How Should You View Israel – 1

If you have a copy of God’s Word, turn this evening to Romans 11. Romans 11.

Occasionally, the preacher’s mind is drawn to a subject of sorts, and sometimes he acts on it immediately, sometimes he mulls it over for a time before he looks for perhaps the most fitting or opportune time to address the matter. And this evening is going to take the form of more of a teaching address, so I apologize from the outset that the normal form of my exhortative approach to looking at you in the eye and trying to drive the point home probably will be less in effect tonight as I stick to my notes. I have quite a lot of notes in front of me—kind of the topic got away with me a little. And in all likelihood, this will be a two-part address on this subject that we will look at tonight. So at some point, I’m just going to assess that time is up. I need to close it and come back to it. But I’m not even sure how far we will get. But we’ll see. We’ll see.

And don’t worry, I know what time it is—you don’t need to panic. I think sometimes people think the preacher forgets what time it is, and then someone mentions—I think every year this happens at VBS, when I have a 10-minute slot, and I’m bang on 10 minutes, and they say, “Oh! You were on time.” And I said, “Yes, that’s the allotted time. I can stick to the allotted time.” Whatever it is, whether it’s five minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, an hour and 15 minutes, whatever it is, I can stick to it. And I’m very conscious of the time. So usually—usually—I know exactly what time it is and when the appropriate time is to end, though you and I may disagree on that.

But anyway, Romans 11, Romans 11. I’m going to read from verse 11 and read through verse 24. The Apostle Paul is addressing some of the challenges that have developed in the church in relation to how to view unbelieving Israel, what it means, the ramifications of that, and so on and so forth. And so from verse 11 of Romans 11, we read the following:

“I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness? For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office: If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them. For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead? For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches. And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in. Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again. For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive tree?”

Amen. We’ll end the reading of Scripture at verse 24. And what you have heard is the word of the eternal God, which you would receive, believe, and where appropriate, obey. And the people of God said, “Amen.”

Let’s pray.

Lord, we still ourselves before Thee. What a privileged people we are. These solid joys and lasting treasures that we have, all the riches of the believer—only those, only those in Christ understand. Help us to put our arms around Thy love. Help us to fix our minds upon Thy mercy. Help us to be thoughtful about the extent of our sin and what God has done for us in the sending of His Son to be our Savior and our Redeemer. Oh, what love, what wondrous love, the love of God to me that brought my Savior from above to die on Calvary.

We gather here tonight, recipients of such mercy and the goodness of God. We pray that we might be humble. We have read here of this distinction between Jew and Gentile. We ask, O God, that thou be pleased to continue to work among Gentile regions of the world. But, O God, remember also the Jew and have mercy upon them. Graft them in again, we pray. Be merciful now to us, help us around the word, speak, speak powerfully and help us to understand thy mind, we pray in Jesus’ name, amen.

In recent times, there has been a fresh discussion on the subject of Israel. You may have noted a certain interaction in the media which raised this discussion or certainly inflamed some thoughts in relation to it. And of course, it raises this question: how the modern nation of Israel ought to be viewed by Bible-believing Christians. But what if I was to tell you that the whole story of Israel had a greater purpose than is commonly perceived? Because I believe that to be the case.

To understand something of the controversy, it’s helpful for us to realize that when we come to thinking about Israel in the current day, there is an undeniable element of eschatology—how you believe the end will pan out. The doctrine of latter things, what’s happening at the end. It deals with death, but of course it deals with that subject that people are most focused upon, the return of Jesus Christ and all the particulars involved in that. And when we think of those views, these distinct views, how is this going to look? We have four main—and I’m being really broad here—four main distinctions in how people look at God’s Word and say, “This is what I believe it teaches.”

So you have on one hand, you have the amillennialist who believes that Christ is reigning now from heaven, that the promises to Israel are fulfilled spiritually in Christ and through the church, that the 1,000-year reign spoken of in Revelation 20 is figurative. It spans from the ascension of Christ to his return. And although Jews will be saved, Israel as a nation has no distinct redemptive role apart from inclusion into the people of God as identified by those who believe in Christ. And whether or not there’ll be a huge gathering of Jews will be dependent on each individual amillennialist.

