Who is Israel According to the Bible

Mark Finley: Verse 25, "I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of the mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that the hardening of the heart has happened in Israel." Then he says, "So all Israel will be saved." What is he talking about, all Israel will be saved?
Matt: Mark, why do you think this subject matters so much today?
Mark Finley: Well, Matt, I think it matters. It vitally matters for at least three major reasons. First, if indeed Israel is to play a major part in end-time events in a prophetic scenario, then we better know about it. It better be very clear to us what that role is going to be. If Israel is not to play a major role in end-time events, how do you interpret things like the rebuilding of the temple? How do you interpret things like the 144,000 in Israel? This whole question of Israel is intimately linked with Bible prophecies, so it matters for that reason. The second reason I think it matters is this: if indeed Jesus Christ is the center of all prophecy. Remember when Jesus himself was talking to his disciples about end-time events or the events of his day actually. He said to them, "You search the scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me." The question we have to ask is: how does the centrality of Christ, salvation in Christ, and the covenant that God made with his people relate to the whole concept of Israel? Maybe at times we look to the political state of Israel rather than looking to the Christ of scripture.
Matt: Christians assume that the covenant that God made with Israel was unconditional. What can you tell us about that?
Mark Finley: Well, let's see what the Bible says about it. The important thing is what scripture says. In Deuteronomy chapter 28, you have a listing of what God calls the blessings and the cursings. In Deuteronomy 28, verse one, it says, "Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings will come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God." Then he lists all these blessings. Now notice, there's one little big word there, and it's "if." "Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God." When you let your eyes drop down to verse 15, it says, "But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you." The issue here is this: Israel's status depended upon their covenant faithfulness. It also is interesting to notice that the covenant itself was conditional with Israel right from the beginning. Now, God's covenant would be accomplished, so the covenant is not conditional, but Israel's relationship to the covenant all through the Old Testament is conditional.
Matt: If the promise was conditional, that means that God changes. Anybody who knows scripture knows that God changes not. Is that a conflict to believe?
Mark Finley: God's character does not change. God's action changes. God's character is a character of love, integrity, mercy, pardon, and grace. There are two types of prophecy in the Bible. One is the predictive element that is given by a sovereign God that is unchangeable. But then there is prophecy in the Bible that is conditional. A good example of this is the prophecy of Nineveh with Jonah. God said to Jonah, "Go talk to Nineveh. Tell Nineveh that they're going to be destroyed." Then finally he goes to Nineveh, he preaches, and Nineveh is not destroyed. Why not? Because Nineveh's actions changed, so therefore God's action changed. God's character doesn't change, but God's actions change based on the response of His people.
Matt: So if the covenant was conditional, did Jesus ever indicate that something had changed? In Matthew, he says, "Your house is left unto you desolate." Who was he speaking to? What does that mean?
Mark Finley: Let's look at some of those Bible passages. We'll look at Matthew chapter 23, verses 37 and 38. You hear the earnest appeal of Christ in these verses. 37, he says, "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who stones the prophets and stones those who have come after. How I wanted to gather you as children as a hen gathers her chicks under her wing." Jesus is appealing to Jerusalem, appealing to the people of Israel. He says, "But your house is left unto you desolate." What is he talking about? What is their house? It's the temple. In the Shekinah glory of the temple, Jesus' presence was manifested in the most holy place. God's presence was manifested between the two angels in the most holy place. The house is desolate. When Christ was crucified on the cross, the veil was rent in two, and the presence of God left that temple. If you look back a chapter or two, Matthew chapter 21, verse 43, we read these verses of what Jesus says. He says, "Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it." Israel was God's chosen nation depending on covenant faithfulness. When Israel violated the covenant that God had given to them, the presence of Christ left the ancient temple in Jerusalem. Then that covenant was broadened both to Jew and to Gentile to include those who by faith accepted Jesus Christ.
Matt: If something is taken from someone, then who is it given to?
Mark Finley: It is given to all humanity who accept the provisions by faith of Christ.
Matt: Before we were talking about this subject and you had brought up Stephen, I think it's in Acts chapter 7. Can you explain what's happening during that stoning of Stephen?
Mark Finley: Acts chapter 7 is designed in a legal framework based on Old Testament theology. We have what we call a covenant lawsuit where Stephen is charging Israel as a corporate whole with their violation of the covenant. He traces the history of Israel from the time of Abraham, Acts 7, verse 2, and he goes through the history of Israel showing how Israel was blessed when it was obedient and faithful to the covenant, and it was cursed when it was disobedient to the covenant. He goes through that covenant lawsuit and he comes down to verse 51 and he says, "You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart." Now that's fascinating, uncircumcised in heart. "You always resist the Holy Spirit as your fathers did. Which of the prophets did you not persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One," that's Jesus, "of whom you now have become betrayers and murderers." What language he's using. They rush upon him. The high priest rips his garments and they stone him. In all of our discussions, it is important to distinguish between Israel as a corporate whole that was unfaithful to the covenant and individual Israelites, many of whom accepted Christ and became the very basis of the New Testament church. Matthew 21, verse 43 says the kingdom would be taken from them. You raised a good question: who would it be given to? It would be given to all men and women who accept the covenant by faith: the covenant of grace, the covenant of salvation, Jew and Gentile alike.
