under the impression that the gospel was almost exclusively for Israel, the Jews, and not for the rest of the world. So you can see that the fact that the Gentiles also have a part in the gospel causes quite a bit of tension in the mindset of the Church. This is also reflected in Paul’s great attention to this issue in his ministry as an apostle and also in his epistles. The general view, even in the early church, was that the Jewish people should be seen as Israel.

The early church in second and third century.

In part due to the fact that the Jews had been given a bad name because of various confrontations with the Roman authorities, and had suffered negative consequences as a result, and of course due to the fact that many Jews were particularly hostile to the new Christian community, a movement slowly began to develop in which non-Jewish Christians began to distance themselves more and more from the Jews and also from their Jewish brethren. In particular, the more western churches soon began to distance themselves from the Sabbath and the biblical feasts, while in the eastern church these continued to some extent for a long time. There was also a shift in thinking about who should be seen as Israel now, today. You have to remember that the influence of the Church of Rome eventually prevailed, partly due to the so-called conversion of the Roman Emperor Constantine. What has survived in the form of documents from that time is what the later church endorsed. I have come across a description of the burning of books hat were considered to be anti-church, so I can imagine that the documents that we have now from the Church Fathers give a single-sided picture of the position of the early church.

The councils of the 4th century

Due to pressure from Emperor Constantine, the Church decided to hold the Great Councils in the fourth century. Emperor Constantine had ensured that the Church was now widely accepted in the Roman Empire, but he also used it as a unifying element to keep the Roman Empire from falling apart. You can clearly tell that there was a political agenda in the background. Disagreement in this situation could only lead to division within the Church, and would also affect the very unification sought by the Roman government. So, in order to get everyone on the same page theologically and thus ensure unity, we had to move ahaed. A number of councils were held during this period and some very important decisions were made. It was during these councils that the first so-called creeds came into being, such as the Nicene Creed, an attempt to capture the Christian confession in a kind of system, let’s say a kind of dogma, and then start to see it as an authority above Scripture, in other words, the Bible should only be interpreted within this framework.

A number of important decisions concerning the so-called ecclesiastical year were also made during this period. By choosing Sunday as the Lord’s Day and choosing Church festivals based on pagan festivals, the Church explicitly stood against the Jews, their Sabbath and their festivals. The church leadership was explicitly aware that this was unbiblical, but the Church at that time considered itself qualified to decide matters outside the Bible. It may be clear that what they call “Jewish Sabbaths” and “Jewish Feasts” in the Bible are called “the Sabbath of the Lord your God” (Exodus 20:10) and “the Feasts of the LORD” (Leviticus 23:1). By calling these Jewish, they justified the decisions they had made. Jews at this time were therefore required to accept the institutions of the Church, and to continue to observe the Sabbath and the Feasts was seen by the Church as undermining its authority. This ended up being the first major schism in the Church, and many Jews were driven out of the Church as a result.

In all this lies the basis for the fact that the Church of Rome in particular came to see itself as the substitute for Israel, Israel, the Jewish people, had been done away with, so also the Law and everything to do with it. All that was left was to conform to ecclesiastical authority, which had explicitly exalted itself above the Scriptures.

The Reformation

From the 14th century onwards, after the dark period we call the Middle Ages, the first signs of change began to appear. In particular, the preaching of the Waldensians, a group of people living in the Italian Alps who had always distanced themselves from the official church and its creeds, was the first impetus for the Reformation.  One of the people who came to faith through the preaching of these Waldensians was Johannes Hus. He was burned at the stake for having distanced himself from the Church of Rome following this preaching. During his execution he prophesied that 100 years later someone would rise who would not end up at the stake. This prophecy referred to the arrival of Martin Luther, who became proverbial with his 95 theses. This is regarded by many as the beginning of the Reformation.

Despite the oft-repeated motto ‘Sola Scriptura’, Scripture alone, much of the change has been cosmetic rather than substantive. Despite the appeal to Scripture, many traditional church customs have remained intact, albeit in slightly modified form. Examples include infant baptism, Sundays and the so-called ‘eclastical year’. Particularly within the so-called covenant theology of Luther and especially later Calvin, although there has been some debate about it, the doctrine that the church has replaced Israel has remained intact in Lutheran and Calvinist churches. Personally, I see it particularly in the fact that Luther, and later more explicitly Calvin, were looking to Augustine of Hippo for their theology, and not solely to the Bible. Augustine was an important figure after the great councils; he was part of a later generation. Thinking in terms of the covenant, and on that basis thinking in national terms, ensured that faith had not so much a personal character but rather a national character. If you were born in the Netherlands, for example, you were part of the chosen people. Church and state were thus completely intertwined. This position explicitly ensured that infant baptism, supposedly as a substitute for circumcision, remained intact. In this typically covenantal mindset – you were chosen because you were born in the Netherlands, for example – personal faith and your own choice were considered less important. Understandably, this also influenced the way Israel and the Jews were regarded.

John Nelson Darby

John Nelson Darby, a nineteenth-century theologian, was very influential with his theology, especially in the Western evangelical world. In order to give his hobbyhorse, the so-called ‘rapture of the Church’, a place in what he saw as biblical theology, he gradually developed what is known as the ‘Dispensational Doctrine’. In this doctrine, history is divided into a number of self-contained periods, with God supposedly having a separate system of standards and values for each period. The most important of these is the distinction between the dispensation of the law – Israel in the Old Testament – and the dispensation of grace – the Church of the New Testament. In so doing, he created a strict separation between the Church and Israel. In this view, the dispensation of the law has not yet come to an end, but the last part of it is to be fulfilled for Israel, the Jews, after the church has been raptured. This thinking has found much support in the West in Evangelical and Baptist circles and, though less explicitly, also in Reformed and Pentecostal circles. The Church is seen here not so much as the ultimate replacement of Israel, but as a temporary replacement of Israel up to the time of the Rapture. So there is a place for the Jews, but not now, but in the future. The big implication here is that Israel and the Church are fundamentally separated; a common term is that Israel is the Jewish people, whereas the Church is mainly composed of Gentiles. The big question here is whether this strict separation is biblical, but I will come back to that later in my article.

Israel, a state from 1948 onwards

In the nineteenth century, you can see the emergence of the Zionist movement, which gradually awakened the desire of many Jews to return to the ancient land. You begin to see the first groups of Jews settling there. The Second World War, with the attempt by Hitler and his cronies to deal with the Jews once and for all, greatly accelerated this process, which led to the creation of the State of Israel in 1948 and the large-scale return of Jews.

This has also caused a shift in many people’s theological thinking. The idea that Israel refers to the Jewish people has become very strong in many people’s minds. I have the overwhelming impression that in many circles we are looking more at what is happening in the Middle East rather than focusing on Jesus and His Kingdom. While there is a new appreciation of the role that the Law, the Sabbath and the biblical feasts might play, even in the lives of Christians, the strict separation that was the result of John Nelson Darby’s teaching somehow remains completely intact among many. Israel is God’s chosen people; we Gentiles are allowed, by God’s grace, to partake a bit. In this way, we as Christians are hardly aware of the immense riches given to us in Christ. The consequence of this shift in focus is a kind of paralysis in the active proclamation of the Gospel, especially in our immediate environment, where surely our calling should be seen first.

In conclusion, we can say that the view of who Israel is, and also the relationship that we have with it, has been very different throughout history.

The Bible

The big question that has preoccupied me immensely over the last few years is, ‘What does the Bible have to say about this? Who is Israel really, is it just the Jewish people or is it broader? When the Pharisees came to John the Baptist with the statement ‘We have Abraham for a father’ (Matthew 3:8-9), John’s response was that God could make children of Abraham out of dead stones, in other words, John seemed to relegate this claim to the realm of fairy tales. So it seems that we need to look here not only at the Jewish people, but more broadly at the Church of Jesus Christ. It is therefore necessary to go a little deeper into the text of the Bible in order to find an answer to this question. First of all, we must have a very basic understanding of what and who the Bible has in mind when it speaks of Israel. Where could we start better than in the book of Genesis, where the name Israel appears for the first time.

