Who is the Israel of God?
Lots of opinions:
There are lots of opinions of who Israel is. There are some very fringe ideas, including that the current Jewish people are really Jamaicans, or Russians, or the British, and other bizarre ideas. I have already taken up more space here than those crazy ideas are worth. Beyond those there are two prominent theological views – and both are wrong.
Replacement Theology:
One of the theological views in Christianity is replacement theology or supersessionism. In a nutshell it teaches that the Jewish people were the Israel of God before the Messiah came, but after that they were “replaced” or “superseded” by “the church” or “Christianity.”
Dispensationalism:
The other main theological view is dispensationalism. It has several aspects to it, but regarding the Israel of God, it teaches that the Jewish people were the Israel of God from Abraham, Issac, & Jacob until today.
Problems:
Both views have some Bible texts to support their views as well as a cherry picking of historical examples. As we dig a little deeper, both Biblically and historically, taking all of all of the scriptures and history together, we see there are some truths within both of the views, but also problems with both of these views.
A bigger problem with these theological views is how they are applied in real life. A wrong theological view of this topic is part of what led to the Holocaust and current anti-Semitism. A wrong theological view can lead to future anti-Semitism. It has affected how individuals and whole governments have acted with devastating results.
Nation:
Israel, as far as being a political nation, is a whole other discussion. Part of the problem with those who want to study this topic theologically is that they try to mix in the political nation of Israel to the discussion.
Whole Picture:
It is not until we take all the Bible texts and all of history and harmonize it all together that we can accurately come up with a true picture.
That is exactly what Rabbi Jeff Zaremsky does in this sermon, and then you can decide. We believe as we look at the evidence together, this whole picture view is something that Jewish people, Christians, and anyone who accepts the authority of the Scriptures will gladly embrace and will agree that it makes common sense, is logical, and is in harmony with the Word of God historically, currently, and prophetically.
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