The True State of Israel is the title of a Western Seminary “Point of Contact” essay. I unapologetically adopt it in this short response.
The paper, by Rev. Juan Carlos Martinez is 9 pages, double column and would need a small book to address everything. This short response can only touch on select points; the main issue being the identity of Israel and God’s promises to it.
The Fog of Gen 12:3 and envy
At the outset Martinez recalls Tucker Carlson’s interrogation of Ted Cruz on the issue of Gen 12:3. He regards the “probing question” as revealing a “theological fog” in “Christian discourse”, and “the false equivalence of biblical Israel with the modern political state.”
It’s not uncommon for Christians to redirect Gen 12:3 to the church as inheriting Abraham’s broader blessings, instead of ethnic Israel. I wrote about Gary Burge doing something like this HERE. But as noted there, Gen 27:29 applies the same blessing and curse specifically to Abraham’s bloodline-descendant Jacob-Israel. So does Num 24:9. These clearly stated passages disperse the theological fog.
I also found the chapter “Evangelism by Jealousy” citing Rom 11:11 ironic given the church’s regrettable history with the Jews. More recently, since the Oct 7 attack on Israeli citizens by Hamas and the subsequent Gaza propaganda wars, it is alarming how many Christians make vile anti-Israel and antisemitic comments; including resurrecting age-old Jewish conspiracy tropes. Christians making Israel jealous may be an ideal, but it is largely unrealized in general.
No Replacement Theology?
Many modern Reformed Folk dislike the term “Replacement Theology.” They currently prefer to use “Fulfillment” as in all of God’s promises to Israel are fulfilled in Christ. But it seems they equivocate on this.
On page 7 Martinez cites Bavinck as saying that, “The church is the true Israel, not by replacing it, but by being the organic continuation of God’s Covenant people…” (Reformed Dogmatics, 4:667) Rom 11:11
Yet Bavinck also wrote,
Under the Old Testament dispensation Israel was the people that had been called together and convened for God’s service. In the New Testament, the people of Israel have been replaced by the church of Christ, which is now the “holy nation, the chosen race, the royal priesthood” of God. (Semper Reformanda)
For those willing to do some work, I recommend Paul Henebury’s series on Replacement Theology. Michael Vlach writes on the Variations Within Supersessionism. See Vlach’s Analysis of Neo-Replacement Theology. In Various form of Replacement Theology, Michael Vlach responds to the “Fulfillment Theology” that Covenant Theology proposes. And Vlach further addresses what “Christ as True Israel” means for the nation Israel HERE.
Romans 11 and the Old Testament
Martinez asserts that Rom 11 affirms “Fulfillment Theology” and writes, “…biblical Israel is neither contemporary ethnic Jews nor the modern Jewish State, but the church – Jews and Gentiles united by faith in Christ, the true Israel.”
Romans 11:27 mentions God’s covenant when He takes away Israel’s sins. This hearkens back to Jer 31:31-37 (New Covenant) where God confirms ethnic Israel’s and Judah’s existence forever despite what they did (vv 36-37). In Ezekiel 36, God promises to redeem Israel (new heart and new spirit), not for its sake, but for His own name’s sake. In both cases (and in other places) this affirms ethnic Israel’s perpetuity in the land given to by God.
Amos 9:14-15 points to a time when Israel will return to the land never to be scattered again. A reading of the entirety of Isaiah 60 may offend the sensitivities of those who discard Israel. Yet the meaning is plain.
Whereas you have been forsaken and hated with no one passing through, I will make you an everlasting pride, a joy from generation to generation. You will also suck the milk of nations, and will suck the breast of kings; then you will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior, and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. Isaiah 60:15-16
After 40 days of discussing matters of the kingdom (Luke 24:45) the disciples asked Jesus when the Kingdom of Israel would be restored (Acts 1:6-7). Jesus said they got it all wrong, didn’t He? No, he told them that it wasn’t for them to know the times the Father had set. In the meantime, they had a mission to complete. The disciples’ expectations for Israel in the question were solidly rooted in the Old Testament.
Michael Vlach and Hermeneutics
In Dispensational Hermeneutics, Mike Vlach notes that fulfillment in Jesus doesn’t mean that OT prophetic details suddenly vanish. “No biblical support exists for this idea.” On page 103, he writes,
Matters like corporate Israel, nations, land earthly kingdom, and physical blessings are not Jesus, but they are related to Jesus. We should understand how everything relates to Jesus without assuming all things disappear or metaphysically collapse into Him. A prediction about a particular person, thing, or event must occur with that person, thing, or event.
And,
The fulfillment of all things in Jesus also involves the literal fulfillment of prophecies about Israel. Jesus is the corporate Head of Israel who restores the nation, as Isaiah 49:1-6 reveals. With this text, Jesus, the ultimate Servant of Israel, will save and restore the nation Israel and brings blessings to Gentiles. He does not make national Israel irrelevant.
Martinez’s interpretation of Rom 11 is necessary due to his Covenant Theology tradition which associates the church with Spiritual Israel. Hence it must avoid literal interaction with the OT verses cited earlier and appeal to the concept of a fulfillment that makes God out to seem disingenuous. The dispensational approach assumes God means what He says and is able to convey that to His audience.
There is much to appreciate about Midwestern Theological Seminary and our Reformed brothers and sisters and their hearts for Christ and the gospel. But I pray they recognize that we ought to honor God’s Word and His intentions and promises for the people of Israel; which is why He said He would redeem the nation for His name’s sake.
The true state of Israel will be redeemed national Israel, sans the Gentile church. Unfortunately, Fulfillment Theology, like other variations of supersessionism, is ultimately identity theft.
Maranatha!
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