(March 10, 2010) There are Christians who believe that the Christian Church has replaced the Jewish nation of Israel which God created in the Old Testament. They quote the apostle Paul’s letter to the Galatians where he called Christians the “Israel of God” (Galatians 6:16) and Abraham’s seed “28 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. 29 And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” (Galatians 3:28-29) They believe that since the Jews as a nation rejected Jesus as their Messiah the covenants God made with them in the Old Testament are no longer in effect. Therefore, the Jews of today have no God-given right to the land of Israel.
I had a debate on the liberal Sojourners website over who owns the land of Israel in God’s eyes. Two different posters invoked Galatians to suggest that the Christian Church has replaced the Jewish people/nation:
[poster #1]: “ Remember Galatians 3:28, which specifically mandated equality and made us *all* part of Abraham’s seed.”
[poster #2]: “Does God say in His Word that the land of Israel belongs to the descendants of Abraham? Isn’t it possible, in view of Galatians, that the land actually belongs to faithful Christians, Jews and Muslims who desire to please Him by faith.”
I came across a poster on another blog who subscribes to Replacement Theology and who wrote, “There will be no third temple, since God destroyed it forever to be replaced by the True High Priest entering Heaven to offer His shed blood. As for ‘replacement theology’, Jesus said the vineyard would be taken from the Jews and given to another nation bearing its fruits. Matt. 21:43 Sounds like replacement to me.”
The parables Jesus spoke in ch. 21 of Matthew have nothing whatsoever to do with the land of Israel. Jesus is clearly speaking of the Jewish religious leaders who rejected God’s plan of salvation which comes through His Son, Jesus the Messiah:
“28 But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard. 29 He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went. 30 And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not. 31 Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. 32 For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him. 33 Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country: 34 And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it. 35 And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. 36 Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise. 37 But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son. 38 But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. 39 And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him. 40 When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen? 41 They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons. 42 Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? 43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.” (Matthew 21:28-43)
In light of these Replacement Theological positions how would they interpret the following scripture passage. In Genesis God made this promise to Abraham:
“14 And Jehovah said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art, northward and southward and eastward and westward: 15 for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.” (Genesis 13:14-15)
God promised the land to Abraham’s seed or offspring forever.
The following question illustrates the fallacy of the Replacement Theology position:
If the the land of Israel belongs to Abraham’s seed and if the Christian Church (the Israel of God) has replaced the Jewish nation of Israel then doesn’t this mean that the land of Israel belongs neither to the Jews or the Arabs but to the Christian Church?
You would be hard-pressed to find any adherent to Replacement Theology answer Yes to that question. As a matter of fact Knox Theological Seminary in 2002 issued an Open Letter stating that Christians, who constitute the “true Israel”, are not entitled to the land of Israel (nor is any other group according to this letter – sec. VI). Yet God’s promise in Genesis is clear: “the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.” Who then is the seed/offspring that God promised this land to forever? It has to be either the Jews or the Christians. The Arabs are not covered in this covenant God made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. (Genesis ch. 15, ch. 17, ch. 28) The argument that says the covenant is no longer valid for the Jews since they rejected Jesus Christ cannot be applied to Abraham’s Christian seed. We accepted Jesus as the Messiah so therefore the covenant is still in effect for Abraham’s offspring and thus according to Replacement Theology the land belongs to the Church. This illustrates both the scriptural and logical absurdity of Replacement Theology.
The Church is the Spiritual Israel while the Jews in the land of Israel constitute the Temporal Israel. The land of Israel was promised to the physical offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Jews. And as God’s word says, “the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” and therefore the land of Israel belongs to the Jews. (Romans ch.11)
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To see my response to Knox Theological Seminary’s Open Letter go here: Open Response
To read the Scriptural basis for the Jews’ right to the land see my article Christian Zionism: Christians and the Jews
To read a debate between myself and a Replacement Theology adherent see Does the Land of Israel belong to the Jews?
