“Is God Finished with the Jews?” Live Q&A for August 22, 2024

Are the Jewish People Still Chosen?

Surprisingly, many Christians believe God has no future for the Jewish people, that God is finished with Israel. There are voices out there that think what Christians today need is to do is to hate the Jews more and more! This is wrong and dangerous and needs to be addressed.

There’s no doubt that at one time, the Jewish people were regarded by God as a chosen people, (Deuteronomy 7:6), precious to God as the apple of His eye (Zechariah 2:8).

Deuteronomy 7:6

For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth.

Israel was never chosen to universal salvation, but to have an important role in God’s unfolding plan of the ages. Israel plays a greater role in God’s eternal plan than Sweden, Uganda, or Guatemala. Israel plays a greater role in God’s eternal, unfolding plan than the United States!

This isn’t because Israel is bigger, better, or more holy than other peoples. Not at all! God chose these covenant descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – and that choosing has often seemed more like a burden than a blessing.

Like the man said in Fiddler on the Roof – “Lord, couldn’t You have chosen someone else?”

But God chose the Jewish people for this role, and the role did not end with Israel’s part in bringing forth the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

Here are three reasons why God the Jewish people are still, in some sense, chosen – why they have a future in God’s unfolding plan of the ages.

1. God has not unchosen Israel because He made an everlasting covenant with Israel, the covenant descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God has promised the land of Israel to the covenant descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob with everlasting promises (Genesis 17:8).

Genesis 13:15

…for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever.

Genesis 17:8

Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.

Some can’t resist spiritualizing all this. For them, “land” doesn’t mean land, “descendants” doesn’t mean descendants, “forever” doesn’t mean forever, and “everlasting possession” doesn’t mean everlasting possession. They spiritualize it all as being for the church today.

While there may be a spiritual application of some of these truths, it doesn’t erase the plain, simple meaning that these words had to those whom God first spoke to them. Remember that the application of God’s promises may become more but will never become less.

2. God has not replaced or erased Israel because centuries later, God confirmed His commitment to Israel in the strongest possible terms.

Jeremiah 31:35-36

Thus says the LORD,

Who gives the sun for a light by day,

The ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night,

Who disturbs the sea, And its waves roar

(The LORD of hosts is His name):

“If those ordinances depart

From before Me, says the LORD,

Then the seed of Israel shall also cease

From being a nation before Me forever.”

The message from God is both powerful and plain. God will stop thinking of and dealing with Israel as a nation when the sun, moon, and stars stop giving light and when the sea stops roaring. As long as those things continue, God will regard Israel as a nation before Him forever.

Jeremiah 36:37

Thus says the LORD:

“If heaven above can be measured,

And the foundations of the earth searched out beneath,

I will also cast off all the seed of Israel

For all that they have done, says the LORD.

For remarkable emphasis, God gave another powerful and plain declaration of the permanence of the Jewish people in His unfolding plan of the ages. Since it is impossible to measure heaven above or search out the foundations of the earth, God will never cast off the seed of Israel – even considering all they have done.

3. God has not replaced or erased Israel because the truth of spiritual Israel does not replace or erase God’s plan for national or ethic Israel.

In Galatians 3, Paul makes the point that God accounted Abraham to be righteous – in right relationship with God – because Abraham believed. He trusted in, relied on, and clung to God and His promises. That’s when Paul wrote:

Galatians 3:7

Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham.

This is the important idea of “spiritual Israel.” A man or woman of faith is more connected to Abraham spiritually than those who are connected to Abraham genetically.

Yet, none of this replaces or erases the idea of national or ethnic Israel, the Jewish people descended from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and Gentile proselytes who became part of Israel.

We don’t use one passage of Scripture to cancel out another. Israel is Israel and not the church throughout the Old Testament. Israel is Israel and not the church in Gospels and the book of Acts. Israel is Israel and not the church in the epistles and the book of Revelation.

