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God’s Purpose for His People Israel

GOD'S PURPOSE FOR HIS PEOPLE ISRAEL
"GOD'S GIFTS AND HIS CALL ARE IRREVOCABLE"
(Romans 11:29)
By Rev Dr Robert C. Weatherlake

The Apostle Paul expounds basic truths about Israel, especially in his letter to the Romans, Chapters 9- 11. He reflects the mind of the Lord his God who had always designed to bring His rebellious, unfaithful and disobedient people back to Himself, as was unfailingly declared by His prophets.

Israel, both leaders and people, had repeatedly broken their God-given Covenant with Him. So much so, that the Lord would make a new Covenant as prophesied by Jeremiah (Chapter 31:31-34). This new Covenant was implemented through His Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. It was for the Jew first, and then to be shared with the Gentiles. Israel was to lead the way, so that all other races and religions would accept their witness to the crucified and risen Messiah.

At both ends of the theological spectrum there are Christians who make extravagant claims for non-Christian Judaism and for the State of Israel.
At the liberal end there is the unorthodox view that Judaism is sufficient in itself, and that the Messiah is not the only way to God. Some conservatives see the State of Israel as a fulfillment of Scripture, and therefore to be praised, even while Jews who adhere to a Christ- rejecting Judaism remain enemies of the Gospel and disobedient to God (see Romans 11:28- 32).

The truth is plainly declared in the New Testament, and expounded by the Apostle Paul in Romans, chapters 9- 11:

1. Paul defined what God had given Israel,
"Theirs is the adoption as sons, theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised. Amen." (Romans 9:3- 5).
There is no mention, let alone emphasis, on the promise of land. Psalm 24 declared that the whole earth is the Lord's. We are but tenants and stewards, so that none of us enjoy eternal rights to any particular land. God's continued blessing of His people is dependant on their obedience to Him. Rather than promising land rights the New Testament points to the heavenly Jerusalem, while the earthly Jerusalem is identified with Mount Sinai and with legalism (Revelation 21:10 and Galatians 4:25). Christians, Jewish and Gentile, have a richer inheritance than that promised to Israel under the Old Covenant. All that Moses was commanded to make were but copies of the heavenly realities (Hebrews 8:3- 6, 9:11). Christians claim the latter.
Advocates for the Holy Land being the exclusive right of the Jews to possess always fail to recognize the revolutionary impact of our Lord Jesus Christ, who came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets in a profoundly true and spiritual manner. Therefore, though Jews should be free to settle in the land promised to their distant forefathers, this should not be to the serious detriment of Palestinian Arabs (Christian as well as Muslim) whose forebears have seen this as their homeland for many centuries.

2. Paul declared that there is a believing remnant in Israel.
Not all who are descended from Israel are Israel....nor all Abraham's descendents his children (Romans 9:6f). It is not the natural children who are God's children, but the children of the promise (9:8), and of God's mercy. It is not a matter of man's desire (9:16). In 9:27 Paul recognizes "that only the remnant will be saved." Yet he is inspired to believe that finally it will be different (11:26).

3. Paul saw that the Gentiles now shared Israel's divine calling.
"The Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith, but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it. Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as it were by works" (Romans 9:30- 32).
Previously, when Gentiles chose to identify with the Jewish religion they were required to keep the whole Law. This was not to be the case in the early Church, though some Jewish Christians, for a while thought that Gentile converts should be circumcised. The differences were settled by a meeting of Christians in Jerusalem when James conveyed the following message to Gentile believers: "It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: You are to abstain from food offered to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things" (Acts 15:28f). This meant that Gentile believers were not expected to be circumcised or to follow Jewish traditions. In this way a genuine partnership was established between Jewish and Gentile believers. This is very different from a later view, "replacement theology", expressing the opinion that Christianity had completely replaced Judaism in the plan of God. Such anti-Jewish sentiments became explicit after the conversion of the Emperor Constantine. The Council of Nicea (325AD) glossed over the reality of Christianity's intimate connection with the Jewish people. One example was the Council's decision to separate the dates for the celebration of Easter from the dates of the Passover. They disregarded Paul's assertion that the Gospel is "first for the Jew and then for the Gentile" (Romans 1:16). Paul longed for the restoration of Israel to their God-given calling. At the same time he considered that Israel's failure had opened the way for the inclusion of the Gentiles (Romans 11:25) - but definitely not to the exclusion of the Jews. Blessing for the Gentile believer does not disadvantage the Jew who comes to faith. On the contrary, as Paul writes (Romans 11:24): "If you (Gentiles) were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!" His yearning was that "all Israel will be saved"(v 26), for they are loved on account of the patriarchs, "for God's gifts and His call are irrevocable" (vv 27f). This means that we can prayerfully hope that Judaism will come to acknowledge Jesus of Nazareth as their Messiah.

The Church must accept some responsibility for the terrible persecutions suffered by the Jews over centuries, but remorse over that must not lead us to deny the Gospel, as being vital for the Jews. Jesus the Messiah (Yeshua Meshiach) provides the only way of salvation for the Jews and all others.
Paul shows that trusting in legalism and tradition fails.
We pray that the Pauline-like passion of Jewish Messianic groups will yield yet greater fruit for the Messiah among their fellow-Jews. There have been quite remarkable developments over recent decades.

4. Paul emphasized that righteousness is by faith.
Righteousness does not come through the keeping of the Law and the following of traditions. Since Israel "did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes. Moses described in this way the righteousness that is by the law: ‘The man who does these things will live by them.' But the righteousness that is by faith says....., ‘The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,' that is the word of faith we are proclaiming..'" (Romans 10:3- 8). So it is open to all people through faith in Jesus Christ (10:19- 21): both Jew and Gentile! There is no other way!