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"That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ." -Ephesians 2:12-13 |
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When speaking to
Christians; Paul said: |
-Galatians 6:15-16 |
Why would Paul call Christians "the Israel of God" if it was only meant to be the name of a nation? |
In all
walks of life, Christian and non Christian alike, people have the assumed
belief that the chosen people of God has to be the physical nation of Israel
located in the Middle East. The truth is,
Since this
is a name given by God to Jacob in Genesis 32:28, where it says, "…Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but
Turns out, Jacob’s
perfect repentance of the sin he had committed against his brother Esau, as
well as making the final decision that we are also all called to wrestle with
in life, by professing the Lord thy God as His eternal guide, allowed him this
blessing. His transgression was forgiven as God promises all of us, and since his
sin was so perfectly purged, he could now endure God's presence as well as the
eternal name of
At one time the
Gentiles were not considered the people of God. In fact they were considered
unclean by the Jewish nation. But after Jesus worked, died, resurrected and ascended,
three and a half years later probation ended for the Jewish nation as Daniel
the prophet predicted would happen 490 years after
When Jesus first arrived
and started to share His Gospel truth, most of the leaders of the physical
nation of Israel rejected Him, and as we can see today, that same physical
nation still rejects Him, yet we find Jesus has been accepted by what that same
nation still calls Gentiles in every other nation. His Gospel message has
spread world wide just as He prophesied it would.
The prophetic
statement declared in Genesis and Hosea is also repeated by Jesus Christ
Himself in Matthew 21:43 when He is speaking to the Jews. He clearly says that,
“The
The fact the fruits
have now grown into a global forest of believers proves this prophetic
statement fulfilled and absolute truth.
Later in Acts 13:46 we
find the prophecy regarding having the Kingdom of God taken from “physical
Israel” straightforwardly fulfilled when Paul and Barnabas are being ridiculed
and reproached by the Jews one day with blasphemous statements as they try to
share the Gospel message. So on that fateful day, Paul and Barnabas turned to
the Jews that were speaking out and said, “…It was necessary that the word of
God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and
judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.”
In Romans 2:28,29 we learn
that, “…he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision,
which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly;
and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter;
whose praise is not of men, but of God. “
A few chapters later in
Romans 9:6-8 it says that, “…they are not all
In other words, you
are not guaranteed Heaven simply because you are born into a Jewish family. Peering
into this reality at its base elements, a family is nothing more than a flesh
generated unit. It is not a spiritual entity claiming spiritual things. It’s
just a family name. As Christians we know that the “flesh” has no claim on
Christ, nor can it ever lay claim because John
And finally, Galatians
3:26-29 says, "For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ
Jesus. For as many of you as have
been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is
neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one
in Christ Jesus. And if ye be
Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."
It was believed by
physical
Notice what Jesus
Himself said to the Jews one day 2000 year ago...
It’s recorded in Mark 12:1-12, "And he began to speak unto them by parables. A certain man planted a vineyard, and set an hedge about it, and digged a place for the winefat, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country. And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruit of the vineyard. And they caught him, and beat him, and sent him away empty. And again he sent unto them another servant; and at him they cast stones, and wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully handled. And again he sent another; and him they killed, and many others; beating some, and killing some. Having yet therefore one son, his wellbeloved, he sent him also last unto them, saying, They will reverence my son. But those husbandmen said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours. And they took him, and killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard. What shall therefore the lord of the vineyard do? he will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others. And have ye not read this scripture; The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner: This was the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? And they sought to lay hold on him, but feared the people: for they knew that he had spoken the parable against them: and they left him, and went their way."
Jesus clearly stated the Jews would lose their favored nation status, but not because of the way they ridiculed, harmed and even killed the prophets of old when the Lord sent them to share His Truth with them and all men. For if it was for this reason, Jesus the Son of God would never have come to them to share the Gospel message in the first place. They were about to kill Him, even though this was just a thought running through their minds for now. The sad thing here is these men of the cloth understood the parable Jesus just shared because the Scriptures clearly say here that THEY KNEW He was speaking of them. They knew the certain man in the parable was God, they knew the vineyard was the Jewish nation, they knew the hedge was the Law of God and their keeping it was the reason God protected them, they knew the tower was the Temple, they knew husbandmen were themselves, they knew the servants were the prophets they harmed and killed in the past and they knew the far country was Heaven. They even knew when Messiah would come He would seek the fruits of their labors for Him. But they had no idea the Son of God was standing before them at that moment. Had they not feared the people, they would have taken Him outside the vineyard at that time and killed Him.
Now..
don’t get me wrong. I am not saying all Jews are headed for hell. The Jews,
like any other nation as Paul confirmed earlier, have the same gift of
salvation offered to them completely free of charge because of what Jesus did
on
If the Jewish nation,
or any other people accept Jesus Christ as Lord, then they too will be found in
the City of
For
those that take no stock in all the Scriptures I just shared, I say, sheer common
sense grants us the obvious answer here. I ask, how can the physical Jewish
nation be considered the chosen people of God when they openly deny His only
begotten Son Jesus Christ as Messiah and go directly against God’s biblical definition
of
Ever
wonder why Satan would want people to believe those that deny Jesus Christ are the chosen
The prophet Jeremiah declared if the Jewish people were to turn their backs on God, He would remove them as a "nation before me for ever." They did turn their backs on Him when He sent them His only begotten Son. Plus, David saw in Pslams a similar fate for the Jews that ignored the obvious hand of God upon them those 40 years.
