Category Archives: Israel

The people of God: fulfilled in Christ

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One of the central themes of the Bible is God’s promise that he would make a great people for his praise, and the fulfilment of that promise.  Key Scriptures are Gen 12:1-3 (God’s promise to Abram), and 1 Pet 2:9f (the declaration that the followers of Jesus constitute ‘a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession…the people of God’.

Back in Gen 1-2, God’s purpose for his people was ‘be fruitful and multiply’ (Gen 1:28), to ‘rule’ and ‘subdue’ the earth (Gen 1:28) to ‘cultivate’ and ‘keep’ the garden (Gen 2:15), and to live in community with one another (Gen 2:18-25).  …

The temple: fulfilled in Christ

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All God’s promises (including those relating to the temple, the people of God, and the land) are fulfilled in Jesus, 2 Cor 1:20.  It is in him that all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden, Col 2:1-3.  It is this which gives a reliable hermeneutic for understanding the entire Bible.  We are not at the mercy of idiosyncratic interpretations of individual verses.

How are we to understanding Christ as the fulfilment of the Bible’s teaching about the Temple?…

Jesus and the restoration of Israel (Rom 1:3f)

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Restoration of Israel Romans 1:3–4: Jesus is the …
The good news of the restoration of Israel (Isa. 40–66) “gospel” (Rom. 1:1–7)
The Davidic Messiah will restore Israel in the age to come (2 Sam. 7:12–16; Isa. 11:1, 10; Jer. 23:5–6; 30:9; 33:14–18; Ezek. 34:23–24; 37:24–25) Davidic Messiah (compare Rom. 1:3 with Matt. 1:1–16; Luke 1:27, 32, 69; 2 Tim. 2:8; Rev. 5:5; 22:16)
Israel is the Son of God (Exod. 4:22–23; Jer. 31:9; Hos. 11:1) Son of God, the true/restored Israel (compare Rom.
…

Israel in God’s plan

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I summarise a paper by Steve Motyer written for an Evangelical Alliance consultation in 2003.

We must interpret the Old Testament as Christians, from the perspective of faith in Christ.  Without this perspective, the Old Testament is confusing and incomplete.

As New Testament Christians, we must do what the New Testament writers did: which was to wrestle with this ‘new thing’ that God had done in Christ, understanding this in the light of the ‘old thing’ that he had done in Israel.  …

The land as a gift

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The Creator of the whole earth (Ps 24:1-2; 47:4) and unique Owner of Palestine (Lv. 25:23) made the patriarchs trustees of a land fit for kings, flowing with milk and honey (Dt. 31:20). He promised to give it to their descendants as a permanent inheritance (Gn. 17:8; Ex. 32:13). The occupation of the land, to be taken by stages (see 13:1-7), was launched dramatically by Joshua. It was then ‘allotted’ by God to Israel’s tribes by casting lots, (Nu 33:50-54) and so became their inalienable possession which noone could take forcibly from them.…

The new covenant

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‘The differences between the church and Israel are rooted in the newness of the covenant by which God and his people are bound to each other. The new covenant under which the church lives (1 Cor 11:25 Heb 8:7-13) is a new form of the relationship whereby God says to a chosen community, “I will be your God; you shall be my people.” (Ex 6:7 Jer 31:33) Both the continuity and the discontinuity between Israel and the church reflect this change in the form of the covenant, which took place at Christ’s coming.…

‘Why Israel will never get everything it wants’

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For the Israelis, 1948 was a brave war of independence.  For the Palestinians, is was a catastrophe, with 750,000 of them being forcibly ejected from their homes, their children and grandchildren making up the 5 million Palestinian refugees of today.

To Israel, Hamas is a jihadist terrorist organisation that wants to kill every Israeli and turn the whole region into an Islamic state.  The stated aim of Hamas, on the other hand, is to end the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory, and it has even expressed interest in a two-state solution.…

Education in Israel

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1. It was God-centred and God-commanded, Gen 18:19; Ex 10:2; 12:26-27; 13:14-16; Deut 4:9-10; 6:7,9; 11:19; 32:46; Isa 38:19; etc.

2. Its content and purpose centred on the fear of the Lord, Pr 1:7; 9:10; Ec 12:13.

3. It was home-based.

4. Children were required to honour and obey their parents Pr 1:8; 6:20; Ex 20:12; 21:15-17; Le 20:9; Deut 21:18; Pr 30:17; cf Eph 6:1-3.

5. Children were viewed as sinful by nature, Ps 51:5.…

Romans 11:26a – ‘And so all Israel will be saved’

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11:25 For I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: A partial hardening has happened to Israel until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. 11:26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:
“The Deliverer will come out of Zion;
he will remove ungodliness from Jacob.
11:27 And this is my covenant with them,
when I take away their sins.”…

Replacement theology

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A few years ago, I had some dialogue some Christian friends about the place of Israel in God’s purposes.  I wrote up my thoughts at the time in some of the posts that you will find linked to this one.

One of those friends has recently placed into my hands a copy of Derek White’s booklet Replacement theology: it’s [sic] origin, history, and theology.

White was one of the founders of Christian Friends of Israel (CFI) in 1985.  …