Part I - Foundations of Truth - (updated 11/20/2010)

 All true believers are "spiritual" Israel, which is God's church, Abraham's promised seed:

My hope in this study about physical Israel, i.e., the Hebrews or "Jews" is to try and prove via scripture that:

  1. There are two Israel's in the Bible, i.e., physical & spiritual
  2. All true believing "Jews" and Gentiles (the remnant) have always been called the "Church of God"
  3. Israel is a "spiritual" name just as Jesus Christ is "spiritual Israel"
  4. Jesus' believers are considered to be a part of this "spiritual" Israel
  5. Israel is called the "vine" and so is Jesus
  6. Israel is called "God's son" and so is Jesus
  7. Israel is called the "seed" and so is Jesus
  8. Jesus inherited King David's throne

Rom 9:6 Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect for they are not all Israel which are of Israel.  7:Neither because they are the seed of Abraham are they all children but In Isaac shall thy seed be called - It reads better in the (NIV) - 6: It is not as though God's word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. 7: Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham's children. On the contrary, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned."

We have just read that all descendents of physical Israel are not counted as "spiritual" for not all who descended from Israel are Israel, hence two Israel's. I.e., a "physical" Israel (the land of the ancient Hebrews) and a "Spiritual" Israel (made up of believing Hebrews & Gentiles), this is a huge foundational truth.

Stephen in Acts 7, before he was stoned to death, was explaining that Jesus Christ fulfilled all of the prophecies of the OT but he also mentioned that Abraham's seed i.e., the children of Israel were actually God's own church: 

Acts 7:37 This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, a prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear. 38: This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us: 39: To whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt. You've got to remember that when Moses was leading the "church" out of Egypt it comprised of circumcised and uncircumcised, Hebrews and Gentiles - Ex 12:37 And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot that were men, beside children. 38: And a mixed multitude went up also with them; and flocks, and herds, even very much cattle., Moreover we can not forget that after Moses succeeded in taking the Israelites out of Egypt, Reuel (his father-in-law) came to the Hebrew camp in the wilderness of Sinai, bringing with him Zipporah, Gershom, and Eliezer, who had been staying with him; proving again that Moses' wife, children and father-in-law were not Hebrews. With this said, eventually most if not all of the male Gentiles were eventually circumcised and their offspring which survived the 40 years in the wilderness were assimilated into the Hebrew religion.  Stephen was explaining that in the OT, God referred to the "children of Israel" as "His church" in the wilderness.  However this same church can be found in the NT by going back a few chapters to Acts one. Lets read what happened when the Holy Spirit descended upon the Hebrew" Apostles and the three thousand (all Hebrews):

Acts 1:46 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, 47: Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord "added" to the church daily such as should be saved.

Here Luke (Christian Gentile doctor) who wrote the "Acts of the (Hebrew) Apostles" refers that the eleven "Hebrew" apostles were already called the "church" as he said these new believers were "added" to the church.  Therefore if we had asked Peter if he was a Christian or Hebrew he would have said he was both a physical Hebrew (as Peter and the 10 other Apostles probably could have traced their fathers and grandfathers back to Abraham through the 12 Patriarchs) and a Child of Israel or "new creation" called a Christian.

As we will read further, today, there is no separation (difference) or dispensation (special consideration) between the "believing" physical people of Israel or all other "believing" peoples called Gentiles..... as Paul clearly talks about this in Gal 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

 Take a look at what Jesus Christ said in Luke 24:27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. And He also said this later on in the same chapter; Luke 24:44 And he said unto them, these are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. 

Jesus Christ is telling His disciples that all the OT prophecies and the Mosaic law (i.e., rituals, ceremonies and feasts) pointed to Him and He fulfilled every one of them!

Let me take a few minutes and answer the question where it says in the Rom 11:26 that "all of Israel will be saved?"  If you take some time and really try to understand what Paul was saying to "physical" Israel, he was saying Israel will enjoy God's blessings only when her rebellion is removed. And that takes place only by drawing near the Messiah and receiving atonement (Grace) from Him. "All Israel" is the Israel that responds to God's call and obeys in faith, not the Israel that is merely born. Therefore, just as there are two Israel's there are two Laws:

  1. The Mosaic Law which ended when the promised Seed came - Gal 3:16 The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say “and to seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your seed,” meaning one person, who is Christ. and Gal 3:19 What, then, was the purpose of the law? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. So we can clearly read that the law of Moses and the Prophets with all their rules and regulations meant specifically for the Hebrews and those Gentiles living amongst them ended when Jesus Christ died on the cross and when the Holy Sprit descended upon the Apostles at Pentecost.