Matt: When we look at Jesus as he died on the cross and was resurrected, after that, how did the apostles define God's people?
Mark Finley: They define it in a much broader way. I'll give you some texts on that. Galatians chapter 3 is a powerful text. The whole chapter of Galatians 3 is about salvation, how we are saved through faith that receives the grace of Christ. In Galatians chapter 3, verse 26 to 29, it says, "For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus." You're all sons of God, Jew and Gentile alike. "For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ, for there is neither Jew nor Greek." Now when he talks about Jew or Greek, he's talking about Greek not in the sense of nationality but in the sense of all that were not Jewish, all that were outside of the covenant that God gave to the Jews. He says, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female. You are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's," get this, "then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise." So Abraham's seed: Jew and Gentile, slave and free, male and female. In other words, this is part of the covenant promise. We find this throughout the New Testament. Romans chapter 2, and I want to give you a few texts to show you that we're not just hanging this concept on one text. In Romans 1, Paul says the Gentiles are lost. Romans 2, Paul says the Jews are lost. Romans chapter 3, Paul says all humanity is lost. Then he says all humanity is saved through Jesus Christ in Romans 3. Go to Romans 2, verse 28: "For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is the circumcision which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew who's one inwardly. The circumcision of the heart, in the spirit, not in the letter, but whose praise is not from men but from God." Circumcision, which was a sign of the covenant, has to do with the heart. It says here that all that have come to Christ by faith and accepted the glory of the gospel are then part of the covenant promise. Or you look at Philippians 3, verse 3. Again, we have that same concept all through the New Testament. "For we are the circumcision," Paul's writing to the Philippians and he says, "we are the circumcision who worship God in spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh."
Matt: Who is Abraham's seed?
Mark Finley: All those that accept Jesus Christ.
Matt: Who is a Jew?
Mark Finley: A true follower of Jesus is one who indeed has what the Bible calls the circumcision of the heart, whose heart is committed to Christ through faith.
Matt: Who are those who are circumcised?
Mark Finley: Circumcision in the Old Testament was a physical act that signified the setting apart of the Jewish males as part of the covenant, that they were followers of the covenant. Circumcision in the New Testament is the commitment of the heart, the setting aside of the heart to follow Jesus Christ.
Matt: I meet a lot of Christians whose whole worldview revolves around this subject. Their prophecies, the second coming, the millennium, everything that's going to happen at the end of time revolves around Israel. Of course, in many of their minds, this is the literal Israel nation state in the Middle East. When you challenge that idea, it's like you're taking away every prophetic belief that they have. So if I asked you a question, who is the holy nation, when we look at Peter, how does Peter explain this topic?
Mark Finley: Peter is speaking about the New Testament church. He's speaking about those who have accepted Jesus Christ and those who are obedient to Christ, those who are disciples of Christ, and those who are walking in the commandments of Christ. "Therefore to you who believe, He is precious," that is Christ is precious. "But to those who are disobedient, 'the stone which the builders rejected,'" so who's that stone? That's Jesus. "Has become the chief cornerstone, a stone of stumbling, a rock of defense, of offense. They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed." Now notice verse 9: "You." Who is he speaking about? The Christian church. "You are a chosen generation." Was Israel chosen by God as a corporate whole? Indeed. In the New Testament, there's this massive shift. The covenant now is with God's own people. He says, "But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood." So who are the priests of God now? In the Old Testament, the Levitical priests served in the temple, but now God says to us as Christians, as you've come to Christ, you're part of a royal priesthood. You're to represent me before the world. You are a holy nation. Just like Israel was that holy nation, now God's people, Jew and Gentile together, are God's holy nation, His own special people. We are his special people now through Christ, that you may proclaim the praises of him. Who is that? Jesus, who called you out of darkness into this marvelous light. You were once not a people, but now you are the people of God. Who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
Matt: What about Romans chapter 11? I think some people might try to use that against this theology.