There’s, of course, postmillennialism as well that holds that despite the ebbs and flows, the rises and the falls, the world will increasingly come under the influence of the gospel of Christ. The promises to Israel, again, for the most part, they believe are fulfilled in Christ. The global triumph of the gospel will continue on, and many postmillennialists also anticipate then with that there will be a huge ingathering of Jews near the end.

These first two views have been largely held over history and in many ways are very much interconnected. There was a time when they weren’t even seen as all that distinct. Just various men saw perhaps a more optimistic element versus maybe a more pessimistic aspect as to what we’re living in and what we can expect. So you have people like John Calvin in the first group, people like Jonathan Edwards in the second.

There’s also covenantal premillennialism, where you have men like Spurgeon believing that the unity of God’s people is real across history, while still expecting and anticipating a future literal reign of Christ on the earth. Believes that that thousand-year reign will happen really, truly, and they’re anticipating that to come. With that, it also anticipates a national conversion of the Jews, a great ingathering of Jews, generally again speaking, and often then a restoration to their land. And although many, though not all, believe that there will be even ceremonial elements restored. Now, there’s some who believe that, some who don’t, just depending on who you read or listen to.

And then you have dispensational premillennialism, which is distinct from what we just looked at. This is held by men like John MacArthur, who would be well known today. And this view maintains a sharp distinction between Israel and the New Testament church. And you have really two distinct separate, redemptive programs that are at work that year today trace through the Scriptures. It teaches that the church will feature prominently until the rapture, after which God will resume his plan for national Israel during a seven-year tribulation, culminating then in Christ’s return to establish a literal thousand-year reign on the earth, centered on a restored Israel and renewed temple worship and national prominence.

Are there men who have deviation from those very general definitions? Yes, it just depends who you talk to, but that gives you really—most men can fit into one of those camps in some fashion and can identify with those various areas: Amil, Postmil, Covenantal or Historic Premil, and then the more dispensational Premillennialism.

Now, it is not my plan to expound on any of these positions. And what I want to do is to make it clear from the outset that I acknowledge there are good and godly men in every single camp. And in fact, I absolutely despise the sense in which at times you read a certain disparaging element toward one camp or the other. And it makes no sense to me, and I could deviate in dealing with that more tonight, but that’s not my intent or purpose. But respect—we have to respect that good and godly men see things differently. And as they assess the scriptures, they come to different conclusions. And I’m aware of good men and could list many good men within each of these camps.

And so while I’m not looking at any of those views, I do acknowledge this one thing: that what I say tonight cannot fit with them all. So I am going to present to you certain truth. I’ll give you the title in just a moment. You can’t be—you can’t make it fit into all four camps. It just can’t be that way. But I want us to be irenic. So, you may hear me tonight, and if there’s subsequent messages, whatever, you may hear it, and you say, “Well, I differ there.” Well, again, I hope you hold an irenic attitude, spirit toward me, and all you do is you test Scripture. Test the Scripture. Look at the word of God. And see whether what you’re coming into this meeting believing aligns with God’s Word, whether perhaps it is being in some way tailored or helped or pushed back on by what’s being said. And just assess the Scriptures. Search them. Consider it carefully yourself. That’s all I want you to do, because I’m not going to—if you say, “I think differently here,” I’m not going to unchristianize you. Not that I can do that anyway. I’m not going to think less of you. I’m just going to say, “I see it differently.” But I want you to look at God’s Word.

I’m doing my best. Those of you who know your stuff, you’re going to see right through it. But I’m doing my best not to put myself into a camp, just to present it as I see God’s Word. And so tonight what I intend to at least begin is what I’ve titled, “How Should the Christian View Israel?” How Should the Christian View Israel?

Now that’s a broad title. It brings in all sorts of things, and the more I thought about it, the more ideas came in, and so I have ended up with something like 8,000 words in front of me. So, we’ll see how we go here tonight. But I have just two main heads, the first of which is the shortest. And my intention in looking at this, how should the Christian view Israel, to consider first of all that we trace Israel’s journey to its Christ-centered fulfillment. I want you to trace Israel’s journey with me to its Christ-centered fulfillment. And we’re looking at the nation. We need to see it in that respect, I would argue.