The Birthright of the Firstborn

Throughout the book of Genesis you will see that the right of firstborn, and with it the double portion of the inheritance due to the firstborn, almost never goes to the real firstborn. The most obvious examples are Isaac and Jacob, neither of whom is physically the firstborn. Ishmael was born 14 years prior to Isaac, but had to make way for Isaac. Jacob and Esau are twins, Esau appears first, but even at birth Esau is made subordinate to Jacob, according to God’s word to their mother Rebekah.

₂₃And the LORD said unto her,
Two nations are in thy womb,
And two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels;
And the one people shall be stronger than the other people;
And the elder shall serve the younger.
(Genesis 25:23)

In Jeremiah 31:9 we find the right of the firstborn in relation to Israel and Ephraim.:

₉They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.

So the right of first birth is relevant to understanding who Israel is in the biblical sense. The question to be asked is ‘why? Why is Ishmael not allowed to share in the inheritance, as well as the sons of Abraham born to Keturah, who are sent away with gifts?

₅And Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac. ₆But unto the sons of the concubines, which Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts, and sent them away from Isaac his son, while he yet lived, eastward, unto the east country.
(Genesis 25:5-6)

…for in Isaac shall thy seed be called
(Genesis 21:12, see also Romans 9:7)

To answer this question we need to look at what is so special and significant about Isaac. There is no ‘regard of persons’ with God, so it is not just an arbitrary decision by God, there must be a deeper reason for choosing Isaac. In Romans 9:8 Paul distinguishes between the children of the flesh and the children of the promise. The particularity of Isaac can be summed up in one word: faith. Sarah was “no longer after the manner of women”, that is, she was no longer capable of having children. In biology we know that from birth a woman carries with her a potential supply of eggs, these eggs begin to mature from the time of puberty, during which time a woman is capable of having children. When the supply of potential eggs is exhausted, a woman enters the menopause, there is nothing left to impregnate, she can no longer have children. So the fact that Sarah, at the age of 90, when it would be expected that no more eggs would be available, became pregnant must be seen as a supernatural intervention by God, so Isaac is a miracle of God. God promises Abraham a son in Genesis 15 and in verse 6 it says:

 ₆And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.
(Genesis 15:6)

The promise and the subsequent miracle of Isaac’s birth are linked to Abraham’s faith, as you will see in several places in the New Testament. Abraham was a man of faith; he is also called the father of all who believe (see Romans 4). This means that the primary prerequisite for being considered Abraham’s descendant is faith, not physical descent. The physical children of Abraham receive a blessing, but the inheritance, the firstborn right, is for the son of faith. Here, in my view, is the most important key in the Bible to the understanding of who Israel is.

Ephraim and Judah

At the very end of the book of Genesis, in chapters 48 and 49, Jacob’s children are blessed by Jacob, which is also something we should consider. Earlier, in primary school, I was told that the firstborn right did not go to Reuben because of his actions. Neither did Simeon and Levi because of their affair with Dinah and the sons of Shechem. The firstborn right would go to Judah because he stood as surety for Benjamin during the Egyptian famine (see Genesis 43:9).

However, when I read the text of Jacob’s blessing, I come to the conclusion that this assumption cannot be right. Let us first read the text from Genesis 49:8-12:

₈Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise:
Thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies;
Thy father’s children shall bow down before thee.
₉Judah is a lion’s whelp:
From the prey, my son, thou art gone up:
He stooped down, he couched as a lion,
And as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?
₁₀The sceptre shall not depart from Judah,
Nor a lawgiver from between his feet,
Until Shiloh come;
And unto him shall the gathering of the people be.
₁₁Binding his foal unto the vine,
And his ass’s colt unto the choice vine;
He washed his garments in wine,
And his clothes in the blood of grapes:
₁₂His eyes shall be red with wine,
And his teeth white with milk.

Judah is promised the sceptre, which is the kingship. David is a descendant of Judah and so is Jesus. In verse 10 Shiloh is mentioned, which refers to the Messiah Jesus. This is confirmed by Paul in Romans 9:4-5:

₄who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; ₅whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.

So the Messiah comes from Judah, but does that mean he has first-birth rights? If we look at what Jacob says concerning Joseph in Genesis 49:22-26:

₂₂Joseph is a fruitful bough,
Even a fruitful bough by a well;
Whose branches run over the wall:
₂₃The archers have sorely grieved him,
And shot at him, and hated him:
₂₄But his bow abode in strength,
And the arms of his hands were made strong
By the hands of the mighty God of Jacob;
(From thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:)
₂₅Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee;
And by the Almighty, who shall bless thee
With blessings of heaven above,
Blessings of the deep that lieth under,
Blessings of the breasts, and of the womb:
₂₆The blessings of thy father
Have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors
Unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills:
They shall be on the head of Joseph,
And on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.

Here we can clearly see that the firstborn right goes to Joseph, the blessing of his father, namely the blessing that Jacob received from Isaac, goes on the head of Joseph and not on the head of Judah

But how does this continue? We need to go back one chapter, to chapter 48, when Jacob blesses both of Joseph’s sons. For a proper understanding we need to read the whole chapter, so I urge you to do that first. There are a number of things to be distinguished here, namely:

• Adoption into sonship
• The right of first birth
• The multitude of nations

In verse 5, Ephraim and Manasseh are adopted by Jacob to replace Reuben and Simeon as his own sons,

₅And now thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, which were born unto thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto thee into Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine.

Paul speaks of adoption in Ephesians 1:5, and I will come back to this subject in more detail later on in this article:

 ₅having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

Then, when Jacob blesses his adopted sons, he places his right hand on Ephraim, the youngest, thus giving him the right of firstborn (see verses 14 and 20). This corresponds to the text of Jeremiah 31:9 quoted earlier in this article.:

…I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.

When Jacob blesses Ephraim, he points out that Ephraim will become a fullness of nations.

…but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations. 
(Genesis 48:19)

This future ‘fullness of nations’ is ultimately where the firstborn right goes, more on this later.

The naming of Israel

Jesaja 46:9-10

₉Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, ₁₀declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:

To understand names and concepts in the Bible, it is very important to go back to the beginning, in theology this is called the ‘principle of first use’. If we want to know where we are going, then we look to the beginning, we are on the way to our origins. The ‘New Jerusalem’ is nothing other than the restored ‘Garden of Eden’. The same is true if we want to gain insight into our subject of Israel. We must therefore go back to the moment in history when Jacob receives the name Israel and evaluate all the aspects involved. The life of Jacob, together with his elder brother Esau, is relevant; the name does not just fall out of the sky.

Genesis 25-33 tells the history of Jacob and his twin brother Esau.

Rebekah, the mother of the twins, is told at birth that “the elder shall serve the younger” (Genesis 25:23). Jacob and Esau are two diametrically opposed figures, Esau rough, indifferent, living by the day, and Jacob, prince of the kitchen, motherly but focused on the future. Esau marries two Canaanite women, much to the annoyance of his parents, so norms such as “don’t wallow with the Canaanites” do not seem to concern him. We know this because when Eleazar, Abraham’s servant, has to look for a wife for Isaac, he is expressly forbidden to take a wife from among the natives, and even has to swear an oath (see Genesis 24). If this applies to Isaac, it also applies to both his sons.

