Israel..

Part 9 of 10

What has happened to the identity of Israel, under the New Covenant? Has it changed? As with everything else we are seeing, the answer is yes. Israel was once a literal and natural people, but at the emergence of the New Covenant, Israel became a spiritual truth, a spiritual people, with a spiritual identity - no longer merely natural.

Old Covenant Israel?

In the Old Testament, the term "Israel" is used collectively. It refers to the patriarch Jacob (Gen 32:27-28; 35:10), the twelve tribes of Israel (Exod 19:3), the ten-tribed house of Israel (1 Kgs 2:21), and the two-tribed house of Judah (Ezra 6:21). Therefore, the term "Israel" in the Old Testament may refer to any of these people/groups.

The first use of the word "Jew" in Scripture is when Judah is fighting against Israel. The word "Jew" is actually a corruption of the name "Judah" (2 Kgs 16:6).

After the division of Israel as a nation, it was only the house of Judah which included in itself the tribes of Judah, Benjamin and Levi. These were the ones who became known as "Jews". Therefore, it is error to refer to the entire nation of Israel as "Jews". It's a very common misunderstanding.

So then, with the emergence of the New Covenant, who is the real Israel? Who is the real Jew?

New Covenant Israel?

For some reason, modern day Christians want so bad to be Jewish! I don't understand that. The New Covenant speaks of a spiritual Jew - that's the only Jew I care to be. I want to be of "the Israel of God", and of "Jerusalem above"!

"And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God" (Gal 6:16).

"But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all" (Gal 4:26).

The Bible calls Gentiles and Jews the "seed of Abraham" (Gal 3:29).. and did you know that Abraham was not a Jew, nor was he an Israelite! He was of the line of Eber from Shem, the son of Noah (Gen 10:21-31; 11:10-32; 14:13). Abraham's seed became the nation of Israel. But Abraham himself received the promises of God by faith, apart from the covenantal rite of circumcision (Rom 4:11). And why? So that he could be the father of ALL that believe! "So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham" (Gal 3:9).

At the cross of our Lord, the literal identity of Israel was elevated to a higher, greater and spiritual plane. No longer are we deemed Jew and Gentile, male and female, bond and free. We now are a new species "in Christ", not "in Judaism" (2 Cor 5:17; Gal 6:15). We have a new name, a new covenant, and a new identity! We aren't to put on Judaism when we get saved - that's crazy! Rather, we're to "put on Christ":

"For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There 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" (Gal 3:27-28).

A real Jew is one inwardly: "For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But 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" (Rom 2:28-29). Yet many Gentiles still strive to incorporate prayer shawls, yamukah's, shofar's, etc. Friends, he is not a Jew who is one OUTWARDLY! All those external instruments do not make us more spiritual - rather, they display our ignorance to the New Testament.

The real identity of spiritual Israel has always been those with a clean heart: "Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart" (Ps 73:1).

Jesus identified a spiritual Jew when he saw Nathaneal: "Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile" (Jn 1:47).

Under the New Covenant, even natural Jews miss out on their genuinely spiritual relationship with God, because they have rejected the Messiah. This is a hard pill to swallow, but it's true: "I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan" (Rev 2:9). Paul said, "For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel" (Rom 9:6). What did he mean? He meant you can easily be a natural Jew, but a spiritual Jew is a whole different story altogether. Jesus rebuked the Jews of His day because they claimed to be in relationship with God, but were not; they claimed to be real Jews, but were not: "I know that ye are Abraham's seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you. I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father. They 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" (Jn 8:37-39).

Has God Cast Away His People?

Many will take these truths to the extreme and say because Israel is now a spiritual identity, that natural Israel is to be forsaken. But this thought is error. The Bible is very clear that the natural Jew will have a place in the eternal plan of God; He has not forsaken them even though they have been "a disobedient and gainsaying people" (Rom 10:21). If God hasn't forsaken their salvation, therefore neither should we:

"I 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. God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew..." (Rom 11:1-2).

There will be a plan for "the natural branches": "And 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; Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in. Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again. For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive tree? For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sakes. For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance" (Rom 11:17-29). Note how Paul calls this instance a "mystery" (vs. 25).

We need to be praying for the peace and salvation of natural Israel (Ps 122:6), for we owe them a great deal of gratitude: "I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh: Who 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; Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen" (Rom 9:1-5).


We see, therefore, that to strive to revert back to the identity of literal, natural Israel is to actually revert back to the Old Covenant. God has done a new thing - He has given His people a new identity - we are no longer Jews and Gentiles - we are "Christians" (Acts 11:26), the Israel of God! How marvellous that God has made all things NEW!