The denial of the identity of the church with Israel is common in the modern era, even though it is almost unheard of prior to the 19th century. The New Testament’s teaching and the historical position of the church is that Jesus Christ is the true Israel and all who are in him are in Israel.
Another way to put this is that in the Old Testament to become a member of Israel one needed to first be circumcised (in the case of men) and then bring oneself under the law, in the New Testament all one need do is trust in Jesus and follow what Paul calls the law of Christ.
This is why Paul says in Colossians 3 that we, Christians are the chosen ones,
“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful”.
Col. 3:12-15
And this is also why he says in Philippians 3 that we, Christians, are the circumcision,
“For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh— 4 though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.”
Phil. 3:3-7
So, Christians, that is all who believe in Jesus, are the chosen ones and the circumcision, and are in Christ the true Israel, therefore we are citizens in the Israel of God (Eph. 2:11-22). However, despite how clear this is in scripture there are many Christians who deny the Gentiles have full membership in Israel, because they agree with the Pharisee’s teachings that membership in Israel is based on the flesh and adherence to the law. What they might not be aware of is how many problems this causes for Christian teachings. For instance, it undermines our basis for being accounted in the New Covenant. Let me explain why.
The idea that Israel and the Church are different entities, with different claims in different promises, is based on a desire to hold to a literal interpretation of the word of God. Therefore, those who hold to this kind of theology would say when they read Judah or Israel, this means the literal southern kingdom of Judah, or the literal northern kingdom of Israel, or the literal combined kingdom of Israel (such as in the time of David). This reading is based on an earnest desire of seeking to be faithful to the word of God, the promises of God, and the people of God. The problem is that this reading often falls into conflict with how the Bible uses these terms itself.
A very prominent example of a problem this causes is in understanding the New Covenant itself. People forget that the promise of the New Covenant was a promise for Israel and Judah, it was not given to Babylon, Egypt, or Rome. It was given directly to the named people of God. Let’s look at what the Old Testament says about this.
We see this in Jeremiah 31:
“31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
35 Thus says the Lord, who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— the Lord of hosts is his name: 36 “If this fixed order departs from before me, declares the Lord, then shall the offspring of Israel cease from being a nation before me forever.”
37 Thus says the Lord: “If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth below can be explored, then I will cast off all the offspring of Israel for all that they have done, declares the Lord.”
Jeremiah 31:31-37
This passage leaves us in no doubt who God is addressing. He is going to make a new covenant with “the house of Israel and the house of Judah.” This is clearly a reference to the two kingdoms of the Hebrew people who split in the time of Rehoboam the son of Solomon. If you take a literalist approach to these passages you can and only can apply this to the physical descendants of the nation of Israel.
The problem is that these verses are also the whole basis of Christianity. They are the whole basis of why Christians talk about a new covenant and an old covenant. Generally speaking, people are aware that Christians refer to the first part of the Bible as the Old Testament and the rest of the Bible is called the New Testament. Most Christians are also aware that within these two testaments is found respectively the Old and New Covenants.
And most Christians recognise that we are no longer under the Old Covenant but are under the New Covenant, which fulfilled the Old. But are they aware that the prophecies of the New Covenant were made for the Israelites, were made exclusively for Israelites, and the New Testament even affirms this? When the writer of Hebrews (who may have been the Apostle Paul or someone else) is showing the Jewish Christians he is writing to that they should not go back to the Old Covenant, but should remain in Christ, he quotes Jeremiah 31 and says this,
“6 But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second. 8 For he finds fault with them when he says: “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 9 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. For they did not continue in my covenant, and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord. 10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 11 And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. 12 For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” 13 In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.”
Heb. 8:6-13
The writer of Hebrews, who was a Christian and very likely a theologically trained Jew, explicitly takes the promise from Jeremiah 31 about a new covenant for Israel and Judah and applies it to Christianity, “6 But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better since it is enacted on better promises.” The New Covenant is Christianity, indeed, it is the very basis of it. The New Covenant is founded in the blood of Christ and applied to the hearts of believers through the Holy Spirit. This covenant finds its anchor in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. As we read a little later in Hebrews,
“10 And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 11 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. 15 And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying, 16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,” 17 then he adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” 18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.”
Heb. 10:10-18
Without Christ, there is no New Covenant. And without the New Covenant, there is no Christianity. Yet we demonstrated conclusively that the prophecy in Jeremiah is directed to “the house of Israel and the house of Judah.” How can this be? Well, it is simple. The literalist reading of the identity of Israel and Judah is simply wrong. The people of God, the true Israel of God or people of God are always accounted on the basis of faith in the Scriptures not by flesh. Therefore, it is made up of all who have faith in Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 10 shows here conclusively that the new covenant is established by the once-for-all sacrifice of Jesus Christ. This is why the New Covenant is so superior to the Old Covenant. It is not founded upon the blood of bulls and goats, nor are the sacrifices maintained by a fallen human priesthood. It is, rather, upheld by the willing sacrifice of the Son of God himself, and it is based upon his perfect priestly service of interceding between us and God, and it is applied to our hearts through the work of the Holy Spirit. This is the basis of Christianity, this is the basis of the New Covenant. This New Covenant applies to all who are in Jesus Christ, it is the covenant upon which Christianity is based. It is the fulfilment of one of the most important promises given to Israel and it is fulfilled in, and ONLY IN, the gathering of Jesus Christ, which as we know as the Israel of God or the Church.
If you doggedly stick to an overly literalist reading of the identity of either Israel or Judah, then you run into a serious problem here. You encounter the fact that in both the Old and New Testaments the New Covenant is promised to Judah and Israel. This leaves Gentiles out in the cold and makes mince-meat of the whole New Testament. But if you recognise that Gentiles are grafted into Israel and Israel was always meant to be a community of faithful believers in God and his Messiah, not a simple flesh and blood nation, then all the troubles wash away.
Even the promise of the pouring out of the Holy Spirit was made to Zion, to Israel, as Joel says in his small book,
“Be glad O children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God…You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel…28 And it shall come to pass afterwards, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. 29 Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit. 30 “And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke.”
Joel 2:28-30
This promise is directed to Zion and Israel, but also envisions this promise being applied to “all flesh.” We see this promise fulfilled in the church in Acts 2, among the Israelites, and then among the Samaritans in Acts, and then the Gentiles in Acts 10. Showing that God’s intention was never for the people of God to remain a Jewish or Israel-centric movement, but a whole-of-the-world movement, made up of people from all the nationalities on earth. This promise was made for all who would trust in God, not just one ethnic group.
The promise was for all who would believe that God would forgive their sins and write his law on their hearts, “For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself” (Acts 2:39). God was telling his people in the land of Canaan, in Israel, long, long ago, that citizenship in his people was always intended for more than just Jews, it was always intended for all who would trust in Jesus Christ, “For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. 29 But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God” (Rom. 2:28-29).
Indeed, I think you would struggle to find any promise that the New Testament says is fulfilled in the ministry and people of Jesus Christ that was not made explicitly to the people of Judah or Israel or both. Though of course many of these prophecies also envision the inclusion of the Gentiles (c.f. Isaiah 9 as a cool example).
So, who is the New Covenant for? It is simple: all who would trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, and his atoning sacrifice, and who then receive the Spirit and have his law written on their hearts. No one who does not have faith and does not have the Spirit has a claim to be part of the people of God. But all who have faith, no matter their nationality, and have received the Spirit are grafted into both the people of God and the benefits of the promises that come with that. Let no one ever convince you otherwise.