While Esau is a man of the present, Jacob is concerned with the future. So when Esau returns from the field tired and hungry, Jacob buys Esau’s first-born right for a bowl of lentil soup. Later, when Isaac wants to bless Esau, Jacob deprives his brother of the blessing that comes with first-birth rights. The way this is done is far from deserving of the beauty prize; it smacks of manipulation at every turn. Despite Jacob’s wayward actions, God somehow respects this scenario by revealing Himself to Jacob in a dream at Bethel. When Jacob then goes to Laban and marries Leah and Rachel there, you can see how he makes Laban’s flocks his own, using principles that seeme to still work today. Of course, Laban’s behaviour is far from deserving of the nobility prize, but Jacob can have a look in the mirror too. Though he seems to be focused on the future, he seems above all to want to take that future into his own hands. It is only when, on leaving Haran, he fears a confrontation with Esau, who is on his way to meet him with 400 men, that he comes to the point where he no longer has his life and that of his family in his own hands.

We read in Genesis 33:22-32:

₂₂And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two womenservants, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford Jabbok. ₂₃And he took them, and sent them over the brook, and sent over that he had. ₂₄And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. ₂₅And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. ₂₆And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. ₂₇And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. ₂₈And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. ₂₉And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there. ₃₀And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved. ₃₁And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh. ₃₂Therefore the children of Israel eat not of the sinew which shrank, which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this day: because he touched the hollow of Jacob’s thigh in the sinew that shrank.

Jacob, here at the end of his powers, has to fight a man who later turns out to be God himself. The fight lasts all night. In the end, God dislocates Jacob’s hip, Jacob clings to God and asks for his blessing. This is the moment when Jacob is called Israel, he has fought with God and won, not physically of course, but he has won the grace of God by faith. Jacob clings to God by faith. So the naming is linked to faith. Just as with Abraham the promise is linked to faith, so also here. There is a clear principle here, namely that in the Bible everything revolves around whether there is faith or not. When Paul says in Ephesians 2 that we are saved by grace through faith, it is entirely consistent with this story. Jacob is allowed to live the rest of his life as a cripple, totally dependent on God. Hebrews 11:21 refers to this:

₂₁By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff. 

The real Israel is a person who has given himself completely to God in faith and has become totally dependent on Him. This surrender is the moment he receives the name Israel and should therefore be seen as crucial to our understanding of who Israel is.

The exodus from Egypt

The Exodus from Egypt is the moment in history when Israel becomes a people. When Jacob goes to Egypt at the end of Genesis, he goes as the ‘house of Jacob’, consisting of seventy souls (Genesis 46:27). When Moses is sent to Egypt, the term ‘people’ is used for the first time.  

₁₀Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.
(Exodus 3:10)

Moses is called by God at the burning bush to lead Israel out of Egypt. And together with God’s great judgments against Pharaoh and the Egyptians, the Israelites are led out of Egypt and into the presence of God at Mount Sinai.  Who were they? Exodus 12:37- 38 gives us the answer:

₃₇And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot that were men, beside children. ₃₈And a mixed multitude went up also with them; and flocks, and herds, even very much cattle.

What you see here is a mixed group of people, made up largely of native Israelites, but also a large mixed crowd of other origins. I suspect that these were not so much Egyptian citizens but rather slaves from the surrounding countries who had to work with the Israelites to build the two cities, Pithon and Raamses. What is clear here is that the people were not all born Israelites, which is hardly possible given that this is the fourth generation since Jacob’s migration to Egypt. So the people of Israel cannot be seen as a society made up solely of the physical descendants of Jacob. Under strict conditions, others could also be part of the people of Israel.

₄₈And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land: for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof. ₄₉One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you. ₅₀Thus did all the children of Israel; as the LORD commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they. ₅₁And it came to pass the selfsame day, that the LORD did bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies.
(Genesis 12:48-49)

Physical descent, while important, should therefore not be seen as the sole criterion for determining who Israel is. The intention to follow in the footsteps of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob has much more to do with faith than with ancest

Ruth

Ruth is an example of someone being incorporated into the people. In the Book of Ruth, we read about Elimelech who went to Moab with his wife and two sons; there was a famine in Bethlehem at the time. The two sons then married Moabite women. However, things do not work out for them; both Elimelek and his two sons pass away there. Naomi, Elimelek’s wife, is left with her two daughters-in-law, Ruth and Orpah. She decides to return to Bethlehem. We can then read about Ruth as she chooses to go with her. In Ruth 1:16-17 we read the following;

₁₆And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: ₁₇where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me. 

Here we see that if you accept the God of Israel, you can also claim to belong to the people. Ruth is, in the end, the great-grandmother of King David, and is specifically mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1. If this is not inclusion, then what is? When Paul speaks of being grafted into the noble olive tree in Romans 11, this is what he is talking about.

The biblical feasts

The biblical feasts (see Leviticus 23) have a clear relationship to the different stages of the harvest. During the Feast of Unleavened Bread, on the day after the Sabbath, the firstfruits of the barley harvest are moved before God by the High Priest, and only then are the Israelites allowed to eat the barley. At the Feast of Pentecost, the firstfruits of the wheat harvest are moved by the High Priest. The Feast of Tabernacles is marked by thanksgiving for the fruits of the land, the last harvest of which must be offered and celebrated. In Colossians 2, Paul writes of the feasts, among other things.

₁₆Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: ₁₇which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.
(Colossians 2:16-17)

He describes the feasts as shadows of good things to come, things that the Israelites must rehearse every year because they are an illustration of the coming of the Messiah Jesus. The various stages of the harvest can therefore be seen as models of God’s great plan of salvation. Jesus points his disciples to the harvest of people who might be brought in for the kingdom of God (see John 4:35, Matthew 9:37-38, among others).

Going back to the book of Ruth, in chapter 1:22 we find a reference to the harvest of the barley crop:

₂So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter in law, with her, which returned out of the country of Moab: and they came to Beth-lehem in the beginning of barley harvest.

From chapter 2 onward we see how Ruth and Boaz meet and eventually marry, so this all takes place in the period between the barley and wheat harvests. You could say that the incorporation into Israel, as in the case of Ruth, has a relationship with the Passover, the door to the Gentiles is left slightly open. As indicated earlier in this article, the people were not only born Israelites but also others who had joined them. The door to the Gentiles has always been open to some extent.

In Acts 2 we find the description of the outpouring of the Spirit of God. This takes place during the Feast of Pentecost (Shavuot) when the High Priest offers the firstfruits of wheat. Then, slowly but surely, through the Acts of the Apostles, we see the door being opened wide to the Gentiles. From then on, real steps are taken to preach the gospel to the Gentiles, with the result that Gentiles who come to faith are grafted onto the Noble Olive Tree(Romans 11:11-24) and thus become an integral part of the Israel of God (Galatians 6:16, Ephesians 2:11-22). The root of the olive tree is Jesus, the trunk is the Israel of God, the branches are the people, whether physically descended from Abraham or not, together Israel. The pattern of God’s plan of salvation begins with 1 man, Abraham, then his descendants, the people of Israel. It all comes together in Jesus, the seed of Abraham (see Galatians 3:16), and then the door opens wide to all those from all peoples who are in Christ.

Eventually it culminates into the Feast of Tabernacles, which has a clear relationship to the Second Coming of Jesus and the gathering of all the elect worldwide, the great final harvest consisting of the fruits of the land. Israel will multiply through time, consisting of “the Jew first, but the Greek also”.

The bill of divorcement

In Jeremiah 3 we find a reference to a bill of divorsement that God gave to the house of Israel:

₆The LORD said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot. ₇And I said after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto me. But she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it. ₈And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also. ₉And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks. ₁₀And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD.

The covenant God made with His people Israel at the time of Moses on Mount Sinai can be seen as a marriage. God chooses Israel as his bride and separates her from the world to be his exclusive property.

Exodus 19:3-6 speaks about this:

₃And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel; ₄ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself. ₅Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: ₆and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.

