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Is Israel God’s Chosen Nation Today?

Core Christianity / Adriel Sanchez and Bill Maier
The Truth Network Radio
January 15, 2025 7:24 pm

Is Israel God’s Chosen Nation Today?

Core Christianity / Adriel Sanchez and Bill Maier

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January 15, 2025 7:24 pm

Does God have two kinds of people, Israel and the church? How should Christians today relate to modern Israel? Pastor Adriel Sanchez answers these questions and more about Scripture's promises to Israel and the grafting in of gentile Christians. ——— JOIN OUR NEWSLETTER - https://solamedia.org/newsletter/ ——— FOLLOW US - Instagram - X/Twitter - Facebook ——— WHO WE ARE - Sola is home to White Horse Inn, Core Christianity, Modern Reformation, and Theo Global. Our mission is to serve today’s global church by producing resources for reformation grounded in the historic Christian faith. Our vision is to see reformation in hearts, homes, and churches

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Download this resource at solamedia.org slash offers. So the other day I was having a conversation with someone who is a newer believer in Jesus, and they were remarking about how, you know, they'd seen on the news the terrible things that were happening in the Middle East, specifically, you know, images coming out of Gaza, the war, the bombing, the things happening there, and they asked me, does God want that? I mean, is this an okay thing? And in particular, the reason they were asking this is because as a newer Christian, you know, they've been working through the Old Testament, they're reading the Bible for the very first time, and they're reading about Israel as God's chosen people, as God's chosen nation. And so basically this person's question was, is the nation of Israel today the same as Israel in the Old Testament? And if it is, does that mean we're obligated to stand with them?

So let me begin just by laying all of my cards on the table. I believe that Israel in the Old Testament, the body politic, this community of faith there under the Old Covenant is a type of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ under the New Covenant. What that means is that there aren't two different peoples of God in the Bible, you know, Israel on the one hand and then the Church on the other hand, and, you know, God has these different sort of redemptive purposes for these two peoples of God.

Rather, the Church is pictured as the restoration of Israel under the Old Covenant. You see this in various places of the New Testament. What this means is that there is, throughout redemptive history, one people of God organically united throughout the entire Bible. This is why Paul in the book of Galatians can say that we, by faith, are the children of Abraham. And so Christians, we have a relationship to that Israel that we read about in Scripture and in the Old Testament. This is really important when it comes to hermeneutics.

Hermeneutics has to do with how we interpret the Bible, because if we conclude that Israel today is God's chosen nation, that will influence how we think about, you know, the things that we need to do to relate to them. I remember years ago talking to a missionary in Mexico who held this view of Israel, and one of the things he had, the people that he was ministering to do, is he had a number of these indigenous, very poor people in Mexico, and he had them crocheting articles of clothing so that they could send these articles of clothing to Israel to bless Israel. He saw God's promise to Abraham in Genesis chapter 12 verse 3. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse. He saw that promise as pertaining specifically directly to the nation of Israel today, and so he said we're going to bless them so that God will bless us.

There are several major problems with this though, and let me just mention two of them. First, the New Testament writers apply the language once used for Israel as God's chosen and holy nation under the old covenant to the church of today. Listen to what Moses said to Israel as they were entering into the promised land. For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession out of all the peoples who were on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all the peoples. Deuteronomy chapter 7 verses 6 and 7. Now it's the same exact language that Paul uses to describe the church consisting of both Jews and Gentiles.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before him in love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ according to the purpose of his will. Note also the words of Peter in 1st Peter chapter 2. Speaking to the church he says, but you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people but now you are God's people.

Once you had not received mercy but now you have received mercy. Now what's amazing here is that Peter is quoting from Deuteronomy, Exodus, Isaiah, Hosea, all of these Old Testament texts that talk about Israel and her restoration and he's applying them to the new covenant people of God. This supports the thesis that when we're reading about Israel in the Old Testament learning about Father Abraham and the heroes of the faith we are organically connected to that story through Jesus Christ. We are a part of the one people of God that spans redemptive history.

We have been grafted into God's redemptive purposes. The second thing I wanted to note is that there are no people of God today who don't believe in Jesus Christ. This is Paul's point in Romans chapter 11 and in it we see the importance of faith but also the hope for the nation of Israel and for all nations today. In Romans chapters 9 through 11 Paul is basically answering the question how did God's word not fail if Messiah came and his own people by and large rejected him. In chapter 9 he says look not everyone is a child of Abraham just because of their Hebrew lineage. It's by faith that the promises of God made to Abraham are apprehended and then he says this in Romans chapter 11, I ask then has God rejected his people by no means for I myself am an Israelite a descendant of Abraham a member of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew.

Do you not know what the scripture says of Elijah? How he appeals to God against Israel. Lord they have killed your prophets they have demolished your altars and I alone am left and they seek my life but what is God's reply to him?

I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal. In other words God is still calling the Jewish people to himself today. When the nation rejected Jesus salvation was preached to the gentile so that they might see the riches of the glory of Christ. By unbelief many Jews were cut off from the people of God and Paul says this shouldn't lead to our boasting or arrogance but to sober-mindedness. He uses the analogy of grafting onto a tree. If you can picture Israel as an olive tree Paul says we gentiles were grafted onto the tree i.e. made a part of the people of God by faith in Christ and those Jews who didn't believe were cut off from the tree but if some of the branches were broken off and you although a wild olive shoot were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree do not be arrogant toward the branches if you are remember it is not you who support the root but the root that supports you then you will say branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in that is true they were broken off because of their unbelief but you stand fast through faith so do not become proud but fear for if God did not spare the natural branches neither will he spare you note then the kindness and severity of God severity toward those who have fallen but God's kindness to you provided you continue in his kindness otherwise you too will be cut off and even they if they do not continue in their unbelief will be grafted in for God has the power to graft them in again I love this because I think it helps us understand the proper relationship to Israel today it's not that we need to think of them as God's special chosen people you know well just whatever they do is is fine you know after all they're the people of God that that kind of a thing no absolutely not that's that's not what the New Testament teaches it's certainly not what the Bible teaches yet Paul makes it absolutely clear that we shouldn't have this arrogant attitude either as though we're better than you know even the faith that you have as a follower of Jesus is a gift that God has given you and so there's this sober-mindedness this fear even Paul says that we ought to have in light of this reality of God's mercy and his judgment and we ought to recognize that God by the grace of the Holy Spirit is able to graft Jews back in should they believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and this is precisely what we ought to long for and pray for I think Paul gives us the perfect example here in the beginning of Romans chapter 10 this is what he says brothers my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved that should be our heart and our prayer as well so is the modern state of Israel the same as Israel under king David no it isn't but that doesn't mean that they're hopeless or that God has totally abandoned them they're still like all of us and like all the nations called to faith in the Lord Jesus and when we trust in Christ we are grafted into that one great people of God Abraham is our father in the faith through Jesus Christ and through faith in him and so that's the great hope that we have that's the great hope that the Jews today have as well here at sola we're passionate about drawing on historic reformation theology to equip thoughtful Christians for practical wisdom connecting the dots between the Bible doctrine the Christian life and contemporary culture all that we produce is free thanks to the many who give monthly as solo partners if you join us as a monthly partner we'll send you a complimentary copy of Michael Horton's book ordinary sustainable faith in a radical restless world in an age marked by burnout and sensationalism Horton shows us what it looks like to live a deeply normal yet profoundly meaningful Christian life to get your copy simply head over to solomedia.org partner to join us in encouraging even more people to grow in knowing God and seeing everything in his light.
Whisper: medium.en / 2025-01-15 20:50:03 / 2025-01-15 20:54:45 / 5

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