What is Replacement theology in the eyes of a Jewish Believer? I have posted, in the past, my ideas (and traditional Jewish Believers take) on various aspects of replacement theology. But now I sit down to actually sum all of its teachings up in a nice neat package. (*** How strange it seems to me that Christians were not claiming to be Jews during the Holocaust... Just a thought)
; )
Part one....
Has G-d forsaken His people? This would be the first logical step in determining if a new people have now replaced Yisrael. First let us look at Heb. 6:13 & 17.
6:13 For when Elohim made a promise to Avraham, since he could swear by none greater, he swore by himself . 6:17 Wherein Elohim, being determined to show more abundantly to the heirs of the promise the immutability of his counsel, interposed with an oath
Here we can see that His promise was eternal. He could find no greater way to seal His covenant, thus He swore by Himself. To break this
.. well, you can imagine the theological magnitude of this
.
But what if Yisrael borke the covenant?
Jeremiah. 46:28 Don't be afraid you, O Ya`akov my servant, says YHWH; for I am with you: for I will make a full end of all the nations where I have driven you; but I will not make a full end of you, but I will correct you in measure, and will in no way leave you unpunished.
G-d will never make an end to Yisrael. He may punish them, but never fully destroy Yisrael.
Jeremiah . 31:35 Thus says YHWH, who gives the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, who stirs up the sea, so that the waves of it roar; YHWH of hosts is his name: 31:36 If these ordinances depart from before me, says YHWH, then the seed of Yisra'el also shall cease from being a nation before me forever. 31:37 Thus says YHWH: If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the eretz searched out beneath, then will I also cast off all the seed of Yisra'el for all that they have done, says YHWH.
Here we can see that as long as there is a sun, moon, stars, Earth, and sea there will be a distinct people Yisrael- no matter what they do.
In ancient days, covenants were made in a special way. Sacrificial animals were cut in two and their severed bodies placed in two lines. Both parties entered into the covenant would then walk between the carcasses. By doing so they were symbolically saying, If I break this binding agreement, if I fail to uphold my side of the pact, then let me suffer the same fate that these animals have suffered. But something was different in Genesis 15. Only G-d passed through the pieces! This was a one-way deal.
Gen. 15:17 It came to pass that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold, a smoking furnace, and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. 15:18 In that day YHWH made a covenant with Avram, saying, "To your seed have I given this land, from the river of Mitzrayim to the great river, the river Perat: 15:19 the Kinim, the Kenizzi, the Kadmoni, 15:20 the Hitti, the Perizzi, the Refa'im, 15:21 the Amori, the Kana`anim, the Girgashi, and the Yevusi."
And
Romans . 11:28 As concerning the good message, some are enemies because of you: but as concerning the chosen people, they are beloved for the fathers ' sakes. 11:29 For the gifts and calling of Elohim are irrevocable.
Then some ask, Why are the Jews living outside the new covenant if they are the covenant people? Shaul had a simple answer to this:
Rom. 9:6-8
Is it not as though G-ds word had failed. For not all who are descended from Yisrael are Yisrael. Nor because hey are his descendants are they all Abrahams children
. In other words, it is not the natural children who are G-ds children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abrahams offspring.
Natural children refers to Yisrael as a whole. G-ds children refers to the believing remnant within natural Yisrael.
We can see a similar parallel within Christianity. There are those who have been born into the ch-rch, and then there are those who are spiritually the ch-rch. These are those who have faith outside of simply being a part of Christianity only because that is what they were raised in. (this is only an example to show Christians what I mean)
On no definite occasion does the Brit Chadasha ever call the ch-rch Yisrael. In fact, out of the 77 times the words Yisrael and Israellite occur in the Brit Chadasha, there are only two verses in which Yisrael couild possibly refer to the ch-rch as a whole: Gal. 6:16, where Shaul speaks of the Yisrael of G-d and Rev. 7:4, where Yochanan speaks of the 144,000 seald from the twelve tribes of Yisrael. This is saying something! Seventy-five definites and only two maybes. I wouldnt want to side with the maybes!
Actually the terms true Yisrael or spiritual Yisrael never occur in the Bible, and it might be helpful to completely avoid using them.
As for the verses open to dispute, in Galations 6:16 the KJV, the NKJV, and the NASB all imply the same thing: The Yisrael of G-d does not refer to the whole ch-rch. It refers to believing Jews. The same can be said for the description of the 144,000 sealed in Rev. 7:4. It most likely describes the harvest of the Jews worldwide. Elsewhere in the Book of Rev. Yisrael means Yisrael (Rev. 2:14) and the twelve tribes mean the twelve tribes of Yisrael, as distinguished from the twelve apostles (Rev. 21:12-14).