The word for ‘peculiar treasure’ in Hebrew is סְגֻלָה (Segullah), the term has the connotation of a precious jewel, something that no one should be allowed to touch, so strictly may Israel be the property of God. However, the story in the Bible shows that Israel does not wish to fulfil these desires of God. This is likened in the Bible to committing adultery, adultery with the idols of the land, the Baals and their associated altars, and the Astartes or Asherahs and their associated sacred poles. Israel does not want to fulfil the standard requirements of marriage, Israel commits adultery and this is the reason why God gave Israel the bill of divorce and removed her from His house and land. God ends the marriage (covenant) with Israel. Israel no longer exists. Jeremiah 3:8 explains the following:

₈And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also;

We also find a detailed description of this in Hosea 1, where Israel is compared to Lo-Ruchama, which means ‘not beloved’, and Lo-Ami, which means ‘not my people’. The whole book of Hosea is about this subject. God is forced to say goodbye to his people, while on the other hand he continues to love them dearly.

But there is a problem that seems insoluble. God’s law in Deuteronomy 24 speaks of the bill of divorse:

₁When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house. ₂And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man’s wife. ₃And if the latter husband hate her, and write her a bill of divorcement, and giveth it in her hand, and sendeth her out of his house; or if the latter husband die, which took her to be his wife; ₄her former husband, which sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after that she is defiled; for that is abomination before the LORD: and thou shalt not cause the land to sin, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.

To be clear, God is not a despot who imposes rules on others in order not to be bound by them himself; this is characteristic of dictators in this world, but not of God. In this way, God is bound by his own laws. So God, having given Israel the bill of divorse in accordance with this law, can never take it back. But God says otherwise in Hosea. Hosea 2:18-19 says:

₁₈And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely.
₁₉And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies.

So it seems that God would want to break his own laws. You could call this God’s great dilemma. He loves his people so much that he wants them back at all costs.

So what is the solution to this dilemma? We have to go back to Paul’s epistles, to Romans 7:1-3:

₁Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth? ₂For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. ₃So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man

God could not wait for death to put an end to all the rules surrounding marriage; He chose to die Himself. Jesus’ death on the cross is God’s answer to this deadly dilemma. His death is their liberation; after his death Deuteronomy 24 no longer applies. God can and may take Israel back as his bride.

Born Again

The people of Israel, which is thus profoundly non-existent, can only continue to exist if it is born again after its death. Because of God’s law, Israel’s right to exist is linked exclusively to Jesus Christ. There is no Israel apart from Him. Therefore, when Paul speaks of the “Israel of God” (Galatians 6:16), he is referring to the Church, made up of “first the Jew and then the Greek”. More on this later.

Exile and return

So the house goes into exile and is no longer Israel. Hosea 3:4 and 5:

₄For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim: ₅afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days.

So for a long time Israel will be deprived of those things which are so characteristic of Israel; only when there is repentance will there be restoration. In Deuteronomy 30 we find the same condition in the speech of Moses. Deuteronomy 30:1-10 says:

₁And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee, ₂and shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul; ₃that then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee. ₄If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee: ₅and the LORD thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers. ₆And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live. ₇And the LORD thy God will put all these curses upon thine enemies, and on them that hate thee, which persecuted thee. ₈And thou shalt return and obey the voice of the LORD, and do all his commandments which I command thee this day. ₉And the LORD thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good: for the LORD will again rejoice over thee for good, as he rejoiced over thy fathers: ₁₀if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.

Repentance is therefore the prerequisite for the restoration of Israel. Repentance means a return to a relationship with God and obedience to the commandments. A return that does not involve this repentance is therefore biblically self-centred and should not be considered legitimate. The return of Jews to the land of Israel must therefore be judged in this light. Some Orthodox Jews also believe that the present state of Israel is the result of man-made actions rather than the return promised in the Bible, and that they should be regarded as Ishmael instead of Isaac. According to these groups, we must wait for the coming of the Messiah before a return is even possible. When Jesus gives us a glimpse of the future, he seems to be starting from the same idea. Matthew 24:29-31 describes it as follows:

₂₉Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: ₃₀and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. ₃₁And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. 

The elect, the Israel of God, will be gathered when He, the Messiah, returns. This is the only place where Jesus speaks of gathering and bringing back. Many see this as the rapture of the Church, others see it as the gathering of the elect Israelites after the rapture of the Church. But if we see the Bible as a whole, we cannot separate our union with Him from the return of Israel described in Deuteronomy 30. Repentance is condition number one, and everything that follows should be in agreement with it. To join Jesus and His gospel, His church, repentance is the primary condition. Mark 1:14-15 says:

₁₄Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, ₁₅and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

The Gospel is the message of restoration, so it is also the message of return. We saw earlier that the death of the Bridegroom is a condition for the restoration of the marriage, i.e. the restoration of the obedient relationship with God. The coming of the Kingdom is the fulfilment of all the promises of the Bible up to that time. Although the majority of Jesus’ contemporaries could not accept Him, everyone at that time understood what Jesus was referring to when He proclaimed the coming of the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is the restoration of the kingship of David, which is why the term “Son of David” appears frequently in the Gospels. The crux of the matter was that many contemporaries had an unbiblical expectation of the future; they expected the Messiah to restore the kingship of David on a physical level. Jesus’ idea that His Kingdom was not of this world did not sit well with them. It is this controversy that the Gospel of John deals with. Jesus talks about being born again, about his Word being spirit and life, and about the Kingdom not being of this world, and so on, all of which was aimed at correcting an unbiblical expectation of the future that was typical of Jesus’ contemporaries, and by the way, is still true of much thinking within Judaism today.  Some time ago I heard a sermon on Judas’ motive for betraying Jesus. In this sermon it was suggested that Judas wanted to force Jesus to fulfil the expectation that He would drive the Romans out of the country and thus restore the kingship of David. Obviously, Jesus did not have any intention of fulfilling this; His plan was restoration through the atonement of His blood, by dying for His Bride, for Israel. The restoration intended is both spiritual and future, not focused on present and physical restoration.

Return is therefore first and foremost a restoration of relationship based on reconciliation and repentance, a restoration to renewed obedience, a return to Jesus and his law. Only when this restoration has taken place can there be a legitimate return to the land.

Paul

Before we can look at the content of Paul’s message, we need to look at the person. Paul was a Jew. In Acts 22:3-5, Paul explains this:

₃I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day. ₄And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women. ₅As also the high priest doth bear me witness, and all the estate of the elders: from whom also I received letters unto the brethren, and went to Damascus, to bring them which were there bound unto Jerusalem, for to be punished.

Paul was a Pharisee, Gamaliel was a member of the Sanhedrin. Paul sat at Gamaliel’s feet as a disciple, so we can assume that he was being groomed for a future position in the Sanhedrin. In Philippians 3:5-6 he gives a further clarification:

₅circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; ₆concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.

So if there is anyone who knows what is on the table in the field of theology, including Jewish theology, it is him. Paul can therefore speak with authority about these things because he has a great deal of knowledge about them. In Romans 10:1-3 he tries to show where he is coming up against problems:

₁Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. ₂For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. ₃For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God

There is great zeal for God among his Jewish contemporaries, but there is a lack of pure biblical understanding, especially the Pharisaic eschatology seems to be the problem here. The expectation of the coming of the Messiah is quite different from what is presented to them in Christ. Paul, with his new insight after Jesus’ revelation to him, can then be regarded, given his background, as being able to explain this insight, which is lacking among his “brethren,” in no uncertain terms.

Paul deals with this in several places in his Epistles.