No good biblical scholar denies that the Old Testament presents types and prophecies that point to Christ. Any good preacher you’ve ever heard will say that and affirm that. As I’ve said before, sometimes the truth is presented by way of contrast. Yes, sometimes it presents something and it is saying in the positive that points positively to Christ in that sense. It’s going to look something like that, though in a fuller way. But sometimes what we’re presented with points to Christ by way of contrast. That we look at that and we see the failure of it. And that shows us that we still need to hope in the perfection of that, because this one clearly does not work. So we are shown then weaknesses by way of type and shadow in order to drive hope in our hearts toward the true fulfillment.

So take, for example, Moses. Moses is a mediator, right? Of all those in the Old Testament record who we could say in some way fit the role of being a mediator, Moses stands above them all. And yet he was flawed. And there are a number of ways in which we can see that, but the key one is in this: He could not lead the people into the promised land. He failed. There is mediator. He failed to bring the people into the promised land, and he could not do it. Thus, the hope that the believer has has to be on someone else. Christ is the mediator who brings his people into the promised land. Only he can fulfill that. And so by contrast, you see, what His work is all about.

Now, what Scripture teaches, then, in relation to looking back at Israel as a nation, what we see when we come into the New Testament is that our Lord Jesus Christ is the true and faithful Israel. And he succeeds then in representing being what Israel failed to do. So if you think of Moses as mediator, and he fails, and we need Christ as mediator, you have a nation, Israel, and they fail to be an obedient son and an obedient people. And Christ comes in to fulfill that. God calls Israel his son, Hosea 11 verse 1, but they disobeyed. They disobeyed, as you well know. But when Jesus Christ comes, he takes on a role.

Now what I want you to do is go to a passage I think I’ve turned you to before. Matthew 2, Matthew 2. And I’m not gonna turn you to the vast majority of the references I have, I will not turn to for sake of time. But this one I want to present to you because in some ways, in some ways I would suggest to you that the reference Matthew gives here and the context in which it is given not only presents an application of Old Testament truth to Christ, it actually gives us something of a hermeneutic, that what the New Testament writers are doing are showing how Christ fulfills in ways you would not see except it’s there, inspired by the Holy Spirit.

So in Matthew 2, of course, you have our Lord Jesus being born. And you have the wise men, they come and they are warned of God not to return to Herod, verse 12. Verse 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. When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt:” So you have just historical record here. Jesus is a child, and Joseph is warned, get out of here because of Herod and the danger, and go to Egypt. Specifically, don’t just get out of here, go to Egypt.

Verse 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.”

I want you to see what Matthew’s doing there. Matthew takes Hosea’s language, which speaks of Israel, and you read it in its context as dealing with Israel, a nation, being called out of Egypt, being delivered, you know the Exodus, and he says, he brings that into what? I can’t get any other understanding of this. He alludes to the fact that in Jesus Christ there is this going to Egypt like Israel did and coming out again and being called out by God at the appointed time. Jesus Christ then takes that position, prophetically declared by Hosea, speaking of a nation, Israel, Matthew says it’s fulfilled in Christ. Out of Egypt have I called my Son.

Christ fulfills us. I can’t spend any more time there. I will suggest to you it’s one of the most profound of all quotations from the Old Testament in the New Testament that exists. You get your head around it, it shows you that Matthew and the others are seeing Christ as The end, the purpose, the termination. That just as Moses does not, our thoughts of a mediator do not terminate in Moses, they terminate in Christ. So it is in terms of Israel. Our thoughts do not terminate in that nation, they terminate in Christ and Him being the obedient Son.

And it’s not only with regard to that. Christ, of course, passes through the waters of baptism as Israel passed through the Red Sea. He was tested in the wilderness 40 days as they were tried for 40 years. He quoted Scripture in his temptation in the wilderness instead of, again, contrast, murmuring like the children of Israel in the wilderness. He ascended a mountain like Moses to deal with the law, giving even fuller understanding in his Sermon on the Mount, and on and on it goes. He is the true temple where God meets with man. He is the true lamb who takes away sin. He is the true priest who never fails the people. He is the true son who never rebels against the father. He is the true Israel who keeps covenant. And this changes everything. Changes everything.