God has an enduring role for Israel in His unfolding plan of the ages, and this is seen in:

• The promise that all Israel will be saved (Romans 11:26)
• The promise that they will look upon Him whom they have pierced (Zechariah 12:10)
• The promise that Jesus will be welcomed back by a Jewish population that calls Him blessed (Luke 13:35)
• Many other passages

A Few Important Thoughts

1. Though the Jewish people have a continuing, enduring role in God’s unfolding plan of the ages, at the present time they are (for the most part) not in right relationship with God, because they refuse to recognize who God is as revealed in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Paul’s description in Romans 11:28 still stands, and is still important:

Romans 11:28

Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers.

• Concerning the gospel: enemies
• Concerning the election, concerning God’s choosing: beloved
• Why? For the sake of the fathers, the patriarchs, and God’s faithful promises to them.

2. The modern state of Israel and the Jewish people are not the same thing. One can criticize policies or actions of the state of Israel and still be supportive of the Jewish people.

However, calls to eliminate or destroy the state of Israel are unbiblical and fundamentally anti-Jewish. There are political, moral, and biblical reasons to affirm the existence of Israel; but Israel also has responsibility to do right (as do the other nations of the world).

3. The place the Jewish people continue to have in God’s unfolding plan of the ages does not contradict or eliminate the love God has for the Arabic or Palestinian people. God loves the Arabic and Palestinian people, he wants them to have good leadership that is helpful for their communities, not destructive.

Enduring Word has invested a lot of resources in the translating my Bible commentary into Arabic – and we are very happy to do that!

Our Arabic website featuring free Bible commentary in Arabic averages more than 110,000 pageviews a month, and our weekly devotional goes out to hundreds of Arabic readers by email. We are grateful to deliver good Bible resources absolutely free of charge to thousands and thousands of believers and seekers in the Arabic speaking world.

We think that both the Jewish people and the Arabic people need Jesus!

Summary

The Jewish people are indeed a chosen people – not chosen for salvation (in the sense that being Jewish does not save anyone), but chosen to have an important, strategic role in God’s unfolding plan of the ages.

Who is Melchizedek (Hebrews 7:11)? Was he a representative of Jesus? What is the order of Melchizedek?

Hebrews 7:11 – Therefore, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need was there that another priest should rise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be called according to the order of Aaron?

Melchizedek is a very interesting and mysterious character in the Old Testament. He is mentioned briefly in the book of Genesis, when Abraham is returning from a successful battle against kings who had conspired against some of the cities of the plain and taken Abraham’s nephew Lot as hostage. Abraham raised an army from among his own servants and went and conquered those evil kings who struck out against Abraham’s family. On the way back, Abraham met with Melchizedek in the city that would later be called Jerusalem, but in Melchizedek’s day was called Salem. Abraham met Melchizedek, who was a high priest and the king over the city of Salem. Salem means peace, which in Hebrew is shalom, so he’s the king of peace.

Abraham honored Melchizedek with a tithe, and Melchizedek served Abraham bread and wine. The writer to the Hebrews uses Melchizedek as a very powerful picture of the priesthood of Jesus Christ, based not only on Genesis 14, but also in the Messianic prophecy of Psalm 110:4 – The LORD has sworn and will not relent, “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.” The writer of the letter to the Hebrews points out that Jesus Christ is indeed the High Priest of God and the High Priest of His people, but not through being a descendant of Aaron, as was true for the temple priesthood and the rest of the priesthood. The priesthood of Jesus Christ is not connected to Aaron. It’s connected to the priesthood of Melchizedek, as was prophesied in the Psalm 110.

So, Melchizedek is a very important prefiguring of Jesus Christ. Some people argue whether or not Melchizedek was an actual appearance of Jesus before His birth in Bethlehem. That could be true; there are such occasions in the Old Testament and Melchizedek may be one of them, but I don’t think it’s necessary to say that he was a Christophany, an appearance of Jesus before He was born in Bethlehem. Regardless, we can be confident that Melchizedek is a powerful picture of Jesus Christ, and provides the pattern, the establishment, and the basis on which Jesus has a legitimate claim to be the High Priest of His people, because Hs priesthood is not according to Aaron, but rather according to Melchizedek. This mysterious man of the Old Testament actually ends up playing an important role in the theology that believers understand about the priesthood of Jesus Christ.

What does Hebrews 8:13 mean by saying that the old (first) covenant is made obsolete?