• Much of Romans deals with this at length, especially chapters 2-4 and 9-11,
• The Epistle to the Galatians also deals with this at length against the background of the advancing Jewish tradition seeking to assert itself with regard to circumcision,
• In Ephesians he is primarily referring to Gentiles and their position in Christ, they are co-heirs of all the promises given to Israel,
• In Philippians 3 he addresses the issue in the light of his background as a Pharisee,
• Lastly, I would like to mention the Epistle to the Hebrews, where the writer, I am convinced it is Paul, delves deeply into everything that has to do with the new covenant that has come with the coming of Jesus.

In addition to the scriptures mentioned, there are other texts that refer to this more or less indirectly.

For the record, I am not going to completely quote and cover all the biblical passages; what I want to do is to use a few selected verses to give you an impression of how we should view the various biblical passages, and in this way to challenge you to start studying Paul’s Epistles again.

Romans 2:28-29

₂₈For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: ₂₉but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

In this section, being a Jew is not so much a matter of descent but of the state of the heart.

Romans 3: 23-24

₂₃for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; ₂₄being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 

It is clear from the word ‘all’ that no distinction is being made here between the Jew and the Gentile.

Romans 9:6-13

₆Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: ₇neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. ₈That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. ₉For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sarah shall have a son. ₁₀And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac; ₁₁(for the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) ₁₂it was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. ₁₃As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.

From this it is clear that there are two views of who Israel is, one based on physical descent, i.e. birth, which is what the Jews believe, and one based on the word ‘promise’, which Paul takes. We have seen in Genesis that the promise is linked to faith and not to descent.

Romans 11:1-5

₁I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. ₂God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying, ₃Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life. ₄But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. ₅Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. 

The supposed remnant that is not rejected is that part of the Jews who believe in Jesus. This means that even in the case of Israel and the Jews, knowing and following Jesus is the standard.

Romans 11:17-18

₁₇And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; ₁₈boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.

From this text it is clear that descent does not matter, unbelief results in being cut off, this applies to Jews as well as to Gentiles, when there is unbelief, faith is the basis on which we partake of the sap-laden root of the olive tree, only on this basis do we partake of the olive tree, the Israel of God and the Root, Jesus Christ.

The Epistle to the Galatians

Paul’s epistle to the Galatians is often read as if he is arguing with the Jews about whether or not Gentiles should keep the law. In recent years I have come to believe that the issue here is quite differently, namely whether and to what extent Christians should conform to Jewish tradition. Indeed, Jews had come from Jerusalem to convince the Gentiles that it was necessary for them to be circumcised in order to be saved. The background to this is the Jewish belief that only Jews are eligible for the gospel, and therefore Gentiles must first become Jews. To do this, according to Jewish tradition, they have to go through the prescribed process of becoming a so-called ‘proselyte’, first being baptised and then circumcised, and then going through a number of other prescribed rules to bring their lives into conformity with Jewish tradition from that point on.

Galatians 1:14

₁₄…and profited in the Jews’ religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers.

Paul here refers to the Jewish traditions, in which he was brought up.

Galatians 2:11-14

₁₁But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed. ₁₂For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision. ₁₃And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation. ₁₄But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?

In this passage there is a reference to the fact that Gentiles and Jews were not allowed to sit at the same table, because a Jew would be defiled by doing so. If you’re looking for a text from the Old Testament on which this would be based, it’s going to be a very long search, because it’s nowhere in the Bible, it’s part of Jewish tradition. A small document was found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, though incomplete. The title is something like: ‘The Main Works of the Law’. The fact that Jews and gentiles are not allowed to sit at the same table is explicitly mentioned in this Jewish booklet.

Galatians 4:21-28

₂₁Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? ₂₂For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. ₂₃But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. ₂₄Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. ₂₅For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. ₂₆But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. ₂₇For it is written,
Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not;
Break forth and cry, thou that travailest not:
For the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.
₂₈Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.

Hagar represents “the present Jerusalem” with its unbelief and traditions; we are part of “the heavenly Jerusalem”. Hagar has nothing to do with the promises made to Abraham, which are fulfilled both in Isaac and in Christ. Therefore, to read into this a controversy between the Old Testament, addressed to Israel and the Jews, on the one hand, and the New Testament, addressed to the Gentiles and the Church, on the other, does not do justice to the biblical text as a whole.

Therefore, we do not speak here of “slavery to the law of God”, but of the slavery which is the result of Jewish tradition and its interpretation and further interpretation of what the Jews call “the law of Moses”.

James 2:10-12

₁₀For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. ₁₁For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. ₁₂So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. 

James shows that the Law, represented here by a few commandments from the Law of God received by Israel on Mount Sinai, can be called “the Law of Liberty”. Jesus points out that truth sets us free, whereas sin enslaves us..

Ephesians 1:4-6

₄according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: ₅having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, ₆to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved

Just as Ephraim and Manasseh were adopted by Jacob and became part of the 12 tribes, so may we also be adopted as sons and as such become part of Israel.

Ephesians 2:11-22

₁Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; ₁₂that at that time ye 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: ₁₃but now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. ₁₄For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; ₁₅having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; ₁₆and that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: ₁₇and came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. ₁₈For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. ₁₉Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; ₂₀and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; ₂₁in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: ₂₂in whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit

This passage in particular shows us that Gentiles, who once did not belong to Israel, have in Christ become part of the one new man, Jew and Gentile together. Gentiles therefore inherit in full, there is no longer any difference between Jew and Greek.

Romans 10:12-13

₁₂For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. ₁₃For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Galatians 3:28-29

 ₂₈There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. ₂₉And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Colossians 3:11

 11…where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.

These verses clearly indicate that within the Church there is no distinction between Jews on the one hand and Gentiles on the other, to make any kind of distinction is not really in line with Paul’s verses mentioned here.

Philippians 3:2-11

₂Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision. ₃For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.
₄Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: ₅circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; ₆concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. ₇But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. ₈Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, ₉and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: ₁₀that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; ₁₁if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.

Paul is quite crude in this passage when he speaks of the Jews, terms like ‘dogs’, ‘poor workers’, ‘cutting up’ seem to be intended to make a caricature of Jewish identity. It is precisely this kind of text that has led some of the so-called ‘Hebrew roots’ to regard Paul as a false apostle. Personaly I do not share this view; I think that Paul was extremely aware of what was at stake. I am convinced that Paul is speaking out so strongly here to counter the constant pressure from Judaism and the Talmud to make us believe that the Jews, with their traditions, deserve some kind of special status in the world, including within the churches. In this passage too, Paul tries to make it clear that circumcision is not so much a physical thing, to be compared with concision, in Greek ‘kata-tumai’, which means cutting off, but that circumcision, in Greek ‘peri-tumai’, is related to the heart which is circumcised in Christ by the Spirit..

Deuteronomium 30:6

₆And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.

Circumcision of the heart is already mentioned in Deuteronomy 30, so Paul is not introducing a new phenomenon that would only be found in the New Testament.

Jesus

Before we consider the content of Jesus’ words, we need to reflect on his position of authority, which is underestimated in many circles. I have come across the statement that Jesus’ words are too radical for us Christians to follow them literally. However, Scripture gives a different perspective on this, as can be seen in the following passage.

Deuteronomy 18:15-19

₁₅The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken; ₁₆according to all that thou desiredst of the LORD thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not. ₁₇And the LORD said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken. ₁₈I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. ₁₉And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.

In the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 3, verse 22, Peter refers to this text in his sermon and declares that it applies to Jesus. Jesus is, among all the other things He is, the “prophet of whom Moses spoke that He would come”. So our first priority should be to listen to what He has to say to us. Anything we proclaim that is not in line with Jesus’ words should be reconsidered, for only in this way will the clear proclamation of all Scripture stand. An example of this is the doctrine of the rapture of the Church, as taught by John Nelson Darby, which is based solely on Paul’s words in 1 Thessalonians. There is no direct statement by Jesus in the Gospels to confirm this, so there is no clarity based on the totality of Scripture. At a time like this, we would do well to look again at how we view these words of Paul and begin to reconcile them with the words of Jesus. In other places, too, Paul proclaims that what is at stake is the “doctrine of Christ”.