If you are in Christ, then you belong to God’s Israel, not by birth, but by new birth, not by descent, but by faith. Jesus is the servant of Jehovah, who brings the light to the nations, as Isaiah prophesied. It is in him, it’s in this Israel, that the world gets the light, that the world sees the glory. And it’s in Him all the true people of God are gathered.

So, laying that out, a couple of things, fairly briefly. First, Christ completes Israel’s purpose. Just unpacking this a little more. Christ completes Israel’s purpose. He is the culmination of the nation’s purpose. He is the true Israelite. Everyone who belongs to Him, who is united to Him, are now counted as God’s people. Paul makes this clear in Galatians, the promises made to Abraham and his seed, right? These promises made to Abraham and to his seed. And then Paul says that the seed is Christ, Galatians 3.16. In order to be part of it, you have to be in, joined to that seed. The fulfillment is through that seed, even Christ singular. Who shares in the promises? Everyone who is in Christ by faith, Galatians 3.29. “If ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” The true children of Abraham, the Israel, anticipated not defined by race and ancestry and lineage, but by faith in Jesus Christ. To me, it is unmistakable.

And this was always the case, though, even in the Old Testament. Not every physical descendant of Israel truly belonged to God’s people, and that’s what Paul argues earlier here in Romans, in Romans 9. Because he makes up, “they are not all Israel, which are of Israel,” Romans 9 verse 6. And that’s not him bringing fresh light. It’s always been this way, which is what he argues then in that chapter. God has always counted faith, not bloodline, as the mark of his people. Now, again, the administration of it is within a nation. Membership of that nation is by circumcision and so on and so forth. But the true thing looked for, to be really of Abraham’s seed, and to experience the blessings is received by faith alone.

So under both, the old and new covenants, being born Jewish never saved anyone, it was always about being born again and having the faith of Abraham. Galatians, or rather Genesis 15 verse six, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.” Paul repeats this in Romans 4.3, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.” That whole passage, Romans 4, is arguing for the doctrine of justification. And what the apostle is doing is saying, if I can summarize and paraphrase, he is saying, this has always been the way a man is made right before God. And he points to Abraham and he points to David in Romans 4 to argue the case. Abraham then “is the father of all them that believe,” whether Jew or Gentile, Romans 4.11. And “all those who trust in Christ are blessed with faithful Abraham,” Galatians 3.9.

Christ then completes Israel’s purpose. The whole nation was given the deposit of the truth, through them Messiah must come. But as glorious as it was, it’s not the whole point. Again, just like Moses and others, the whole point does not end in them. It’s not about David, as glorious as he was in his reign. It’s not about Solomon. It is about Christ.

But also those in Christ inherit Israel’s spiritual identity. Those in Christ inherit Israel’s spiritual identity. The New Testament church is not entirely new, right, in the sense that it’s something sparked entirely fresh. It’s a continuation, an expansion of the faithful remnant within Israel. The earliest Christians in Acts 2, they’re all Jewish, believing Jesus was and is the Messiah. This Jewish remnant there on the day of Pentecost, meeting in the upper room for prayer, asking and calling upon God for the Holy Spirit. They’re filled with that power, and they launch out of there. Soon, Samaritans and greater number come in. Gentiles are brought in, not to be a different people, but the same people. They’re a remnant. It’s a remnant meeting there in Jerusalem in the upper room.

What we have read in Romans 11 explains this. It compares Israel to an olive tree. And branches are broken off because of unbelief. They refuse to believe that Jesus is the Messiah. They are broken off. Gentile believers, like wild olive branches, then are brought to be grafted into the same tree. There’s not a Gentile tree, a new tree for the Gentiles. So God doesn’t keep two trees. He is one. Promises were given to Abraham. By faith, you’re there. And Gentiles who believe in Jesus Christ are grafted in. That’s the picture that it presents.

So we believe then that God always has a people In fact, if I can illustrate it this way, just by the way, you have visible, you have the visible gathering of people into something like this, right, even here. And there’s always, in any multiplicity of people, there’s always the possibility, in fact, the distinct likelihood that it is a mixed multitude. that there are tares among the wheat. And so while you have the framework of a visible body, you always have, if you can use this language, there’s the true that are there. So it was for Israel. So it is today. But God always has a people who truly and only by faith are His.