  2. The Moral Law or the 10 Commandments - These laws, e.g., Do not Steal, Do not Murder, Do not commit adultery and etc.. are still relevant including "Remember to keep the Sabbath holy" as even Jesus said "the Sabbath was made for man" not just for the Jews but for mankind (f.y.i.... Jesus could have ended the whole confusion when He said this by saying "the Sabbath was made only for the Hebrews" but He didn't, He said for "man"; moreover the Sabbath along with the other 9 commandments were being kept in Adam and Eve's time way before the 10 Commandments were written. Here is another big truth that is not taught, i.e. Det 31: 24 After Moses finished writing in a book the words of this law from beginning to end, 25: he gave this command to the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord: 26: “Take this Book of the Law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God. There it will remain as a witness against you. As you can read, God didn't say "place the Book of the Law IN the Ark, but beside the Ark." However God's 10 Commandments were written on stone, (not on a scroll or book which would need to be re-written over and over by the Scribes) by the finger of God, and these stone tablets were placed INSIDE the Ark and are still there today in Heaven - Rev 11:19 Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant. (Read more about this controversy between the Mosaic Law and the Moral Law)

So why were the Hebrews so important to God and to this world?  If we read again what Stephen said in Acts 7:38 "and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us" - The Hebrews  were to receive God's word (oracles), write them down and teach them to the rest of the world; and they did this as we still have the OT and the NT in almost a 100 percent word for word translation today. However God stopped using them in this capacity when they rejected His promised Seed; so no longer would God honor their blood sacrifices i.e., when Christ died, the curtain that separated the Hollies of Hollies was torn from "top to bottom" thus signifying for all time that if the Jews were to ever re-build a temple (as Jesus told them in Mat 24:2 “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.” - Jesus was talking about their temple; He later says "this generation") and begin sacrificing animals again, God would still not accept them. Moreover, in Acts we read where Paul was given the task of "only" giving the Good News to the Gentiles for now on. Question: Did physical Israel ever repent of their nations sin over killing the promised Seed prior to 70 AD when their temple was allowed to be destroyed by God? Moreover, have they repented of this sin and recognized the true Messiah Jesus Christ after 1945 when the European Jews were allowed to migrate back into only a small portion of Palestine? I.e., "If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their LAND." I Chron. 7:14 -  Also, please remember what the writer of Hebrews said in chapter 13, vs. 14 For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come. Here it is again but in the NIV: 14 For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.  The writer (most likely Paul) is saying that the "church" i.e., Jews and Gentiles are no longer looking for a physical land of Israel, or a city called Jerusalem or even a physical temple (however I'll explain more on "God's temple" later on) but a heavenly one, i.e., Heb 12: 22 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God.  

The following article is the best argument against the Protestant belief that "all of Israel will be saved" and thus the need to give them money to re-build a future temple and worst, to look the other way when Israel continues to occupy stolen lands and torture and kill innocents not only in Palestine but in many other nations today:

 

 All Israel Will Be Saved

by P Sumner
Being a chosen people is perilous. Not only will others--the un-chosen--be jealous and cynical, but chosen ness can lead to pride and self-delusion. In the Scriptures, being chosen does not mean being saved or in right standing with God or even imply that one is pleasing to God. Being chosen means being selected to do a task; it has nothing to do with a group's or an individual's character qualities or their everlasting destiny.

The pagan seer Balaam's donkey was chosen by God to restrain "the madness of the prophet" (Numbers 22). The pagan Assyrians were selected to mete out God's punishment on Israel (Isaiah 10:5). And a pagan king, Cyrus of Persia, was chosen to be God's mashiach to accomplish a single goal (Isaiah 44:28-45:1). But there is no evidence in Scripture that these "chosen" servants of God were saved.

There is a more important term than chosen.

The concept of a remnant, a small portion within the larger whole, is central in the Tanakh. There is an Israel within the larger Israel; an inner concentric circle that represents both the chosen and the faithful of God.

A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the Mighty God. For though your people, O Israel, may be like the sand of the sea, Only a remnant within them will return. (Isaiah 10:21-22)

To be an Israelite, a member of the Chosen People, does not guarantee membership in the Remnant People. Mere birth among the tribes of Jacob and circumcision of the body determine nothing about one's soul. There are two circumcisions. The first one, a male has no choice about, for he receives it at eight days old and enters into the Covenant People. The second one, he (or any woman) has complete choice in. And he must exercise that choice to enter into the Remnant People: Circumcise then your heart. (Deuteronomy 10:16; cf. 30:6)

I will punish all who are circumcised and yet uncircumcised--all the house of Israel are uncircumcised of heart. (Jeremiah 9:25-26)

The need for everyone in Chosen Israel to be "saved"--to repent of sin, be atoned for by sacrifice, and put trust in God--is a strong emphasis in Yeshua's teaching and in that of his disciples. He tells Nicodemus, a leading rabbi of the time: "You--all of you--must be begotten from above" (John 3:1-10; literal Greek). Yeshua is speaking through this rabbi to the whole nation. Their physical descent from Abraham (as privileged as it is), their loyalty in Torah observance (as commendable as it is), and this rabbi's devoted study and community status (as impressive as they are) are not enough. They must still be regenerated, rebirth Ed by the true Father, God himself. If they aren't, they aren't truly Israel, children of God.