1 Timotheüs 6:3-5

₃If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; ₄he is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, ₅perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.

Therefore, when we think about the Israel of God, it must also be consistent with the teaching of Jesus. If we look at the broad scope of the Gospels, we see that Jesus’ teaching involves a constant confrontation with the Jewish culture of the time. Jesus is constantly pointing out to them that their traditions contradict God’s law in key places. One such example is found in Matthew 15.

Matthew 15:1-9

₁Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, ₂Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. ₃But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? ₄For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. ₅But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; ₆and honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition. ₇Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,
₈This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips;
But their heart is far from me.
₉But in vain they do worship me,
Teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

So the question that concerns me is the extent to which much of the teaching about Israel in our churches is based on Jewish thought rather than the Bible. What we teach about Israel must also be explicitly in line with the teaching of Jesus. Relying solely on Old Testament passages, unless they are interpreted in accordance with the teaching of Jesus, runs the risk of teaching something that is not consistent with Scripture as a whole. In Psalm 119:160 the psalmist speaks of the Word as a whole being truth. The King James Version speaks of ‘the sum of the word’, which means the word as a whole; isolated verses are often fatal to a correct understanding of Scripture. So there must be agreement between the Old and New Testaments, and between Jesus and the apostles. Therefore, when we come across an apparent contradiction, we need to take a step back and prayerfully reconsider. In the following section we will look at parts of the Gospel of John to reflect on Israel in this manner.

Gospel of John

John’s gospel seems to be a constant confrontation between Jesus and the scribes and Pharisees in particular. The confrontation seems to be mainly about their approach to the Scriptures and their view of the Kingdom of God. This confrontation is evident from the very start.

John 1:11

₁₁He came unto his own, and his own received him not…
(“his own” refers to his people or fellow countrymen)

John therefore starts from the beginning with the perspective of Jesus, placing it in a spiritual rather than a physical framework, and the latter framework was adopted by the Jews of the time. To make this clear, he goes back to the beginning, not to the beginning of our physical reality as described in Genesis 1, but to the spiritual reality that precedes it.

John 1:1-5

₁In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ₂The same was in the beginning with God. ₃All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. ₄In him was life; and the life was the light of men. ₅And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

God is Spirit, says the Bible (John 4:24), the creation of heaven and earth is first born in the heart of God, and John tries to make it clear that the Word (or wisdom, Proverbs 8:22-31) refers to Jesus. Jesus, the Word, was in God before creation, and He was God. In verse 2 John shows that this is the initial situation, the starting point as such. Our physical reality has its origin in spiritual reality, in the heart of God. The physical reality is merely a reflection of the spiritual. That is why the New Testament speaks of a ‘shadow’ in several places; a shadow is not the essence of things, but a reflection of them. This understanding is necessary for a proper understanding of the Kingdom of God and therefore of Israel. God is primarily concerned with the spiritual, not the physical. In order to make this clear, we are going to dwell on some of the things that the Gospel of John makes known. A quick overview:

• Jesus’ body is the temple (chapter 2)
• To live in the Kingdom you must be born of the Spirit (chapters 1 and 3).
• The place of worship is in Spirit and Truth, not in Jerusalem (chapter 4)
• Jesus is the one sent by God (chapter 5)
• His words are Spirit and Life (chapter 6)
• Jesus comes to die, not to rule (chapters 3 and 12)
• His kingdom is not of this world (chapter 18)

So we will now delve deeper into these issues to gain insight into how we should view the Kingdom of God and Israel based on the teaching of Jesus in the Gospel of John.

Zooming in on John’s text

John 1:12-13

₁₂But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: ₁₃which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

To be part of Jesus and His Kingdom, physical birth is not enough, we are flesh and flesh can only produce flesh. We have to believe in God and be born of Him. Being born an Israelite is not enough to be reckoned as part of the Israel of God.

John 2:13-22

₁₃And the Jews’ passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, ₁₄and found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: ₁₅and when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables; ₁₆and said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise. ₁₇And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.
₁₈Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? ₁₉Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. ₂₀Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? ₂₁But he spake of the temple of his body. ₂₂When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.

It all happened on the Temple Mount, just before the Passover. Driven by a deep passion for the house of God, Jesus starts to clear the Temple Square. When asked what the basis of authority is, he refers to his own body as being the temple. The temple in Jerusalem is supposed to be the place of encounter with God, the place of worship and reconciliation, also the place of communion with one another. All these things are a shadow of the real temple that is in heaven, which has come down to us as the Word made flesh. The physical is the shadow, while the reality is of Christ (Colossians 2:17). Jesus, especially his body, is the temple, the place of meeting and worship, in Him we find reconciliation and forgiveness, through Him we are also united with one another. In this way, as a congregation united in Him, we make up the true Israel of God. Again, faith is the determining factor.

John 3:1-21

₁There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: ₂the same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. ₃Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

₄Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? ₅Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. ₆That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. ₇Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. ₈The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
₉Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? ₁₀Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? ₁₁Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. ₁₂If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? ₁₃And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. ₁₄And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: ₁₅that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. ₁₆For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. ₁₇For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. ₁₈He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. ₁₉And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. ₂₀For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. ₂₁But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God

This passage is Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus. Nicodemus is described as a ruler of the Jews, a leader of Israel. Nicodemus was a member of the Sanhedrin at that time; to understand the confrontation that took place between Jesus and Nicodemus, it is good to understand  that he was not just anyone.

From his repeated responses to Jesus’ statements, we can see how people thought at that time, especially the Pharisees. Nicodemus begins by saying that he likes Jesus as someone sent by God, as a prophet. The fact that he calls him Rabbi speaks volumes. In Jewish culture, you could only be called a Rabbi if you had been officially trained by a Rabbi and recognised by the other Rabbis. The fact that he comes to Jesus makes it clear that he is wondering whether this Jesus might be the Messiah.

The response of Jesus is that he immediately starts talking to him about the Kingdom of God and what it takes to be a part of it. Nicodemus then responds very much from his physical mindset. This is evident in his question as to whether a person would have to return to the womb in order to be born again (vs.4). At first he was not able to hear what Jesus was trying to tell him. He did not understand that the Kingdom is primarily spiritual and has nothing to do with David’s throne in Jerusalem. Jesus made it clear that you must first partake of the spiritual by being born of the Spirit, otherwise you have no part in the Kingdom of God anyway. The accusation that he, as a leader in Israel, did not understand these things (v.10) clearly shows the fundamental difference in approach between Jesus’ view and that of Nicodemus, and with him of course the rest of the leadership at that time, as to how to view the Kingdom of God. It is also important to note that Jesus is addressing a Jew here, so this message applies not only to Gentiles but also to Jews. So what is clear here is that the view of the Kingdom that the Jewish leaders have is wrong. The reason why the Jewish leaders of the time thought that the Messiah would eventually come and set things right for them, let’s say their eschatology, was obviously inconsistent with Jesus’ teaching. Personally, I suspect that this was the main reason why they did not accept Jesus as the Messiah. So when Jesus indicates that He has not come to judge (v.17) but to save, this does not correspond to Jewish future expectations.  The Jews see a restoration of the kingship of David in connection with the present Jerusalem, while Jesus, like Paul, refers to the new, heavenly Jerusalem. For a proper understanding of the question of who or what Israel is, it is very important to understand this difference in understanding. Even today, people in our churches cherish the idea that there will be a future kingship in Jerusalem when Jesus returns, often completely ignoring the fact that the Kingdom of God is first and foremost a present, spiritual, heavenly reality. Jesus sits at the right hand of God today, so He rules now, this very day. Much of the eschatology in our churches is Jewish in nature and not as taught by Jesus and the apostles. The Jews had a physical mindset, we are to have a spiritual mindset. The way we view Israel is fundamentally influenced by this same mindset. The Israel of God today is first and foremost a spiritual reality.