And so this new entity, this new gathering, this little remnant who are given command by the Messiah to go into the world, They inherit Israel’s spiritual identity. They are the people of God. And they are to take Christ to the nations, which is what they do. And this is not, as sometimes it is designated, replacement theology. It is, if you want to give a name to it, it’s fulfillment theology. It is God fulfilling His Word. That’s all it is. The church is not replacing Israel. Christ is the head of a people, and joined to Him are citizens. And so it gets expanded, this people, this group gets expanded to include people from every tribe and tongue. They were there even earlier, but in a more expansive and glorious way. Others are brought in, joined to Christ.

And so Paul, in Galatians 3.28, he says, “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.” You’re not looking at it in that way and saying, “well, there’s this group over here and they have distinct promises or whatever, and you have this group over here and they have distinct promises. You’re one in Christ.” Through Christ, the promises are yea and amen. If you’re joined to Him, you can put your arm around the promises because they find their fulfillment in Him. Galatians 6.15, “in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.”

So God has, is a people. Peter even takes the language of being a holy nation in 1 Peter 2. Paul argues that the wall of partition that once existed has been broken down between Jew and Gentile in Ephesians 2. It’s gone. “There are one new man in Christ,” Ephesians 2. This is unity, one people. This is those being in Christ, inheriting Israel’s spiritual identity and the privileges that are given to them. When he ends the Apostle Paul, Galatians, he pronounces “peace and mercy upon the Israel of God,” Galatians 6.16. And again, he’s looking at a mixed people, Jew and Gentile. They are the Israel of God. He doesn’t make a distinction. He doesn’t make a difference. He doesn’t start saying, this only applies to some of you.

So, like Romans argues, they’ve been grafted in. It’s not replacing something, it is adding to The olive tree stands. God’s elect, whether Jew or Gentile, grow together as one people rooted in the promises given to Abraham, fulfilled by Christ. So Christ fulfills everything Israel was meant to be. He’s the obedient son. He’s the seed of Abraham. He’s the Davidic king. He’s the suffering servant. As I say, all God’s promises, every one of them are fulfilled in Him. All of them. I’m so tempted to. You just think of promises that are made to a nation. People say this promise is for them, only for them. And the New Testament is the promises are fulfilled and they find their yes and amen, they find our access to them in Christ. If you’re in Christ, they’re yours.

So when you come into Christ, you have all these privileges. He is the one who gathers one fold under one shepherd, John 10. God did not abandon His promises to the nation of Israel. He kept them, and He kept them by sending the Messiah and gathering His elect from all the corners of the globe, Jew and Gentile, into Him so that they might have access to all the blessings promised.

So, that then is my effort to trace Israel’s journey to its Christ-centered fulfillment. Trace Israel’s journey to its Christ-centered fulfillment. The second main And looking at the subject is to evaluate the modern state of Israel as prophetic priority. To evaluate the modern state of Israel as prophetic priority. Want to evaluate this.

And there are five questions that I want us to, I’m going to try to answer. And in all likelihood, we’ll see. I doubt that I’m going to get through them all tonight. But these are the five questions that eventually we will get to. First is, what did God actually promise to Abraham? Let’s clarify that. What did God actually promise to Abraham? Secondly, were the land promises already fulfilled? We’re dealing with Israel, we’re dealing with the nation, we’re dealing with the current modern state, and there are a lot of questions that tie into that. Were the land promises already fulfilled? Thirdly, what does “all Israel shall be saved” really mean? Fourthly, is the church a separate people of God? That’s somewhat been answered already, but we’ll evaluate that a little more. And then how should Christians view the modern state of Israel? That’s the last question. How should Christians view the modern state of Israel? So evaluating the modern state of Israel is prophetic priority. How do we evaluate this?

Well, I think in some sense we have to at least turn our attention to What has given rise to a lot of this thought in our modern era, and that is a movement or a belief, which many good people hold to, and it’s the fourth category I mentioned in my synopsis of the eschatological views, and that is the premillennial dispensationalism, that dispensationalism that has a lot of similarities to historic premillennialism, but is distinct, particularly in seeing two Two groups, God’s purpose, His redemptive plan or program for Israel, and then that plan distinct for the church.

