The Church has not become ‘spiritual Israel’ or ‘The New Israel’ and the inheritor of all the Covenant promises God made to Israel, leaving all the curses to remain on Israel. In this view that the Church began with Abraham, Old Testament Law still applies to the Church, that everything in the Old Testament still relates to the Church by interpretation rather than only by application, as the Word of God to guide and instruct the Believer. The Old Testament by interpretation, applies to Israel, especially in Prophetic promise, in addition to the revelation of God personally and by His Names.
Traditional ‘churchianity’ and Christendom have an altar because the Law requires sacrifice. Communion bread and wine, in their view, becomes the Body and Blood of Jesus. This is outrageous error!! – re-sacrificing Christ so frequently. ‘Christ died once and for all’, Hebrews 9:12 & 26; ch.10:10,12.
Such churches have priests as in the Old Testament times and people ‘need’ them to intercede with God directly. Infant baptism replaces circumcision.
All these church practices came about because of the belief that God has replaced the nation of Israel with the Church.
It is also a false premise to read the New Testament back into the Old Testament God’s Word is progressive in the literal and historical context.
Replacement theology teaches there is only on programme for history. No, there are two.
(1) Israel.
(2) Church, or even a third thread in Biblical revelation – God’s judgment by the Son upon the nations. Replacement theology spawned Amillenialism, believing that the Church Age is the Kingdom of God on earth.
Growing Anti-Semitism in the Church is now the result.
Christendom has been persecuting the Jewish people in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for centuries. Replacement theology, in their view, justifies their actions.
These views were not held by the Apostles or the very early Church in the 1st century. Replacement theology became established about 200 years after the Church began on that special Day of Pentecost in the Jewish calendar.
Theologians developed a system of theology, then fitted the Scriptures to suit their theology. This is the wrong way to interpret Scripture. Even the Reformation leaders still retained Replacement theology of the Roman Catholic. church.
In the late 2nd century, Irenaeus, bishop of Lyons (c.177-195AD) told Jewish people “The Scriptures are not yours, but ours”. Israel, in his view, was disinherited and the Church is the ‘new Israel’. Later, Tertullian (c.160-225AD) said, “God has rejected the Jews and made Israel a servant of the Church”. Eusebius (4th cent.AD) said the same as Irenaeus. Early Church Fathers saw the Bible as a Gentile book. Eusebius said that the Church continued the Old Testament, superseding Judaism.
Christianity became more “intellectualised” because of Greek philosophical thinking through Origen, Clement of Alexandria and later Augustine. Literal interpretation of Scripture was considered to be associated with weak Christians and allegorized intellectual interpretation associated with “deeper” and intellectual Christians.
Augustine was greatly influenced by Ambrose of Milan, a Christian leader who argues that Jewish people were irreversibly perverse. Augustine also wrote “Tract Against the Jews”, which argued that Jewish people should be treated unmercifully because they have no value and deserve no consideration.
Chrysostom (347-407AD) preached sermons accusing Jews of murdering children and worshipping devils. He called synagogues brothels and claimed that God hated the Jewish people for murdering Jesus. Therefore Christians must hate them also.
Sadly, Replacement theology and Anti-Semitism overtook the Church. Constantine became Roman Emperor in 313AD and issued the Edict of Milan legalizing Christianity. The Bishop of Rome became the most powerful leader in Western Europe – the Pope was the result.
Anti-Semitism and Replacement theology grew stronger persecuting Jewish people. Legislation outlawing synagogues gave permission to burn Jews who broke the law, excluding Jews from high office. Jewish people were forbidden to live in Jerusalem. Sunday was declared the Sabbath. Easter was removed from Passover time – thus it became separate and distinct from the Feasts of the Lord. Lev.23. Intermarriage with Gentiles was forbidden also.
In 415 AD Anti-Semitism changed from verbal abuse to physical violence. In 415AD Cyril, head of the church in Alexandria, led a brutal anti-Jewish riot in the Jewish quarter, beating Jews, raping women, murdering the men, stole property and drove the rest out of Alexandria. It is impossible to estimate the number of cruelties inflicted unmercifully on Jewish people.
In the 11th-13th century the Crusades did the same throughout Europe. When plagues broke out, Jewish people were blamed, accused of poisoning water supplies. It is a well-known libel that Jewish were accused of stealing Christian children, draining their blood and using it to bake matzah bread for their holiday. None of this was proven. Jewish people became scapegoats for every problem- political and economic. They were beaten, robbed, murdered and mutilated. At Easter, Passover plays vilified Jewish people as “Christ-killers”; inciting a Jew-killing rampage.
Luther began well, but when he became older he became strongly Anti-Semitic in his writings. “Burn synagogue”, he wrote, “destroy Jewish homes, take their wealth and put them to hard labour”. Hitler used Luther’s writings in his ‘Mein Kampf’. Hitler added murder to extreme measure – the Holocaust.
The Church had three ways of dealing with Jewish people – convert them, expel them or kill them – become a Christian or die. They must be baptized into the Church or be expelled from their country to become the ‘wandering Jew’. Jewish people became homeless and were continually persecuted. In the 13th century Jewish people were expelled from England and only were allowed to return in the 16th century by Oliver Cromwell.
Hitler’s ‘Final Solution’ to the “Jewish Problem” resulted in the Holocaust.
Replacement theology changed the attitude of the Church, even true Christians, under pressure maybe, changed their attitudes towards the Jewish people and later the nation of Israel after May 1948, encouraging contempt for ethnic Israel and changed the Scriptures from being a Jewish book to a Gentile one, changing the meaning of Scripture, particularly Eschatology – study of the Last Things.