John 4: 4-26

₄And he must needs go through Samaria. ₅Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. ₆Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.
₇There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. ₈(For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.)
₉Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. ₁₀Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. ₁₁The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? ₁₂Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? ₁₃Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: ₁₄but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. ₁₅The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. ₁₆Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither. ₁₇The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband: ₁₈for thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly. ₁₉The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. ₂₀Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.
₂₁Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. ₂₂Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. ₂₃But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. ₂₄God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. ₂₅The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. ₂₆Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.

Jesus is talking to a woman from Sichar, ancient Shechem, at the foot of Mount Gerizim. Mount Gerizim is the main sanctuary for the Samaritans, so He is penetrating the heart of Samaritan worship.

The first thing Jesus says to this woman is an invitation to drink of the living water. The living water is not physical water, but spiritual, heavenly water. Again it is clear that the true reality of the Kingdom of God is spiritual.

As the conversation continues, the place of worship is brought up. On the one hand, Jesus makes it clear that it is not this mountain, Mount Gerizim, that is the chosen place, but Jerusalem (see Deuteronomy 12:5). But Jesus does not stop here, he speaks of another future reality to which worship is linked. The phrase “the time is coming and is now” indicates that with the coming of the Messiah a new era is dawning in which Jerusalem is no longer the place of worship, but ” Spirit and truth” is the reality in which true worship is taking place. There seems to be a transition here from the physical, namely Jerusalem and the Temple, to the spiritual.

To understand this, we need to understand the difference between Jerusalem and the temple and the opposite ‘Spirit and Truth’. In Genesis 3:22-24, after the Fall of Man, man is expelled from the Garden of Eden to prevent access to the Tree of Life.

₂₂And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: ₂₃therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. ₂₄So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

The disaster would have been incalculable if man, in his sinful state, had eaten of the Tree of Life; man would have been trapped forever in the consequences of sin, separated from God. The Tree of Life in Paradise represents a living relationship with the eternal God. Before that relationship can be truly restored, reconciliation is necessary. The coming of Jesus is therefore a necessary condition for restoration. In Hebrews 10:19-20, the apostle shows us how to regain access to God.

₁₉Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, ₂₀by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;…

Jesus’ sacrifice gives us access to the heavenly sanctuary, making the earthly sanctuary in Jerusalem obsolete. When we come to faith, we receive the Holy Spirit as promised in Acts 2:37-39:

₃₇Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? ₃₈Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. ₃₉For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.

Jesus is now in heaven, at the right hand of the Father, and we have direct access to Him in heaven without the intervention of temple ceremonies, which were necessary at a time when the Spirit of God had not yet been poured out. Whenever we, as people who have received the Spirit of God, reach out to worship God the Father in prayer, alone or together as a congregation, we are in His presence and He is in our midst (see also Matthew 18:20). The nation of Israel, with all its ceremonies around the tabernacle and the temple, is only a shadow of the much greater thing of which we have become a part after Easter and Pentecost; by clinging to the old, we remain deprived of the new, much greater thing that God has in mind for us. Jesus is the fulfilment of all that the people of Israel represented, and this is the reality in which we are allowed to walk.

John 5:1-18

₁After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ₂Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. ₃In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. ₄For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. ₅And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. ₆When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole? ₇The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me. ₈Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. ₉And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath.

₁₀The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed. ₁₁He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk. ₁₂Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk? ₁₃And he that was healed wist not who it was: for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place. ₁₄Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee. ₁₅The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole. ₁₆And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.
₁₇But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. ₁₈Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

This is another of those passages in John’s Gospel that reveals the struggle between Jesus and the Jewish leaders. Jesus deliberately does things on the Sabbath that go against the established opinion of the Jewish leaders. This is just one of many examples we find in the Gospels. Again, this shows the great controversy in the way of thinking, the ‘mind-set’. The way both sides view the Sabbath is typical of the great difference in mindset, here it is about the Sabbath, but it is only one of the many issues on which Jesus and the Jewish leaders disagreed.

In Mark 2:27-28, Jesus shows that the Sabbath is being wrongly understood:

₂₇And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: ₂₈therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.

In the Law, in Exodus 31:16-17, the Sabbath is referred to as a sign:

₆Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. ₁₇It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.

A sign is always a reference to something bigger. All along the motorway there are signs pointing the way to our destination. All the signs in the Bible have a similar function. All the ceremonies surrounding the worship of God, both around the tabernacle of Moses and the temple of Solomon, are pointers to a much greater future. In the same way we should look at Israel in the Old Testament. The people of Israel and all the laws imposed on them point to the future, to the coming Kingdom of God, which finally came when Jesus came to earth. This Kingdom was therefore the key message of the time, both for John the Baptist and for Jesus and his apostles. The people of Israel are called to reflect the Kingdom of God; the people of Israel are not the Kingdom itself, but serve as a sign in the world to show the nations around them how God intended life to be and what it will be like in the future when God has restored all things.

As we read on in John 5, Jesus presents himself as the one sent by God:

₂₄Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. ₂₅Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. ₂₆For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; ₂₇and hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. ₂₈Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, ₂₉and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

Jesus presents himself as the fulfilment of the biblical future expectation. Paul also shows this in Romans 10:1-4:

₁Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. ₂For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. ₃For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. ₄For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.

This is not to be understood in the sense that the law ends here, but that Christ is the final destination. So the Law of God is presented here as the path by which we finally reach the goal, the Kingdom of God, which has arrived with Christ.

We can of course go through this chapter in much more detail and get more insight into Jesus and what He stands for and what He came for, but what I am mainly concerned with in this article is to point out that there is a big difference between the Jewish leaders and Jesus in how they view all things that have a connection with God’s Kingdom.

John 6

John 6 recounts the so-called “feeding of the five thousand” and then Jesus presents Himself as “The Bread of Life”, as also the reaction of the people around Him. Here are some extracts:

₁₁And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would. ₁₂When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. ₁₃Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten. ₁₄Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world.
₁₅When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself
alone. 
 ₄₈I am that bread of life. ₄₉Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. ₅₀This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. ₅₁I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
₅₂The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? ₅₃Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. ₅₄Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. ₅₅For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. ₅₆He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. ₅₇As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. ₅₈This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever. ₅₉These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum.
₆₀Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it? ₆₁When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you? ₆₂What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? ₆₃It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. ₆₄But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him. ₆₅And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.
₆₆From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.

As long as Jesus fills their bellies with bread and fish, people accept him. They like Him as the fulfilment of the promises about the coming of the Messiah. They want Him to be King so that He can deal nicely with the Romans who are causing them so much trouble.

This again shows that the future expectations of the Jews, in this case the Galilean disciples, are focused on a physical Kingdom of God with the Son of David on the throne in Jerusalem. When Jesus then shifts the focus to the Kingdom as a spiritual reality, people become confused. As a result they stop moving with Him. People focus on a future where all their needs will be met in the way they have imagined. A Messiah who serves bread and fish fits their imagination. Then, when Jesus has a very different message, the people realise that he does not seem to have any intention of fulfilling that expectation for them, so they walk away. This is the picture throughout the Bible, as long as it serves our interests we are quite willing to serve God, but when God demonstrates something else, something that comes with a cost, we tend to walk away.

This is what Jesus says in Mark 8:34:

₃₄And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

There is obviously a cost to following Jesus and participating in the Kingdom of God. For many people, perhaps the vast majority, this is too much to ask, so they drop out and no longer participate.

What does this have to do with our understanding of Israel? To understand these things properly, we need to understand that the true reality of things is spiritual, not physical. With this in mind, the Israel of God is first and foremost a spiritual reality.

