28Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him. 29He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled. 30He must increase, but I must decrease.
(John 3:28-30)
The above text is a statement by John the Baptist, in which John identifies himself as the friend of the bridegroom. In this text, the bridegroom is ‘the Christ’, namely Jesus of Nazareth. In recent years, the idea that the bride represents the people of Israel and that the church of Jesus Christ should be seen as a co-heir of the promise, but not the primary heir, has been embraced within theological thought, both in strictly Reformed circles and among many evangelical groups. After all, God promises through the prophet Hosea that he will take Israel as His bride.:
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. 20
I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD.
(Hosea 2:19-20)
The idea is that this promise pertains to the modern state of Israel and the Jewish people and does not so much apply to the church.
To provide some historical context, it is important to revisit the covenant made with the people of Israel during the time of Moses. The Israelites had just been led out of Egypt by Moses and brought to Mount Sinai, where they encountered God. The establishment of the covenant must be seen as the consummation of a marriage between God and the people. However, the vast majority of the people did not adhere to the conditions of this ‘marriage’, namely that they would be exclusively committed to God.
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
(Exodus 19:3-6)
In various places in the Old Testament, God compares the failure to keep this covenant to adultery, speaking through the prophets. The result is that the marriage between God and his people is consequently dissolved. The House of Israel, consisting of ten tribes, was taken into exile by the Assyrians in 722 BC, and the House of Judah by the Babylonians some 150 years later. From this point on, therefore, there is no longer any notion of a marriage with the people of Israel as a whole. Only a small group is permitted to return to the land and the city after the exile, during the period of Ezra and Nehemiah, to rebuild the Temple and reinstate the Temple service. Ever since, Israel has never again been an independent nation with its own king. The Jewish people have successively been part of various empires, most recently, of course, the Roman Empire at the time of John the Baptist and Jesus..
John the Baptist is the one called to be the herald to announce the coming of the Messiah. John is called by Jesus the greatest prophet ever
10For this is he, of whom it is written,Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, Which shall prepare thy way before thee.
11Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
(Matthew 11:10-11)
This great John calls himself “the friend of the bridegroom,” thereby indicating that he is not part of the bride. The entire Old Testament culminates in the arrival of John the Baptist, the greatest prophet ever, because he is allowed to see and proclaim the Messiah. If John does not see himself as part of the bride, the same must apply to the rest of the Jewish people. The Old Covenant, broken by Israel, is replaced by a New Covenant — a covenant based not on the blood of animals, but on the blood of Jesus. For the remnant of Israel, restoration is possible only if they join Jesus Christ in faith, and are made part of the new body — the church — through the Holy Spirit. God has driven the physical people out into the world; Hosea calls this the wilderness (see Hosea 2:13–14). They will be drawn there by the gospel to become part of the new marriage covenant.
6But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises. 7For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.
(Hebrews 8:6-7)
This new and better covenant is intended for the spiritual descendants of Abraham, namely the church of Jesus Christ
26For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. 27For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 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 (descendants), and heirs according to the promise.(Galatians 3:26-29)
This church consists, without any distinction whatsoever, of Jews and Gentiles brought together by the Spirit on the basis of faith in Jesus Christ.
Now back to the beginning of my argument. By viewing the modern state of Israel and the Jewish people as the primary heirs of biblical promises, we are making Israel greater than Jesus. Many in our churches are more concerned with what is happening in the Middle East than they are focused on Jesus. What is happening is that we are allowing Israel and the old covenant to grow in prominence again, and the focus on Jesus Christ is gradually fading into the background. Special prayer meetings for Israel are being organized on a large scale; after all, Israel is God’s people. Any form of criticism of the policies of the Israeli government and the Israeli army is dismissed as anti-Semitism. What we fail to emphasize is that God has rightly judged this people and that forgiveness and restoration for this people cursed by God can only be found in the gospel of Jesus Christ, and that there is no salvation apart from Him.
8…Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel, 9if we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole; 10be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. 11This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. 12Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
(Acts 4:8-12)
This was the message that the Jewish leaders and the remnant of Israel in Jerusalem heard from the apostles immediately after the outpouring of the Spirit of God. According to John, this Jesus must increase, and he—and this applies to the entire people of Israel—must decrease. It is time to bring the focus back to Jesus alone. In Acts 1, the apostles wondered if the time had now come for the restoration of David’s kingdom:
6… Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? 7And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. 8But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judæa, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. 9And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.
(Acts 1:6-9)
The answer was twofold: times and seasons belong to the Father alone, not you; the world lies open before you, ready for you to bear witness to Jesus and the gospel.
Rather than ascending the throne in Jerusalem, Jesus visibly ascends into heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father. It is not the old earthly Jerusalem, but the new heavenly Jerusalem that will be the eternal residence of the King of Kings until he returns to judge and entrust all that belongs to Him into the Father’s hands.
Hebrews 11 presents a variety of testimonies from individuals in the Old Testament who submitted themselves to God through faith. All of these individuals reached out for God’s promises, yet never received them..
39And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: 40God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.
(Hebrews 11:39-40)
The phrase “not without us” in this text points to the reality in which we as a church are called to live and bear witness through faith in Jesus Christ. In the chapter that follows, we are challenged to follow the example of all these Old Testament witnesses and fix our eyes exclusively on Jesus
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.
(Hebrews 12:1-3)
By focusing solely on Jesus, the promises that the Old Testament witnesses could only catch a glimpse of, are now within our reach. Israel in the Old Testament was merely an interlude that looked forward to the coming of Jesus and the Kingdom of God, which has become a reality in Him. The old, however great it may have been, may fade into the background and make way for the far greater reality connected to Jesus Christ and His Kingdom. He—namely, Jesus Christ—must increase; this means we cannot allow the central focus to be shifted back to Israel, the promised offspring of Abram. In the previously mentioned text from Galatians 3, Paul calls the church the offspring of Abraham. God changes the name Abram to Abraham and broadens the vision from one people—namely, Israel—to a multitude of nations, the church of Jesus Christ.
3And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, 4As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. 5Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.
(Genesis 17:3-5)
The promises given to Abram are greatly surpassed by the promises God gives to Abraham.
So in conclusion:
30He (Jesus) must increase, I (Israel) must decrease.
(John 3:30)