Mark Finley: Let me give you a little background of Romans 11. In Romans chapter 11, Paul uses this marvelous illustration of the olive tree. He says of this olive tree, the branches that once were there are broken off, but there are other branches that are grafted in. It's very interesting, there are not two olive trees, there's one. He talks about Jew and Gentile both being grafted into this olive tree. There are not two peoples of God; there's one people of God. Jew and Gentile together become the people of God grafted in. Let me just read a couple passages. He says in Romans 11, verse 13, "For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them." He's saying, "Look, I'm the apostle to the Gentiles. You Gentiles have accepted Christ, you are being grafted into the olive branch." He said, "If your conversion makes some of my own countrymen, my Jewish friends, jealous, that's good because they need to be grafted in too to this one olive tree." He says in verse 16, "For if the first fruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches. And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and the fatness of the olive tree, do not boast against the branches. But if you boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you." You will say then, "Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in." In other words, the Jews were broken off so that the Gentiles might be grafted in. Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. So what he's saying is that here you have this olive tree, the Jewish nation is broken off, the Gentiles are grafted in, but then God says, "I have to bring my people back." In that context of the remnant of Israel that will be saved, he goes on here to say there is a remnant that will still be saved. Verse 25: "I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of the mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that the hardening of the heart has happened in Israel." Then he says, "So all Israel will be saved." What is he talking about, all Israel will be saved? He's talking about the remnant. All of Israel that has accepted faith in Jesus Christ, that will be grafted into the one olive tree, will be saved. It's not automatically every Jew is going to be saved in the world. No, if you read Romans 11, it is the remnant of Israel that responds to the gospel. Here's the incredible good news: before Jesus ultimately returns, Matt, there will be a mighty revival among Israelites. Many Israelites, Jews, just like in the first century, will accept Jesus Christ, and they will be grafted in and there'll be this one olive tree. The Bible does not speak about two peoples of God. The Bible speaks about one new man, one household, one people of God, one olive tree.
Matt: If the apostles taught this, how is a modern Christian supposed to interpret prophecy if they had this belief? What are they supposed to believe in now if what you're saying is true?
Mark Finley: There was a priesthood in Israel, now Jesus is our high priest. Even let me go back before that: the Israelites in the Old Testament offered a lamb, Jesus Christ is our lamb. The Old Testament priesthood, Jesus Christ is our priest. The Old Testament sanctuary, there is a sanctuary up in heaven. We interpret all of this through the eyes of Jesus. Jesus is our sacrifice, Jesus is our high priest, Jesus is our sanctuary. Then let me go a step further. If you look at the prophecies of the Old Testament, you see God establishing a Messianic kingdom on earth. Isn't that the reason why many Jewish leaders rejected Christ? Because they believed he would establish a Messianic kingdom. Now as Christians, we do not look for the nation of Israel to be the head and establish a Messianic kingdom through Israel. Jesus is our sacrifice, Jesus is our high priest, Jesus is our sanctuary, and Jesus is our King of kings that is coming again. That's exactly what Revelation teaches. We have such a high priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man. We are looking not to an earthly temple to be rebuilt, but to Jesus Christ our high priest, Jesus Christ our King of kings who is in the sanctuary in heaven, who is preparing to come again as King of kings and Lord of lords. Will there be a third temple? Well, let me surprise you a little bit. Revelation chapter 19 talks about the coming of Jesus. In verse 16, He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: King of kings and Lord of lords. You go into Revelation chapter 20, and at the end of Revelation chapter 20, you have the new Jerusalem descending. In Revelation 21, it says, "I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven." Here's the true tabernacle. It is not one that's built by the Jewish people. It is not one that's established in old Jerusalem. The true tabernacle is the new Jerusalem that Jesus Christ will descend in with His people after the second coming, after the resurrection of the righteous, and after the righteous living receive immortality. After all of that, we're caught up to heaven with Jesus. At the end of a period called the millennium or a thousand years, the holy city descends. Where does it descend? We can look here at the book of Zechariah. We're looking there at Zechariah chapter 14. Just wonderful, wonderful passages on the reality of the second coming of Christ and the reality of the descent of this temple. Here's something really exciting. It talks about the descent of the true temple. The true temple is not one that's built by man's hands, it's not one that's built in Israel, it's one that Jesus himself builds. It's the new Jerusalem as it says in Revelation chapter 21 and here in Zechariah 14. Listen to what it says: "Behold," verse 1, "the day of the Lord is coming and your spoil will be divided in your midst. I will gather all nations to battle against Jerusalem." What's that speaking about? At the end of the millennium, the holy city descends. All nations of the wicked that have been dead during the millennium resurrect to battle against that city. We have programs on the millennium if somebody doesn't understand it; we can go over it verse by verse. Notice, it says here: "In that day His feet," Jesus' feet, "will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives will split in two from east to the west, making a very large valley. Half the mountain shall move toward the north, half of it toward the south. Then you shall flee through my mountain valley." Here, the holy city comes down. The Mount of Olives splits in two and Jerusalem, the new Jerusalem, there in ancient Israel becomes the center of the earth made new. I think here's the significance of what we have been studying today. One: our focus should not be on the political nation of Israel. It should be on Jesus Christ: Jesus as the lamb of God, Jesus as our high priest, Jesus as the coming King. Secondly, our focus should not be on an earthly temple, but on the heavenly temple where Jesus is. And thirdly, we should recognize that Jew and Gentile together are inheritors of the covenant as they accept Jesus by faith.