John 8:31-47

₃₁Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; ₃₂and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. ₃₃They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? ₃₄Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. ₃₅And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. ₃₆If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. ₃₇I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you. ₃₈I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father. ₃₉They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham. ₄₀But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham. ₄₁Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.
₄₂Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. ₄₃Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. ₄₄Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. ₄₅And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. ₄₆Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? ₄₇He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God

This text is another example where we are encouraged to be looking with spiritual eyes. Being the descendants of Abraham in this passage is not so much about being physically descended from Abraham, as if that were enough, but it is primarily about the lifestyle of Abraham and whether or not we understand the same thing. Physically, the Pharisees and scribes are indeed the descendants of Abraham, but spiritually, given their attitude, they are the descendants of the devil. The devil resists the word of Jesus and tries to kill Him and this is also the attitude of the Jewish leaders, they hate Him because He confronts them with the truth and therefore try to kill Him. Abraham’s faith is the standard, not just his physical existence.

John 10:11-18

₁₁I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. ₁₂But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. ₁₃The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. ₁₄I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. ₁₅As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. ₁₆And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. ₁₇Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. ₁₈No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.

Jesus introduces himself as the Shepherd of Psalm 23, but also as the One Shepherd of Ezekiel 34 and 37:

Psalm 23:1

₁The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want…

Ezekiel 34:23-24

₂₃And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. ₂₄And I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the LORD have spoken it.

Ezekiel 37:24   

₂₄And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.

The flock is not primarily related to whether we are descended from Israel, but whether ‘My servant David’, Jesus, is our Shepherd. By dedicating our lives to following Jesus and hearing his voice, we become part of the flock, the Israel of God. The pitfall is that in the passages from Ezekiel we look at the physical people of Israel. Paul also urges us to look in a different way.

Romans 9:22-26

 ₂₂What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: ₂₃and that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, ₂₄even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? ₂₅As he saith also in Osee,
I will call them my people, which were not my people;
And her beloved, which was not beloved.
₂₆And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people;

John 12:23-25

So the flock is from all nations, Jew and Gentile together, and together they are the people of God. Paul’s explanation of the text from Hosea 1 is that the Gentiles who are recorded as ‘not my people’ are seen by him by faith to be the people of God.

₂₃And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. ₂₄Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. ₂₅He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.

Jesus is explaining something very crucial here, namely that we cannot bear fruit without dying ourselves in the process. Jesus, of course, is the one par excellence who gives his life to bear fruit in the world in this way. He dies for us on the cross so that we can be reconciled to God. In verse 25 we are also told to hate our own lives, our physical lives, in order to bear fruit for God in our lives.

In Matthew 2, a number of texts are quoted from the Old Testament which refer to the people of Israel and which in the gospel are connected to Jesus, I will mention verses 14 and 15:

₁₄When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt: ₁₅and was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.

This is a quotation from the Old Testament, the prophet speaking about it refers to the people of Israel, Matthew uses the same text and applies it to Jesus. Jesus is obviously the fulfilment of Israel, therefore all the promises made to Israel find their fulfilment in Him. This also means that Israel’s calling to be a Kingdom of Priests is fulfilled in Christ.

To return to the text of John 12, Israel can only bear fruit for God if Israel dies. Paul talks about how we have died with Christ and risen with Him, this also applies to the people of Israel, the old Israel according to the flesh (see 1 Corinthians 10:18) dies in Christ, with Christ a new Israel rises, consisting of Jews and Gentiles together. Together they constitute the one flock, of which Jesus is the High Priest and King of kings.

Paul speaks of two bodies in 1 Corinthians 15:44:

₄₄it is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

The people of Israel in the Old Testament are related to this natural body, and they are sown in Christ, the Church of Christ is this new, spiritual body that is being raised up with Christ.

John 18:33-37

₃₃Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said unto him, Art thou the King of the Jews? ₃₄Jesus answered him, Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of me? ₃₅Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me: what hast thou done? ₃₆Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence. ₃₇Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. 

When Jesus is questioned by Pilate after the Jews have handed Him over, Jesus also makes it clear to Pilate that the Kingdom of which He is the King is not of this world, because otherwise no one would have been able to arrest Jesus, His disciples would have fought, and we know from the Bible that large crowds of enemies had to give way again and again to often small minorities among the Israelites. Jesus is the King of a Heavenly Kingdom, which is spiritual. Therefore, we have been given other weapons, spiritual weapons, to combat people in their thinking through the proclamation of the Gospel and not to use physical weapons to gain ground.

So much for the Gospel of John. For a much deeper understanding of the conflict between Jesus and the Jews, I urge you to read my book “Jesus and the Jews“, which is published on this website,

In conclusion

The passages quoted from the Gospel of John, and also from the Epistles of Paul, are only a selection from the wide range of issues that we find in the teaching of Jesus and his apostles that relate to this subject. God’s Kingdom is not of this world, it is not physical. It is a Heavenly Kingdom, which is spiritual. Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father and rules today. We as the Church of Christ, even as individual Christians, have received the Holy Spirit and have thus become part of the spiritual Kingdom of God. What began with Abraham, and continued with the nation of Israel after they were led out of physical Egypt, finds its fulfilment in Christ and His Church. We too have been led out of our spiritual Egypt and into the liberty of Christ. The people of Israel physically and we spiritually.

Let me quote a few more passages from Isaiah. Immediately after the famous passage from Isaiah 53 about the Suffering Servant as the Lamb for the slaughter, we read the following in Isaiah 54:1-3:

₁Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the LORD. ₂Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; ₃for thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.

Jesus died, He is the Lamb that was slain, right after that we find this promise, here it refers to the expansion to the nations. The death and resurrection of Jesus completely opens the door to the nations. We, the Church, are the offspring of the Lamb, we are called to take possession of the nations by preaching the Gospel. Isaiah 56:1-8 also speaks about the nations:

₁Thus saith the LORD, Keep ye judgment, and do justice: for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed. ₂Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil.
3Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the LORD, speak, saying, The LORD hath utterly separated me from his people: neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree. 4For thus saith the LORD unto the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant; 5even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off.
₆Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the LORD, to serve him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant; ₇even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people. ₈The Lord GOD which gathereth the outcasts of Israel saith, Yet will I gather others to him, beside those that are gathered unto him.

The eunuch and the stranger are one and the same person. In those days it was customary for people who entered the service of the government, for example as ambassadors, to be castrated when they took up their posts; this happened to Daniel and his friends. The castrated foreigner is therefore the representative of the king and the people who sent him as an ambassador to Jerusalem. This promise therefore opens the door 100% to the whole people with their king, represented by this ambassador. Jesus referred to this passage in the so-called cleansing of the temple. In this way He declared that all nations could be part of the Israel of God, the Church of Jesus Christ.

God’s great plan of salvation has three stages:

1. One man, Abraham
2. One people, namely Israel
3. All nations, the Church of Jesus Christ

In this day and age, if we turn our attention back to the physical Jewish people, many of whom are now settled in the Middle East, our attention will be diverted from Jesus and His great plan of salvation. We then find ourselves looking at a physical land and people when the whole of the New Testament points us to the spiritual, to the Kingdom of God and to Jesus as King of kings and Lord of lords.

Adam and Eve in the Garden were clothed with the glory of God until they fell into sin and were found naked. When Jesus returns, we will be clothed with a glorious resurrected body thanks to the resurrection of the dead. Jesus is the first-born, and if we continue to abide in Him, we can also follow Him in the resurrection when He comes. John writes about this in his first epistle in 1 John 3:1-2:

₁Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. ₂Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

I would like to end with the words of Paul in the Epistle to the Hebrews 12:1-3:

₁Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, ₂looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. ₃For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. 

Being ready for God’s future is only possible if we focus exclusively on Jesus. He is the fulfilment of all the promises made to Abraham for Israel. Only in Him are we part of the Israel of God.