As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
In this series we have learned how it is always dangerous to replace Israel.
Replacing Israel occurs when one interprets the word Israel in the text of Scripture to mean the church or all believers—understanding them to be the new Israel or the spiritual Israel. It is taking the concept of Israel (the people, the nation, or the land) in a non-literal sense.
In the previous installment, we considered the origin and nature of Replacement Theology, which involves understanding the church to be the new Israel or the spiritual Israel, or otherwise taking the concept of Israel (the people, the nation, or the land) in some non-literal sense when we encounter it within the text of Holy Scripture.
As Bible-believing Christians, we must maintain a keen focus on the importance of Israel—from its biblical past, through its strategic present, to its prophetic future.
And, indeed, we must always remember that God still has a future for Israel! Proclaiming this truth—and acting on it—is the very reason The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry came into existence almost 83 years ago.
“The American Jewish Committee denounced the UCC resolution, a ‘Declaration for a Just Peace Between Palestine and Israel,’ saying the measure ‘demonizes Israel, fails to offer a credible path to Israeli-Palestinian peace, and undermines advances in Christian-Jewish relations.’” - RNS
The rejected resolution “used language that legitimized Palestinian terrorism as a ‘heroic struggle’ in the fight to combat alleged Israeli ‘military repression’ and ‘ethnic cleansing.’ It also urged the NEA to ‘publicize its support for the Palestinian struggle for justice and call on the United States government to stop arming and supporting Israel.’” - Nati
“Caring about Israel is ‘essential’ to what being Jewish means to 45% of U.S. Jewish adults, and an additional 37% say it is ‘important, but not essential,’ according to a new Pew Research Center survey … .
“Black Lives Matter expressed its ‘solidarity’ for Palestinians, advocating for ‘ending settler colonialism’ and Palestinian liberation in a tweet that implicitly undercut Israel after days of attacks in the region.” - C.Post
“Hamas does not care about how Jews behave. If Jews behave badly, Hamas does not care. If Jews behave nobly, it does not care. There is a reason. Hamas is an organization of Jew-haters.” - Jeffrey Salkin
“A Christian family who reportedly integrated into an ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Jerusalem is being outed for conducting missionary work in Israel and thereby breaking the country’s anti-proselytizing law.” - C.Leaders
A Review of Three Views on Israel and the Church: Perspectives on Romans 9-11, Jared Compton & Andrew David Naselli, Editors, Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2018, 266 pages, pbk.
It might be thought that a debate book on just three chapters in one of Paul’s epistles would only be of interest to a marginal group of specialists. However, the chapters in question are central to the vital theological and hermeneutical issue of the relationship between the nation of Israel and the Christian Church.
Discussion