The Reformers, though separated from Roman Catholicism, brought with them Replacement theology into their doctrinal views.
The Reformers built their Eschatology and Ecclesiology on their idea that the Church has replaced Israel and that the Church is the fulfillment of the Messianic Kingdom. The existing state of Israel is a problem to Replacement theology. The Scriptures declare that God will bring His people back to Israel. Ezekiel 36:24. ch.37:21. Psalm 105:7-11. Replacement theology sees Israel as the major problem in the Middle East. Israel, they say, is the main reason for terrorism today. In their view, the land of Israel no longer belongs to the Jewish people, it belongs to the Church – the “true spiritual Israel”. This is how they think, speak and write. This is a false conclusion.
R.C. Sproul and Hank Hanegraaf are among today’s well known Replacement ‘theologians’. Replacement theology sides with the Palestinian Liberation theology and the Palestinian Arabs. It is Anti-Semitic to use Scripture to justify contempt for Jewish people and Israel’s right to exist in their own sovereignty.
God “loves Israel with an everlasting love”. Jeremiah 31:3-4. Israel again will become a virgin instead of a harlot. See Zech.2:8. Ezek.36 declares why God will restore Israel. See vs.19-23 – for His Glory and Honour.
Covenant Reformed theology states that the ultimate purpose in history is the salvation of man. No, all is for the Glory of God. Salvation holds second place – though so vital for man.
Dispensationalists holds the former ultimate purpose – the Glory of God.
Covenant Theology.
There are a number of problems with Covenant theology.
(1)
Its ultimate goal for history is flawed because it only explains God’s purpose for elect man. It does not touch the other programmes God is carrying out in history, viz.
(1) His Glory.
(2) Israel
(3) Judgment of Nations.
God has promised to restore the universe, especially the earth to its pre-fall pristine condition – initially for the Messianic Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ for His Millennial reign and rule. (Mat.19:28. Acts 3:18-21). Also, the Lord will dethrone Satan as ruler over the earth and therefore re-establishing God’s Theocratic rule and Kingdom on earth (Rev. chs. 19-20). Covenant theology has no explanation for this, though it is clearly in Scripture.
(2)
Covenant theology is a human-centred theological system, man-made. A system that believes the Glory of God is centred on what God is doing with man only focuses on man, not God’s Glory for Himself. Added to these, a hermeneutic that spiritualises the words of Scripture, i.e. re-interpreting the literal into something only figurative, results in man becoming the main focus. History reveals that modernistic, liberal movements in Christendom have a strong foothold in mainline Protestant Covenant churches and this is the result of misinterpreting, misunderstanding and misrepresenting the Word of God.
Covenant theology is too narrow – focusing only upon man’s redemption – important as that obviously is – and not the redemption of creation. (Greek philosophy says that all material things are evil, hence no future for this earth, only destruction, immediately following Christ’s Second Coming. Origen, Clement and later Augustine were strongly influenced by this false philosophical view in their interpretation of the Word of God, especially Bible Prophecy. Also Covenant theology diminishes the everlasting Covenants made by God with Abraham and David, plus the New Covenant promised for Israel and Judah. Jeremiah ch.31.
Distinction between Israel and the Church is denied, re-defining the Church as all covenanted people throughout all of history, saying that the Church began with Abraham, or even Adam, rather than Acts ch.2 and Old Testament Israel no longer refers to the physical descendents of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Physical descent from Abraham no longer makes one an Israelite – it is faith in God.
If Replacement theology is correct, we would expect to find supporting evidence in the New Testament using the correct literal-historical-grammatical method of interpretation. We would expect to find:-
(1) Clear evidence that God has replaced Israel.
(2) Clear evidence in passages of Scripture teaching that the Church has replaced Israel.
(3) God’s declaration that He has excluded Israel from the Old Testament Covenants.
(4) Total lack of New Testament verses that teach Israel’s future in God’s plan.
Matt. 21:43 does not refer to the rejection of the nation of Israel, only that generation who rejected Jesus. Jesus Himself rejected that generation, postponing the Kingdom of Heaven until He returns and brings about the regeneration or restoration of Israel. (Acts 3:19-21). See also Acts 1:6 where the disciples asked Jesus would He at this time restore again the Kingdom to Israel? Jesus replied in v.7 that it was not for them to know the times or the seasons which the Father has put in His own power. In other words, it would be in the Father’s time-plan in the future, fixed and certain. ‘That generation’, when He returns will refer to Matt. 23:37-39. The ‘nation’ in Matt.21:43 cannot be the Church. We are made from many nations, languages and colour.
The nation of Israel descends from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Jacob’s name was changed to Israel. God made an unconditional Covenant with Abraham, renewed by oath (unbreakable) with Isaac and confirmed it to Jacob-Israel to a ‘1000 generations’. Psalm 105:6-11 repeats David’s song of thanksgiving when the Ark of the Covenant, symbolizing the presence of God in those days, was returned to Jerusalem, the city of David (1st Chronicles 16:13–18). 1000 generations is a long time, perhaps 40,000 years, promising an everlasting Covenant with Israel despite all that Israel has wilfully done.
Jeremiah 30:24-31:1 refers to the ‘latter days’ – now and in the future – when ch.31:1 will be permanently fulfilled. Israel has a glorious future as a remnant nation under their Redeemer Messiah and King.
The Church does not replace Israel, God has declared and decreed it so !
Romans ch.11:25-32 and Psalm 14:7 covers it all.
God’s unique programme for Israel is the key to God restoring the Kingdom to Israel and the Messianic Kingdom of Heaven – the Millennium – Christ’s rule upon this earth for a 1000 years.
Don Hender
Autumn 2012.
Bournemouth Bible School.