This blunt word no doubt offended some in physical Israel. This would be like telling Christians their denominational baptism was inadequate, that they needed a real Bath to be acceptably clean before God.

Yeshua went to the heart of Jewish national self-image and, in many cases, ethnic conceit.

He unclothed their uncircumcision and their embarrassing need for the true one. To be the clean, unconcealed, sensitized nation that God called her to be, Israel must hear and obey this mitzvah about rebirth from her Messiah.

Yeshua's call to Israel to inner transformation also formed a central part of the early preaching of his Jewish disciples.

Sparing no one's chauvinistic feelings, the apostles time and again hammered the message home: "Repent, and let each of you be immersed in the name of Yeshua the Messiah for the forgiveness of your sins" (Acts 2:38). "For you [Jews] first, God raised up his Servant, and sent him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways" (Acts 3:26). "[Yeshua] is the one whom God exalted to his right hand as a Prince and Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins" (Acts 5:31).

One of Yeshua's main emissaries in the early days was a Pharisaic leader named Saul, later named Paul.

This rabbi, who was once a member of the Sanhedrin, never veered from Yeshua's call for national repentance and cleansing. From the start, Paul "kept declaring both to those of Damascus first [a city of the Jewish Diaspora] and also at Jerusalem and then throughout the region of Judea, and even to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds appropriate to repentance" (Acts 26:20). Thus, everyone--every Jew and Israelite, inside and outside the Holy Land and every non-Jew--faced the same demand from God.

Sidebar: The Gospel of Repentance and Trust in the Messiah  is for Everyone--or No One

In his letter to messianic believers in Rome, Paul reiterated the message: "I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to every one who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek" (Romans 1:16); "There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek" (Romans 2:9); "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).

In the tractate Sanhedrin in the Babylonian Talmud is a statement that flatly contradicts Yeshua's teaching:

"All Israel have a portion in the world to come" (BT Sanh 90a; cf. Mishnah Sanh 10:1)

That is, all Jews--merely by being born within Israel--have an automatic inheritance in the Age to Come (i.e. the Messianic Kingdom). This is true even of those condemned to death by the Beit Din, the Rabbinical Court. This conviction was so theologically important that in Pirkei Avot ("Sayings of the Fathers"), the preeminent Mishnaic tractate on personal ethics, it is repeated at the head of each chapter as though a guardian promise.

Paul himself once made a similar statement: "All Israel will be saved" (Romans 11:26). But his point was quite different than that of Sanhedrin.

For he connected Israel's salvation with a redemptive act described in Isaiah: "The Deliverer [Heb. Go'el] will come to Zion, he will remove rebellion [pesha] from Jacob" (Isa 59:20). According to Paul, Israel will enjoy God's blessings only when her rebellion is removed. And that takes place only by drawing near the Go'el-Messiah and receiving atonement (cleansing, ransom, covering) from him. "All Israel" is the Israel that responds to God's call and obeys in faith, not the Israel that is merely born.

The exact age of the passage in Sanhedrin is unknown. It is possible it originated before the time of Yeshua. If so, he may have issued his call for rebirth as a criticism of this widely-known dogma of Rabbinic Judaism, in order to contradict it. Or perhaps the Talmud's declaration about Israel's ethnic-based salvation may be a defiant denunciation of Yeshua's (and his apostles') doctrine. Either way, there is a fundamental clash between Yeshua and Rabbinic theology; one with the most sobering consequences.

The significance of Yeshua's message, however, is that God wants no one in Israel to be cut off from him because of their sins. Yeshua's doctrine was not one of hatred for or rejection of his people, but of profound, seeking-to-rescue love. (You warn whom you love.) His demand for rebirth is a humbling call lehayim--to Life.

 

Israel is a "spiritual" name given to one man; the name Israel came from God and was given to a broken, humbled and sinful man called Jacob (his name means deceiver or liar.)  Jacob (Israel) eventually had children and they were called the "children of Israel".