Now lets examine Rom. 2:28-29
A man is not a Jew if he is ONLY one outwardly, nor is circumcison MERELY outward and physical. No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such is a mans praise not from men, but from G-d.
Here he is directing his argument to Jews, as we can see from the context provided in Rom. 2:17-29. Within that context he is defining who the real Jew is- spiritually speaking.
In the greek Brit Chadasha, the word Jew occurs over 190 times. More than 190 times it definitely means a Jew nationally and ethnically. Only 2 times could it possibly mean something else. Those two times are: Rev. 2:9 & 3:9 where the reference is mae to those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of HaSatan.
Im afraid my interpretation of the above verses will offend many, so I will leave it up to your interpretation.
But if someone understood Romans 2:2-20 to say that believing Gentiles were spiritual Jews (it is easy from the text to see why many Christians believe this about themselves.) that would not change this important fact: Shaul never said that natural Jews were no longer Jews. He only said that the natural Jews were not Jews in this Special, Fuller sense. Just keep reading his letter! After making his point in Rom. 2:28-29 (remember, it is one of the few times in the entire Brit Chadasha that the word Jew is used like this), he goes back to referring to ALL Jews in the normal sense.
If you have any doubt read the next verse!
What advantage is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? MUCH in EVERY WAY!
. (Rom. 3:1-2)
In other words, since being a Jew outwardly and physically doesnt guarantee a right relationship with G-d, whats the advantage in being a Jew, a physically, circumcised, ethnic Jew? Much, in every way, because G-d entrusted His Word to His physical, natural people-the Jews! It really is quite simple. If Shaul was teaching that natural Jews were no longer Jews and that believing Gentiles are not the real Jews, what in the world did he mean in Romans 3:9?
We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin.
If Jews are not Jews and Gentiles are not Gentiles, what was Shaul trying to to say in Romans 3:29?
Is G-d the G-d of the Jews only? Is He not the G-d of the Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too.
And what then would be the meaning of Rom. 15:27 if believing gentiles are now Jews?
For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings.
Clearly gentile means gentile and Jew means Jew.
It is one thing to argue that once or twice Shaul used the words Yisrael and Jew in a special sense, referring to the whle sh-rch as the Yisrael of G-d, and all believers as Jews. (I personally disagree with this, but I certainly wouldnt call this position dangerous) But it is another thing entirely to turn around and ignore the remaining 268 Brit Chadasha references to yisrael and jew and claim that Yisrael is no longer Yisrael and Jews are no longer Jews! That most certainly is dangerous.
It is one thing to say, Shaul used the word circumcision in a special sense (Phil. 3:3) to refer to all believers. It is quite another thing to say, Those who are physically circumcised on the eigth day are no longer counted as Jews! Even the book of Dueteronomy recognized two circumcisions; the circumcision of the heart and the physical body.
As basic as this is, later ch-rch interpreters went way beyond the meaning of the Word. First they say, You see, it is not all who are descended from Yisrael who are Yisrael. It is the true believers who are Yisrael, and we are the true believers. We are Yisrael! Its not just believing Jews who are Yisrael. Everyone who simply believes is Yisrael too!
What is so terrible about saying this? Maybe noting so far, but the next step was simply disastrous: If the ch-rch is spiritual Yisrael, the new Yisrael, then there is no need for NATURAL Yisrael, the OLD Yisrael anymore. They are no longer the covenant people, we are.
Allow me to quote just one of THOUSANDS throughout history who have exemplified this attitude:
All the blessings given to Yisrael are now ours
forever. As for you Jews, to hell with our cursed race! (A papal ambassador to Poland during the Holocaust)
But the ch-rch has not cursed Yisrael. The ch-rch has cursed herself! Shauls exhortation must be heard again:
Do not be arrogant, but be afraid
. I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, borthers, so that you may not be conceited. Rom. 11:20, 25
Look at the strong words Shaul uses: arrogant, ignorant, conceited. What a critically important subject for the ch-rch to understand! Ignorance of G-ds purposes for Yisrael breeds conceit. And a conceited ch-rch is a ch-rch resisted by the L-rd, for G-d opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. James 4:6
Unfortunately, many in the body today still claim that it is the ch-rch alon who is the true Yisrael. One well known author has written at length and with great passion saying, Wake up Ch-rch! You alone are Yisrael!
Why dont we just accept the obvious meaning of the text? Why dont we just give up all our interpretive gymnastics?
G-d is looking for believers, not acrobats.
Shalom,
Japheth
P.S. Much of the above is borrowed from Michael Browns book Our Hands Are Stained With Blood chapter 13. I highly recommend this book, but beware, tears will flow as you read the first few chapters. Blessings to all
.
