Category Archives: Israel

The missiological significance of Deuteronomy

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If I’d somehow managed to get ‘Britney Spears’ into the title of this post, I suppose I could have attracted more  readers.  But anyone who loves God and is passionate about understanding his purposes for his people and for his world, won’t need any artificial incentives to take an interest in what follows.

Christopher Wright, in the introduction of his fine commentary on Deuteronomy, has some very helpful things to say about the missionary theology of the 5th book of the Bible. …

Charles Simeon on the conversion of the Jews

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Charles Simeon (1759 – 1836) exercised an influtential evangelical ministry centred on Cambridge, England.

‘The Conversion of the Jews was perhaps the warmest interest of his life, in the way of extended religious enterprise.’  He actively promoted the work of the Society for Promoting Christianity among the Jews.  On hearing of a Jew who had recently embraced the Christian faith, he wrote, “O that the whole nation might remember themselves, and turn to the Lord!”

‘Literally to the last the thought of the recovery of Israel to the divine Messiah was on Simeon’s heart. 

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The Abrahamic covenant and ‘the land’

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David Pawson, in his book Defending Christian Zionism, asserts that there are not one or two, but five covenants in the Bible.  They are: 1. Noahic, 2. Abrahamic, 3. Mosaic, 4. Davidic, and 5. Messianic.  Pawson asserts, quite properly, that the New Testament only ever refers to the Mosaic covenant as ‘old’ and therefore replaced by the ‘new’ (Messianic) covenant (Luke 22:20; 1 Cor 11:25; 2 Cor 3:6; Heb 8:8, 13; 9:15; 12:24).  As Grudem explains (Systematic Theology, p521), ‘the Mosaic covenant was an administration of detailed written laws given for a time to restrain the sins of the people and to be a custodian to point people to Christ (Gal 3:19, 24).’…

Seven reasons to be pro-Semitic

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I’ve blogged quite a bit recently on the delicate but important subject of Israel.  Much of what I’ve written tends towards the conclusion that the ‘Christian Zionist’ position cannot be supported from Scripture.  That is to say, the Bible does not, in my view, teach that Jewish people have a God-given right to return to the land of their ancestors and re-establish the nation-state of Israel with Jerusalem as its capital.

It’s distressing to note how vitriolic the debate sometimes gets. …

Israel: Old Testament prophecy and New Testament fulfilment

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I have found it useful to compile a list (albeit partial) of passages that are relevant to discussions about Israel and the Church and related questions such as restoration to the land, etc.

The debate cannot simply be reduced to whether we interpret the Bible more, or less, ‘literally’.  It’s a question of how the New Testament understands the Old Testament promises to have been fulfilled in Christ.

Here’s a list of relevant passages, with some notes appended.…

Genesis 12:3 – ‘I will bless those who bless you’

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Genesis 12:3 records a great promise made by the Lord to Abraham – “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse”.

Some interpreters argue that this promise to Abraham can be applied to modern Gentile attitudes towards the secular state of Israel.

C.I. Scofield says of this promise:

‘Wonderfully fulfilled in the history of the dispersion. It has invariably fared ill with the people who have persecuted the Jew – well with those who have protected him.

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Abraham in the New Testament

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In NT times Abraham was honoured as the ancestor of

  • Israel, Acts 13:26
  • the levitical priesthood, Heb 7:5
  • the Messiah himself, Mt 1:1

The popular Jewish superstition that racial descent from Abraham brought divine blessing with it is refuted by

  • John the Baptist, Mt 3:9
  • Paul, Rom 9:7

Nevertheless, the unity of the Hebrews as his descendants was a picture of the unity of believers in Christ, Gal 3:16, 29.

God’s children now inherit by faith those things granted to Abraham, including

  • the oath, Lk 1:73
  • the covenant, Acts 3:13
  • the promise, Rom 4:13
  • the blessing, Gal 3:14

Abraham’s faith was a type of that which leads to justification, Rom 4:3-12, a pre-Christ proclamation of the universal gospel Gal 3:8.…

Israel and the Church

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Stephen Sizer illustrates the continuity between the OT people of God (Israel) and the NT people of God (the church):-

Israel: The Church in the Old TestamentThe Body of Christ: The Church in the New Testament
Righteous live by faithfulness (Hab 2:4) Righteous live by faith (Rom 1:17)
Holy people (Deut 7:6; 33:3; Num 16:3)Holy people (Eph 1:1; Rom 1:7)
Chosen (Deut 7:6; 14:2)Chosen (Col 3:12; Titus 1:1)
Called (Isa 41:9; 2 Chron 7:14) Called (Rom 1:6-7; 1 Cor 1:2)
‘Church’ = Assembly in Greek (Mic 2:5)Church (Mt 16:18; 18:17; Eph 2:20)
Flock (Eze 34:2, 7; Psalm 77:20)Flock (Lk 12:32; Acts 20:28)
Holy nation (Ex 19:6)Holy nation (1 Pet 2:9)
Treasured possession & kingdom of priests (Ex 19:5-6)Special possession & royal priesthood (1 Pet 2:9)
Children of God and People of God (Hos 1:10; 2:23)Children of God (Jn 1:12); People of God ( 1 Pet 2:10)
People of his inheritance (Deut 4:20)Glorious inheritance (Eph 1:18)
My dwelling place = tabernacle (Lev 26:11; Eze 37:27)Dwelling among us = tabernacle (Jn 1:14; 2 Cor 6:16)
God is a husband betrothed ( Isa 54:5; Jer 3:14; Hos 2:19)Christ is a husband betrothed (2 Cor 11:2; Eph 5:25-30)
Twelve tribes (Gen 49:28; Rev 21:12)Twelve Apostles (Mk 3:14; Rev 21:14)

As Wayne Grudem (Systematic Theology, pp859-863) explains, Evangelical Protestants have held different views on the relationship between Israel and the church.…

Christian Zionism

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The International Day of Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem is to be held this year [2008] on 5th October.  Details can be found here.

It would seem churlish to have reservations about any call for prayer.  However, the resolution includes the following affirmations:-

RECOGNIZING… that G-d [sic] has kept his word to Abraham and His descendants and settled them in their homeland again, according to the word of the prophets (Amos 9:14-15), (Ezekiel 36: esp.

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