And this became prominent, of course, in the 1800s through the teaching of John Darby and later through the influence of the Scofield Reference Bible. Many of you know this. And it includes a framework that divides history into distinct dispensations and places a strong distinction between Israel and the church. And in some ways, we owe a great debt to that movement. I say that cautiously. There are certain aspects of it that are certainly problematic early on. But there also was a sense in which God used it in some way in the midst of a rising tide of liberalism. Many of the people who came to this view did so because they believed God’s word was God’s word. And so they were serious. They were serious about taking it literally rather than what was this rising liberal bent among many of the mainstream mainline denominations. And so even up to the current day, in some ways, dispensationalism has maintained a sense of adherence to a serious approach to scripture. And that’s not nothing that I can dismiss as being light or minimal, as many will try to say, well, it’s done more harm than good. I disagree with that. But in this strong distinction, as I say, this is where we deviate.

It introduced different ideas that were really not that commonly held to, at least in a unified way. You might be able to scrape through the pages of 2,000 years of history and find someone saying something that appears to look like a particular dispensational view. But as a whole, you would struggle to find someone who would espouse the primary tenets of dispensationalism anywhere in church history until the 1800s. So it is a relatively new as a formulated view

And so here’s some of the most common primary beliefs, that the promises made to Abraham and his descendants were unconditional and eternal, meaning Israel remains God’s covenant people in a unique way. That the land of Canaan was promised to Israel forever and the Jewish people still have a divine right to that land. that Romans 11, 26, “so all Israel shall be saved,” refers to a future national conversion of ethnic Israel, that the church and Israel are two distinct peoples with separate promises and destinies, that the founding of the modern state of Israel in 1948 was a fulfillment of biblical prophecy and a key sign of the end times, and that biblical prophecy points to a rebuilt temple and renewed sacrifices in Jerusalem during the last days or the millennium.

So some of that, at least one of them anyway, I don’t have a major issue with, But these are primary ideas that pull together this movement and this idea. And these are questions that we want to try and address. Are these true? Is it true that the promise, or am I playing games with God’s Word by suggesting that everything finds its fulfillment in Christ?

So let’s try and move through at least one or two of these questions. First, what did God actually promise to Abraham? What did He promise to Abraham? Many believe that God’s covenant with Abraham, Genesis 12, Genesis 15, Genesis 17, This is unconditional, it’s eternal, it’s permanent, it doesn’t go away. And so Abraham and his physical descendants have a right to blessings that are unique to them, land, nationhood, and so on, no matter what they do, no matter what they do. And there’s a big emphasis particular in Genesis 15, because in the representation of God keeping his word there, it is God doing it, and it has nothing to do with Abraham. And so God passes through those divided sacrifices that Abraham laid out and show that the fulfillment of what he has said depends on him, not on Abraham and his offspring. And so looking at that, they say, well then, what God has promised, He will fulfill. It cannot be lost because it depends on God alone. It’s not conditional. It’s not dealing with Abraham and his descendants. God says He will do it no matter what.

So in their view, this must be fulfilled this way, and it doesn’t even matter It’s not putting a dependence upon whether the Jews actually believe in the Messiah or not. God’s going to fulfill his purpose for them. Such also then believe that the church age is temporary. God has an intention to wrap up the church through the rapture, and then he will continue his program and his intent with Israel.

Now, if you don’t come from that background, then if you sat under Reformed doctrine, you’re going to agree with the fact that God’s promise to Abraham was gracious and certain. But where you deviate is that it emphasizes that the New Testament tells us who the true heirs of the promise are. God’s covenant with Abraham included both physical and spiritual elements, and the spiritual purpose governs everything else. God did promise to make Abraham a great nation and to bless all nations through his seed, that’s Genesis 12. But the New Testament explains what this means. He’s gonna bless the nations through his seed. His seed is Christ. That’s how the nations are blessed. Not through a nation, but through Christ.

