Israel and The Promises
The previous semester asked a foundational question: Who is Israel? This semester takes the next step. Once we understand how Jesus and the apostles identify God’s people under the New Covenant, we are prepared to ask what happens to the promises God made to Abraham and Israel.
These questions matter because much of the modern debate over Israel and prophecy begins with an assumption: if a promise was originally spoken to Abraham, Israel, or the Jewish people, then its ultimate fulfillment must remain tied to physical descent, a particular territory, or a separate covenantal program for ethnic Israel. But the New Testament repeatedly teaches us to follow those promises forward until we see how they reach their fulfillment in Jesus Christ.
Paul tells us that the promises were ultimately centered upon the promised Seed, who is Christ (Galatians 3:16), and that those who belong to Christ are themselves “Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:29). This does not mean that God’s earlier promises failed, nor does it mean that Gentile Christians simply replaced Jewish people. It means that we must allow the New Testament to show us how those promises are fulfilled, enlarged, and brought to their intended goal in Christ.
That requires us to examine several questions carefully. What was Israel’s role in God’s redemptive plan, and does that role continue unchanged after Christ? Who are now called God’s chosen people, His holy nation, and His Kingdom? Who are the “children of the promise”? What becomes of the inheritance and the land? Does Genesis require Christians to give unconditional political or theological support to Abraham’s physical descendants? And what did Paul mean when he wrote that “all Israel will be saved” (Romans 11:26)?
Romans 11 is especially important because Paul does not describe two separate covenant peoples moving along parallel tracks. He describes one olive tree. Some natural branches were broken off because of unbelief, Gentiles were grafted in by faith, and natural branches can be grafted in again if they do not continue in unbelief. The Gospel therefore leaves no room for boasting by Gentile Christians and no room for salvation apart from Christ. Jew and Gentile alike stand only by faith.
The purpose of this semester is therefore not to diminish God’s faithfulness to Israel, but to understand that faithfulness in the way the New Testament itself explains it. God’s promises have not failed. They have reached their “Yes” in Jesus Christ, and everyone who belongs to Him shares in the inheritance He has secured.
As we work through these studies, we will continue following the same approach established in the previous semester: allow Scripture to interpret Scripture, allow the New Testament to reveal where the Old Testament story was leading, and keep Jesus Christ at the center of the promises.
Week 1– Does Scripture ever refer to Jesus as “Israel?
Week 2– The final pieces of the puzzle to answer: “Who is Israel?”
Week 3– What was (and still is) the Role of Israel?
Week 4– God’s Chosen People, Nation and Kingdom
Week 5- The “Children of the Promise” and the “Land”
Week 6- Are We Forced to Bless Abraham’s Physical Descendants or Fear being Cursed?
Week 7- In what way will “all Israel will be saved?” (A study of Romans 11)
Optional external reading material:
Who Is the True Israel of God?
The Blessed Repetition of Redemptive History
