According to the Old Testament, Who is Israel?

2nd Semester / Week 4

(To listen to this study on YouTube, click here)

The following information is from Steve Gregg (used with permission):

After Esther saved her people from the evil plot of Haman, Scripture records that:

“MANY OF THE PEOPLE OF THE LAND BECAME JEWS” (Esther 8:17).

Became Jews!!?? But isn’t Jewishness a matter of race and DNA and of being an actual physical descendant of Abraham? Not according to Scripture (and Paul later confirmed that anyone with a circumcised heart to the Lord is a Jew in God’s eyes, Romans 2:28-29).

When Moses led the people out of Egypt, a mixed multitude went with them also (Exodus 12:38). This mixed multitude were Egyptians and other nationalities who had been dwelling in Egypt, who now feared the Lord and joined themselves to Israel. As God-fearing people, they were included from that point on. They married into the family of Israel and their descendants were eventually given a portion of the Promised Land with everyone else.

Directly after the Exodus from Egypt, God gave laws to Israel concerning the Passover feast:

“And when a stranger dwells with you and wants to keep the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and HE SHALL BE AS A NATIVE OF THE LAND. For no uncircumcised person shall eat it” (Exodus 12:48).

Notice that the stranger was to be counted as a native of the land, so long as he participated in the true worship of God (See also Num. 9:14).

“And if a stranger dwells with you, or whoever is among you throughout your generations, and would present an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the Lord, just as you do, so shall he do. One ordinance shall be for you of the assembly and for the stranger who dwells with you, an ordinance forever throughout your generations; AS YOU ARE, SO SHALL THE STRANGER BE before the Lord” (Num. 15:14-15).

Do you see that?–No difference between the stranger and the native born. (Paul later asked, “Is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also,” Romans 3:29).

“And whatever man of the house of Israel, OR OF THE STRANGERS WHO DWELL AMONG YOU, who eats any blood, I will set My face against that person who eats blood, and will CUT HIM OFF FROM AMONG HIS PEOPLE” (Lev. 17:10).

If a stranger dwelling among the Israelites ate blood, he would be cut off from “his people”–Israel. The stranger (Gentile) was considered an Israelite with full rights and responsibilities unless he broke covenant with God.

“You shall read this law before ALL ISRAEL in their hearing. Gather the people together, men and women and little ones, AND THE STRANGER WHO IS WITHIN YOUR GATES, that they may hear and that they may learn to fear the Lord your God and carefully observe all the words of this law, and that their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as you live in the land which you cross the Jordan to possess” (Deut. 31:11-13).

Notice that the stranger living within Israel’s gates is considered part of the “ALL ISRAEL,” and was to continue obeying the Law when he later possessed the land.

The next passage makes it clear that Gentiles were given land among the tribes of Israel, and were considered as “native-born.”–

“Thus you shall divide this land among yourselves according to the tribes of Israel. It shall be that you will divide it by lot as an inheritance for yourselves, AND FOR THE STRANGERS WHO DWELL AMONG YOU AND BEAR CHILDREN AMONG YOU. THEY SHALL BE TO YOU AS NATIVE-BORN AMONG THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL; THEY SHALL HAVE AN INHERITANCE WITH YOU AMONG THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL. And it shall be that in whatever tribe the stranger dwells, there you shall give him his inheritance,’ says the Lord God” (Ezekiel 47:21-23).

The prophet Jeremiah wrote about how Gentiles could be established “in the midst” of God’s people Israel–

“And it shall be, if they will learn carefully the ways of My people, to swear by My name, ‘As the Lord lives,’ as they taught My people to swear by Baal, then THEY SHALL BE ESTABLISHED IN THE MIDST OF MY PEOPLE” (Jeremiah 12:16).

Isaiah was equally clear–

“Do not let the son of the foreigner who has JOINED HIMSELF to the Lord speak, saying, “The Lord has utterly separated me from His people;” nor let the eunuch say, “Here I am, a dry tree.” For thus says the Lord, “To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, and choose what pleases Me, and hold fast My covenant, even to them I will give in My house, and within My walls a place and a name better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. Also the sons of the foreigner who join themselves to the Lord, to serve Him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants—everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, and holds fast My covenant—even them I will bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on My altar; for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.” The Lord God, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, says, “Yet I will gather to him others besides those who are gathered to him” (Isaiah 56:3-8).

Let’s unpack that powerful passage:

1. Any foreigner could join himself to the Lord, and was not to say he was separate from God’s people. So long as the foreigner served God and obeyed the covenant, he would be brought to God’s holy mountain (Hebrews 12:22).

2. The man that loved God, but could not conceive children (eunuch), would be given an everlasting name that would never be cut off. This is significant because it shows that possession of the Promise was not based on producing heirs who could then claim land.

3. The house of prayer was for “all nations,” and God explicitly says He will gather people from other nations “to him”–to Israel. Israel would not be a “pure race,” but a people who served God from a pure heart.

Any person living in Israel, whether native born or a stranger, could be “cut off” for disobedience. To be cut off was to no longer be an Israelite. This concept is all through the Old Testament and completely obliterates any notion that being in a certain bloodline was a guarantee of benefits (just look up “cut off” in any Bible search tool, and study how many ways an Israelite could be cut off). Israel was always a congregation of people that worshiped the true God. To depart from true worship resulted in being cut off from Israel, from God’s perspective.

Conclusion

There were always “strangers” sojourning with Israel, and they were accepted as native born provided they worshiped the true God with obedient faith. Israel was not a “pure race” of people according to the flesh, even in the Old Testament. Some of the included Gentiles were purposely mentioned in the genealogies of King David and King Jesus, demonstrating God’s masterful sidestepping of man’s desire to mix racial supremacy with religion. God did choose one faithful man (Abraham) through whom to bless the world with the fulfillment of all promises–Jesus Christ. That family, which Gentiles could and did join, was the Old Testament family of God.

With the ratifying of the New Testament in Jesus’ blood, and the cancelling of the Old, that Old Testament family of God remained the foundation for the New Testament Temple which is still being built with living stones (1 Peter 2:5) and Jesus is the chief cornerstone of the Temple (1 Peter 2:6 and Ephesians 2:19-21). In Jesus Christ:

“the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy TEMPLE in the Lord,” (Ephesians 2:21).

In JESUS, all the promises are yes and amen (2 Corinthians 1:20). All who are obedient to the terms of the New Covenant are grafted into the Israel of God. All people–whether Jew or Gentile–who disobey the terms of the New Covenant, are “cut off” from the Israel of God (Galatians 6:16) until such a time as they stop continuing in unbelief (Romans 11:23).