Romans 11:1-10, Israel and Jesus’ Return

There have long been those who argue that the Bible has no place for a literal nation of Israel in the future.  Some, like the Edomites who intended to occupy the land God had promised to Israel, claimed that the Babylonian exile was evidence that God had given up on Israel (Ezek. 35).  Today there are many Christians that believe Israel as a nation is no longer God’s chosen people and that God’s blessing solely rests on the Church, the Body of Christ.  They seek to base their arguments in Scripture.

·        Some note that believing Jews today do not join “Israel” but become part of the Church (Rom. 11:5).  This is a true statement.

·        Others call attention to the fact that the Old Testament pointed to a heavenly land and city (Heb. 11:8-10,13-16) and that this is the true fulfillment of the promises of a land given to Israel.  Hebrews even says that believers today have come to that city (12:18-24).

·        Another idea put forth is that the Church, as spiritual Israel and Abraham’s spiritual heirs, is the recipient of the promises given to Israel (Rom. 4:16-18; Gal. 6:16).  In other words, the promises are spiritualized.  We can certainly agree that believers today can look to the OT and find much encouragement in the life of Israel and in the words of the Psalmist and the Prophets.

But these and other arguments, while perhaps containing truth, do not at the same time do not require the abandonment of the promises given to Israel.  Considering the above arguments we would say …

·        All believers today, Jew and Gentile, are one body, the Church (Eph. 1-3).  The Church is removed in an event commonly called the Rapture (the catching away when we meet Christ in the air; 1 Thess. 4:13-17).  The reason for this is to bring the focus of God back on the nation Israel for seven years that she might be saved (Dan. 9:24-27).

·        All God’s people have longed for a future heavenly home.  But this does not negate the possibility of an earthly kingdom where the righteous will still be identified as those whose hearts and minds are on Christ.

·        The Israel of God (Gal. 6:16) does not refer to the Church as a whole but to those Jewish believers who were, as Paul put it, the first to come to Christ (Eph. 1:12).  In Scripture the term Israel always refers to the nation, to those who have a physical connection to Abraham through Jacob.  Our connection with the word of God given to Israel in the OT is that they provide examples, an idea expressed often in the NT (Rom. 15:4; 1 Cor. 10:6,11).

We believe that the existence of a nation of Israel in the land that was promised to them by God is an amazing sign of God’s faithfulness.  For that reason we will return to this subject over the next couple of days.