What Does The Bible Really Say About Who The True Israel Is?
Some months ago, the Christian doctrine of “ordo amoris” (the order of loves) made its way into mainstream discussion after J. D. Vance invoked it in an interview on the immigration issue. Now, something similar is happening with another Christian doctrine, God’s covenant with Israel, after a Ted Cruz interview with Tucker Carlson.
The issue is this: Is the modern nation state of Israel theologically and prophetically significant? Who are the covenant people of God today? Cruz invoked Genesis 12:3 to claim we are biblically obligated to support Israel if we seek God’s blessing — and we will be cursed if we do not support Israel, militarily and otherwise. But is that really so? Is the modern nation state of Israel the subject of Genesis 12:3? The question is not as straightforward as it might seem. After all, the apostle Paul says in Romans 9:6 that “not all who are Israel are Israel.”
Cruz’s views have been shaped by a school of theological thought called dispensationalism. While dispensationalism does not enjoy nearly the widespread acceptance it once had among American evangelicals, it is still very popular and has certainly made its mark on American foreign policy. Dispensationalism is a relative novelty in terms of church history — it only traces back as far as the 19th century, when it was first systematized and promoted by John Nelson Darby and the Plymouth Brethren. Its popularity is a distinctly American phenomenon, accelerating especially after the modern nation of Israel was established in 1948.
Dispensationalism became hugely influential through study Bibles (Scofield and Ryrie especially), end times charts, and the Left Behind book series. As a theological system, dispensationalism is defined primarily by maintaining a sharp distinction between Israel and the church. God has distinct plans for Jews and Gentiles. He has an earthly people with land promises (Israel) and a heavenly people with spiritual promises (the church). In dispensationalism, the church is a kind of “plan B,” a parenthesis unforeseen from the perspective of Old Testament prophets. Dispensationalism is a form of Zionism, holding that the Jews are the key to God’s purposes, and it is vital for Israel to be in the land promised to Abraham.
Dispensationalism was a significant departure from the more historic view of Israel’s relationship to the church, known as covenant theology. Covenant theology has been most fully developed in the Reformed tradition and teaches that Old Covenant Israel stands in fundamental continuity with the New Covenant church. The Bible tells one story, from beginning to end; God has one people sharing a common salvation; and the unity of God’s saving plan is found in Christ, who unites Jew and Gentile in Himself. Covenant theologians claim the church is the new and true Israel — the “Israel of God,” as Paul puts it in Galatians 6:16. Covenant theologians point to passages like Romans 4 and Galatians 3 to demonstrate that those who trust in Christ are the true children of Abraham. (Read more from “What Does The Bible Really Say About Who The True Israel Is?” HERE)
Photo credit: Flickr