So who shares in these promises? Again, those who are united to Christ. Who are the children of Abraham? Those who have the faith of Abraham. This is all, again, Galatians 3. Go and read it for yourself. The promise never guaranteed salvation to every physical descendant. Again, we’ve gone over this. Romans 9. But God hasn’t broken his word. He hasn’t failed because he never promised unconditional blessing to the nation apart from faith. To enter into those blessings, you do so by faith in Christ.

And even in the Old Testament, enjoying covenant blessings required obedience. Yes, the depiction of Genesis 15 is one-sided. But the obligation upon Abraham also is that he would “walk before me, and be thou perfect,” Genesis 17. That he should keep the covenant sign, that he should obey God, “command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord.” Later on, Moses is even clearer. If Israel disobeyed, they would lose the land and come under judgment, Deuteronomy 28. And so what, even in that, when you read Genesis or Deuteronomy 28, and you look at what God is warning about, and their disobedience, and the land spewing them out, which, by the way, is what he says is happening to the nations that were in that land already, that the iniquity of the Amorites needed to be filled, and then God’s gonna drive them out, use Israel to spew them out. And then when Israel and their iniquities become full, they’re also gonna be driven out.

But the key, what makes the distinction when you look at that in the call to obedience, what produces the obedience God looks for? It is faith. The faith of the believer calls him, moves him, provokes him to an obedient walk with God, without which he will disobey. So while God’s promises were sure, participation in them required faith. To know those promises fully experienced, you had to believe. And the presence of that faith is seen by their obedience.

The covenant was unconditional in the sense that God would bring about blessing through Abraham’s line, but it was also always through a believing remnant, not through every physical descendant. The promise then finds its fulfillment in Christ because that’s where perfect obedience is. This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye Him. As what Moses said, God would raise another prophet, him shall ye hear. The Father pronounces, hear ye him. This is God’s answer to the world and God’s answer for all.

God tells Abraham, I have made thee a father of many nations. And that’s because from his line came the Messiah. It’s through him that the nations of the world are reached. So God has not abandoned his covenant with Abraham. Rather, he has fulfilled it in the best possible way, through Christ. That every Jew, every Gentile who trusts in Christ as an heir of Abraham, they receive his blessings and his benefits. Those who reject Christ, even if they’re Abraham’s physical descendants, have no right to the blessings.

There may be a certain aura in which they live under some of those blessings for a time, and so in some way they’re pulled into—if you live, let’s put it this way, let’s say you have a Christian community, and you have very sincere people who are living there, and you have some unbelievers that are there as well, they will kind of feel the aura of their obedience, their effort, their lifestyle, they’ll enjoy something of that. And so certainly there is that sense in which some during times in which there were good people, godly people in Israel, and there was a revival of sorts. There were many who were still unbelievers, but they were caught in the blessings of that time. Not everyone during Solomon’s reign was a believer. I imagine that to be the case. But during that swell, there were reverberating benefits through all.

That doesn’t mean to say that they truly possess the blessings. Paul could not be more clear. If you were Abraham’s children, he says in John 8, Jesus, you would do the works of Abraham. If you’re really of Abraham, it would be seen. And the key distinction, of course, in that, how would it be seen? They would believe in Jesus Christ.

So God’s faithfulness to Abraham, a scene in how he worked out everything through Christ. Jesus did what Israel failed to do. He obeyed God perfectly. He is the true and faithful Israelite. Anyone who wants to enjoy God’s covenant blessings must be united to Christ. And this is why our focus must be Christ-centered, not nation-centered. If we’re looking for the fulfillment of something that God has promised, it is in Christ. God acts through Christ. God’s intentions in fulfilling blessings to His people are through Christ. Without Christ, the fountainhead of blessings, there are no blessings of which to speak.

I mean, think about it for a moment. Abraham is given these promises, some of which, of course, have practical implications. A land, people, and so on. And these are permanent and lasting. And yet the New Testament insight into Abraham’s real desire had zip to do with that physical land. He sought for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. He sought for something that his physical descendants could not procure except through the Messiah.

And we’re expected then to believe that the whole eternal promises tied to Abraham and given to him, they have these practical implications there and they must yet be fulfilled and so on. And Abraham this entire time was looking past that and saying, it’s not important to me, it’s not the main thing, it’s, I seek for another city which God has built for His people. Abraham’s faith, his trust in the Messiah saw beyond. I only wish believers could see as clearly as Abraham was able to see. The focus is Christ-centered. God’s promises are assured. He’s kept his promise to Abraham. In Christ, for the good of all nations, they are being reached because of Christ. The unbelieving, however, do not enjoy those blessings.