Replacement Theology in a Nutshell
click
here for audio of Sermon titled "Is
Replacement Theology Legit? #1"
click
here for audio of Sermon titled "Is
Replacement Theology Legit? #2"
Many claim to this day that the Christians are by no means the replacement of the rebellious Jews as the chosen people. But the Bible actually confirms from the Old to the New Testament that they are.
It was prophesied:
Jesus then repeated:
The apostles later confirmed:
It also said long ago in Amos 9:11-12 that "In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old: That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my name, saith the LORD that doeth this."
Most fail to realize that it was prophesied long ago that those "outside the camp" would become worthy to seek the Lord. Jesus touched on this in His parable regarding the wedding feast when he said the following in Matthew 22:1-14, "And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come. Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage. But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise: And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them. But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests. And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen."
Many Jews today still claim Jesus never spoke of the Jews as being worthy of replacement. When this parable is shared they simply mock it. But, there is yet another parable Jesus shares and the Word clearly says they Jews knew for a fact He was talking about them. It says this in Luke 20:9-19, "Then began he to speak to the people this parable; A certain man planted a vineyard, and let it forth to husbandmen, and went into a far country for a long time. And at the season he sent a servant to the husbandmen, that they should give him of the fruit of the vineyard: but the husbandmen beat him, and sent him away empty. And again he sent another servant: and they beat him also, and entreated him shamefully, and sent him away empty. And again he sent a third: and they wounded him also, and cast him out. Then said the lord of the vineyard, What shall I do? I will send my beloved son: it may be they will reverence him when they see him. But when the husbandmen saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, This is the heir: come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours. So they cast him out of the vineyard, and killed him. What therefore shall the lord of the vineyard do unto them? He shall come and destroy these husbandmen, and shall give the vineyard to others. And when they heard it, they said, God forbid. And he beheld them, and said, What is this then that is written, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner? Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. And the chief priests and the scribes the same hour sought to lay hands on him; and they feared the people: for they perceived that he had spoken this parable against them."
It was also prophesied:
Hosea 1:9; 5:5,6;8:2-4;9:15-17, "Then said God, Call his name Loammi: for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God. And the pride of Israel doth testify to his face: therefore shall Israel and Ephraim fall in their iniquity; Judah also shall fall with them. They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the LORD; but they shall not find him; he hath withdrawn himself from them. Israel shall cry unto me, My God, we know thee. Israel hath cast off the thing that is good: the enemy shall pursue him. They have set up kings, but not by me: they have made princes, and I knew it not: of their silver and their gold have they made them idols, that they may be cut off. All their wickedness is in Gilgal: for there I hated them: for the wickedness of their doings I will drive them out of mine house, I will love them no more: all their princes are revolters. Ephraim is smitten, their root is dried up, they shall bear no fruit: yea, though they bring forth, yet will I slay even the beloved fruit of their womb. My God will cast them away, because they did not hearken unto him: and they shall be wanderers among the nations.
To this day, most of the tribes cannot be identified in any specific location. The Jews are now in every nation on earth. In fact, many have no idea that they may have Jewish bloodlines. Intermarriage and constant wandering has allowed for this prophecy to be fulfilled in a big way.
Additional verses confirming replacement theology:
As time goes by and my studies continue daily, I am sure I will come across more and more statements in the Word of our God confirming replacement theology to be not only doctrinally sound, but prophetic as well. In fact, just the other day in my personal studies I can across the following:
In other words, shall we now have a problem that the un-chosen Gentiles that became chosen and the chosen Israelite's chose to become un-chosen by their rebellion and blatant apostasy?
Paul makes a good point here. So many Jews say replacement theology is a lie. But as Paul intimates in this passage, he never left his Jewish roots. The only difference between him and the lost Jews is that he chose to believe Jesus is Messiah. So in actuality, God never replaced them, they did that all on their own.
So many preachers, teachers, politicians and news reporters today declare the Jews are still the chosen people of God because they claim to uplift the Father in Heaven and obey Him. But it is plainly stated here by John that those that deny the Son of God do not have the Father in their hearts or understanding. In fact, the previous verse that leads up to this one says in 1 John 2:22, "Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son."
In context this is speaking of the "many antichrists" that will come upon the world in the last days and as we see here, according to the apostle John, the Jews are in fact being counted in that number.
Looking to the Jews who declare themselves to be the chosen people of God today as well as throughout their long history; yet if you have ever read the Babylonian Talmud you would know how disgustingly they speak of Jesus Christ, as well as call Him accursed throughout their "sacred" writings. I will not repeat their blasphemous words here of course as many of them are quite vile and vulgar; but the lesser of their evils is when in fact they do declare our Lord, Saviour, Creator and King Jesus "accursed," which then boldly declares they cannot possibly be the chosen people of God. For to deny the Son of God is to declare the Father to be just as evil as their version of Jesus. Seeing how He and His Father are one in agreement, there's no separating the two in loving or hating them.
Also see this growing stack of verses:
1Samuel 2:30, 2Kings 17:18-23, 1Chronicles 28:8, 2Chronicles 7:7-22, Psalms 22: 30-31, Isaiah 49:5; 50:1; 65:1-3, Jeremiah 17:4; 19:11; 22:24; 23:39; 31:36, Daniel 9:27, Hosea 1:6-10; 2:2;16-23;5:5-6;8:2-4;9:15-17, Amos 5:2, Malachi 1:4, Matthew 21:19; 21:41-43;23:38-39, Mark 11:14; 12: 9-12, Luke 13:9; 14:21-24; 20:9-19, Acts 22:22-30, Romans 9:26; 11:1-5; 11:19, Galatians 3:14 & 1John 2:23.