Hebrews 8:13 – In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

I’ll give you the basic answer. Christians generally agree that people today do not and should not come to God through the old covenant. We don’t need bulls and goats to sacrifice for sin. We don’t need a temple in Jerusalem. We don’t need a priesthood. We don’t need to be under the Mosaic law as ancient Israel was. There’s still value in the law, of course, but not as ancient Israel was. No, that’s all belonging to the old covenant. We have a new covenant, and in that sense, the old covenant is obsolete. Yes, it’s still there. We understand it and learn by it. But the old covenant is no longer the operating basis between a believer and God. No, not at all. The old covenant, in that sense, has passed away.

It may be slightly controversial, but I would argue at least in some sense, that Israel apart from Jesus Christ, is still under the old covenant today. Now, they are not finding salvation under the old covenant. Under the old covenant itself, there was no salvation; it only pointed towards the perfect work that Jesus would do. But Israel swore itself to the old covenant repeatedly in the Old Testament, so it would seem to me that at least in some sense, God still holds them accountable under the old covenant. Again, I want to stress that that’s not how they’re going to find salvation. They will only find salvation by coming to Jesus Christ. Once they’re in Christ, they’re free of the old covenant. Now they live under the new covenant that God announced in the Old Testament and fulfilled through the person and work of Jesus Christ in the New Testament.

But there is something about the terms of the old covenant and the history of Israel since New Testament times which makes me think that God still holds them to it, and the only way they can find freedom from that is by turning to Jesus Christ and having the new covenant supersede any connection they had with the old. I would recommend to you refer to my commentary on Hebrews 8, in which I’ve included a wonderful table of contrasts between the old covenant and the new covenant.

Do you think someone can try too hard to be in close relationship with God?

Absolutely yes, there can be an element of unnecessary struggle, striving, self-focus, or “analysis paralysis” in a person’s relationship with God. Paul wrote in Romans 14:17 – for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

There are difficult and stressful times in every Christian’s life, but the overwhelming note of our life should be just that: not eating or drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy. A person whose relationship with God always seems like agony is probably focused on themselves and not focused on the Lord Himself.

I don’t think this analogy is perfect, but it’s helpful. Sometimes in human relationships, you have people who just try too hard. Everything seems monumental, everything seems to be a struggle, and there’s just no peace in the relationship. Listen, when our eyes, mind, and heart are focused on Jesus Christ – on who He is and what He did to rescue us, especially by what He did at the cross and in His resurrection – it should bring a peace into our relationship with God. My relationship with God does not depend on me. It depends on Him. We can praise the Lord for that. So, yes, it’s possible for a person to try too hard, to strive and to not rest in the finished work of Jesus Christ. It should be a place of rest. Remember, the kingdom of God is not eating or drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. That should mark our walk with the Lord.

If Abraham walked by faith with God and Moses failed to walk by faith, does that mean Abraham was better than Moses in the eyes of God?

I would disagree with you and say that Moses walked by faith perfectly. No, he did not perfectly walk by faith, of course not. But can you tell me that Moses did what he did without walking by faith? Of course, Moses walked by faith. What a radical and precious thing that Moses did. It’s very important for us to realize that Moses walked by faith.

Was Abraham better? Abraham was not a perfect example of faith, not at all. There are few places where his trust in God was at least weak or deficient, and instead of trusting in the Lord, he trusted in his own ingenuity. Recall the time when he went down to Egypt and he shouldn’t have, or when he hung out with Abimelech, and he shouldn’t have. Abraham was not perfect in faith when he received Hagar, the Egyptian servant, as a surrogate by whom to have a child.

So, there were times when Abraham was not perfect in faith, yet he is regarded as a great man of faith for the wonderful things that he did accomplish by faith. Therefore, we don’t want to act as if Moses was very weak in faith and Abraham was perfect in faith. Abraham was not perfect in faith, and Moses, though he did fail in faith from time to time, could never have led Israel out of Egypt without faith. Can you imagine the faith it took for Moses to stand before Pharaoh and do what he did? Oh, my heavens. No, Moses was a man of tremendous faith, but not perfect faith.

And isn’t it wonderful that there’s only one person of perfection in the Bible? That’s Jesus Christ. Every other person in some way or another has their weaknesses and flaws, but Jesus Christ is the sinless Son of God. Praise the Lord for that.