I don’t think I’m going to get through any more of these questions without stretching the time tonight. Let’s pull it all together. My objective by addressing this, not being able to deal with this in one message means that you could walk away and think he’s trying to diminish the value of Israel’s current existence as a state and so on. And that’s not the case at all. It’s not a political statement. It’s not saying that you shouldn’t support them, you should support some other nation or whatever. Far from it, far from it.

But what is grieving is when the language is used in such a way, when anticipation or expectation for something yet future that bypasses Christ and looks for something physical, whenever Christ has already given and accomplished for His people all the blessings they could ever ask for, to miss the point. I think that’s what many professing believers do, they miss the point.

When you come back, when you pull back and you take this position in which you believe that everything’s fulfilled in Christ, it gives you this freedom that you’re a priority. It’s not against being patriotic, even about your own land. That’s not, again, my point. You can appreciate the land in which you grew up, but there are things that supersede it. It is a grief. If believers seem by their language or their conduct to appreciate more their national identity than their identity in Christ, that’s a grief. And it’s a grief when people are looking for God to do something in a nation and will support whatever at any cost instead of recognizing what Christ has already fulfilled.

The platform which the church exists in as Christ has fulfilled everything, preached the gospel to every creature. When you walk down the road and there’s someone who’s completely distinct from you, on the other side of the political fence, a different nationality which you were taught from your infancy to despise, that because of Christ, you can ignore all of that. You don’t have to pass by on the other side. You can go and pick them up. There is a freedom to seeing everything fulfilled in Christ so that the New Testament can function with this power. All the blessings, all the promises are fulfilled. Let’s get that out to the world. And no matter who you are or where you’re from, you can come in and be an heir of the promises given to Abraham to be a child of God, pardoned of your sin, and assured of every single promise.

There’s no second-rate believing. There are no different classes of people of God and this people and that people. There’s none of that. It is leveled through Christ. God fulfills His purpose through gathering in all the elect, joining them to Christ until our Lord returns. This allows us then to have an objective that supersedes all political ideology, to love our neighbors as ourselves. Yes, there are political things we may prefer, I have family in Iran. I could give you their views on things. I will not, because it’s not pertinent to this message.

Come back to Scripture. See the glory of what Christ has accomplished, and see how that untethers you from all the, I’m pro this, I’m against that, whatever, and drives you to take the gospel to every single creature on God’s earth. That’s the bottom line, that nothing gets in the way of the Great Commission. May the Lord bless His Word. Let’s bow together in prayer.

Test everything by scripture. Every media outlet has an agenda. Every talking head has an opinion. But be a brain. Search the scriptures to see whether those things are so. And make sure your life is governed by the eternal word of the living God. see the glory of fulfillment in Jesus Christ, and run with that.

Lord, we pray that You will help us, help us to study Thy Word, draw the conclusions that are biblical and right, and may they be a catalyst to obedience. We pray we might be a people who consider Him, who behold the Lamb of God, who look on to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who seek the Lord, that our whole view and vision is, look on to me, be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God and there is none else. Aid us then, O God, as we present the fullness of the gospel of Christ to the world. And whether it be Jew or Gentile, whatever station of life, whatever background, whatever class, color or creed, we plead, O God, that we would be unshackled from any biases, from anything political, from anything that would supplant the centrality of preaching Christ to the world. Fill our hearts with thy love. Give us a vision like our Lord Jesus. Help us, O God, to love as Thou dost love.

We thank Thee again for what Thou hast done in our midst. We thank Thee that Thou hast saved us. We thank Thee that this very place here is open to all. We pray it may ever be open to all, that Your church would be full of the nations. Hear our prayers, O God. Help us, O God, to walk in the light as Thou art in the light, and of fellowship one with the other, knowing the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, cleanses us from all sin. We pray then that Thou wilt take us from this place with Thy favor upon us, and may the grace of the Lord Jesus, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Spirit be the portion of every child of God now and evermore. Amen.