The name "Israel" is a "spiritual" name:

  • "A righteous Prince sees God"

  • "One who wrestles with God"

  • "God/Mighty-one will fight"

  • "Let God contend"

  • "God prevails"

  • "A prince with God"

  • "God will rule as a prince"

  • "He will rule as God"

 Gen 24: And Jacob was left alone and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day 25: And when he saw that he prevailed not against him he touched the hollow of his thigh and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint as he wrestled with him 26: And he said Let me go for the day breaketh And he said I will not let thee go except thou bless me 27: And he said unto him What is thy name And he said Jacob 28: And he said Thy name shall be called no more Jacob but Israel for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men and hast prevailed - Now we can read in the Bible that from Jacob's seed came the "children of Israel": Ex 1:5 And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls for Joseph was in Egypt already 6: And Joseph died and all his brethren and all that generation 7: And the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly and multiplied and waxed exceeding mighty and the land was filled with them. Next we read where God calls the children of Israel His son: Ex 4:21 And the LORD said unto Moses, when thou goest to return into Egypt see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh which I have put in thine hand but I will harden his heart that he shall not let the people go 22: And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh Thus saith the LORD Israel is my son even my firstborn 23: And I say unto thee Let my son go that he may serve me and if thou refuse to let him go behold I will slay thy son even thy firstborn. 

It is also very interesting to realize that Jesus Christ is called the "Son of God"; moreover, Jesus Christ referred to Himself as the "Vine"; let's see if there is a "vine" in the OT: Psalms 80: 8:Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt thou hast cast out the heathen and planted it 9: Thou preparedst room before it and didst cause it to take deep root and it filled the land. Again, keep in mind that Jesus Christ said ALL scriptures pointed to HIM.... We already know that God called Israel a "seed": Isaiah 41: 8:But thou Israel art my servant Jacob whom I have chosen the seed of Abraham my friend. - Here we are to understand that the "seed" or "children" of Abraham were Isaac then Jacob; Jacob or Israel then had children which God called his "son" -  Hos 11:1 When Israel was a child then I loved him and called my son out of Egypt.

So we can see that God called "Israel" His :

  • "servant"

  • "son",

  • "seed"

  •  "vine" 

We already established the fact that Jesus Christ said all scripture pointed to Him and we can also see that the very first book of the NT confirms this; Mat 1:1 says: The book of the generation of Jesus Christ the son of David the son of Abraham

Israel "My son" is actually referring to Jesus Christ in the NT. 

Mat 2:13: And when they were departed behold the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream saying Arise and take the young child and his mother and flee into Egypt and be thou there until I bring thee word for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him 14: When he arose he took the young child and his mother by night and departed into Egypt 15: And was there until the death of Herod that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet saying "Out of Egypt have I called my son." Wow..... God is saying that Jesus is also His son which He also removed from Egypt thousands of years before His son Jesus (and his family) came out of Egypt in Herod's day! So God is calling Jesus "Israel My son"..

Parallels of "Israel" in the OT and the NT:

OT

NT
Joseph had a dream and went down into Egypt Joseph had a dream and went down into Egypt
Israel comes out of Egypt Israel comes out of Egypt - Mat 2:1"Out of Egypt have I called my son."
Israel crossed the Red Sea & was baptized 1Cor:1:2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea 3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat 4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them and that Rock was Christ
Israel was in the wilderness for 40 years Jesus fasted and was tempted for 40 days in the wilderness
Israel was given the Law in the wilderness but did not overcome sin Jesus overcame sin & fulfilled the Law in the wilderness by the Word of God
God brought the 12 Tribes & gave them His Covenant Jesus gathered His 12 disciples and gave them His New Covenant
The Vine was Israel Jesus said - "I am the true Vine" - John 15:1
Israel is my son even my firstborn Jesus Christ is the "Son" of God
Israel is the "seed" of Abraham - Is 41:8  Gal 3:16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made He saith not and to seed(s) as of many but as of one and to thy seed which is Christ

In conclusion we have read that Jesus is the "son",  "seed", and the "vine" of Israel. The name of "Israel" was given to one man in the OT and one man in the NT and there is only one path to God and it is though the man Jesus Christ. If we trust in Jesus Christ then we are also Abraham's "seed." - Gal 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female for ye are all one in Christ Jesus 29: And if ye be Christ's then are ye Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise.

Part II  In my next teaching I will try to explain more deeply about "Spiritual" Israel vs. "physical" Israel and will explain the "Promise"

Part III - I'll try to explain what is a "Jew"

Part IV - I'll try to explain why and when God stopped forgiving physical Israel and when He actually turned His back on them

Part V will try to explain some of the major topics in the book of Revelation regarding whether we need to understand them as spiritual or literal 

 

Home