What Does the Bible Say About Israel?

What does the Bible say about Israel, God loves Israel, God loves His people, Questions
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What does the Bible say about Israel? Let’s answer this question.

[Adapted by permission from articles titled, ‘God Loves Israel’ and ‘What is the Church’ by Dr. Steven R. Cook.]

Israel is a Nation Created by God Himself

“Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel … the Creator of Israel, your King” (Isaiah 43:14-15).

Israel is a Unique Nation

This makes Israel unique among all the nations!He calls Israel, “My glory” (Isaiah 46:13).
He professes His love for them, “Indeed, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you” (Jeremiah 31:3).

What does the Bible say about Israel?

God Loves Israel

An Eternal Love
God’s love for Israel is eternal and unwavering. To have God’s love is to love that which He loves. One cannot claim to have God’s love and simultaneously hate Israel, His chosen people.

There is no place for anti-Semitism in the heart of anyone, especially the Christian!

What does the Bible say about Israel?

God Called Israel to be Holy

Conditioned Blessings
To love the people of Israel doesn’t endorse all their beliefs and behaviors. God called them to be holy (Exodus 19:5-6; Leviticus 11:45) and to live righteously (Deuteronomy 6:24-25). Under the Mosaic Law, God conditioned His blessings and curses on their obedience or disobedience (Deuteronomy 11:26-28; 28:1-68).

A National Failure
Historically, Israel has sometimes failed to walk with God, rejected His love for them, and walked in the world’s ways (see 2 Chronicles 36:15-16; Jeremiah 7:25-26; 25:4-7). The national rejection and crucifixion of Jesus (Matthew 27:22-23; Acts 2:22-23; 4:27-28), Israel’s promised Messiah (Deuteronomy 18:15; Isaiah 7:14; 9:6-7; 61:1; Matthew 1:1, 17; Luke 1:31-33), is their greatest historical failure. 

Israel didn’t act alone in crucifying Jesus, their Messiah. God foretold the Messiah’s suffering (Psalm 22:11-18; Isaiah 53), and He sovereignly used wicked men (e.g., Herod, Pilate, the Jewish High Priest, and Satan), both Jews and Gentiles, to accomplish His will (Genesis 3:15; Acts 22:22-23; 4:27-28).

God Continues to Love Israel

God’s Promises and Covenants Remain
Their loving God continues to keep His Word to them. Israel has a future hope because of the promises and covenants God made through the patriarchs and prophets (Genesis 12:1-3; 15:18; 17:8; Deuteronomy 30:1-10; 2 Samuel 7:16; Psalm 89:33-37; Jeremiah 31:31-33).

Unbelieving Israel is currently under divine discipline (Matthew 23:37-39), so God has delayed fulfilling His covenants and promises (Romans 9:1-5) until Jesus returns and they accept Him as their Messiah.

God has Not Rejected His People

Furthermore, it is wrong to think the church has replaced Israel, for “God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew” (Romans 11:2). Until Messiah returns, unbelieving Israel is under spiritual darkness and divine judgment (Romans 11:25-27). The apostle Paul — a biological Jew himself — revealed that God’s promises and covenants are still valid for Israel:
“(My kinsmen) who are Israelites, to whom belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises, to whom belong the patriarchs, and from whom, according to the flesh, is Christ, who is over all, God forever blessed. Amen” (Rom 9:4-5).

Believers: Part of the Church
Today, Jews and Gentiles become partakers of the Church, the body of Christ (Ephesians 1:22-23; cf. 1 Corinthians 10:32), when they believe in Jesus as their Savior (Galatians 3:26-28). These believe the gospel message: “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).

Christians are looking forward to the rapture of the church, in which He will catch us away (harpazo – to seize, catch up, snatch away) to heaven (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17). Until God resumes His prophetic plans for Israel, God calls Christians to love them, pray for them, and share the gospel of grace that they may turn to Jesus as the Messiah and be saved (Romans 1:16; 1 Corinthians 1:18-24).

Though both Israel and Christians are God’s people, the Christian church is distinct from the nation of Israel. The Church is:
The body of Christ (Ephesians 1:22-23).
A company of believers made up of Jews and Gentiles (1 Corinthians 10:32).
Spiritually united with Christ by the baptism of the Holy Spirit when they believed (1 Corinthians 12:13; Galatians 3:26-28).
   
Who is a Jew?
Biblically, a Jew is a biological descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Genesis 12:1-3; 15:5; 17:7, 19; 22:15-17; 28:13-14; Exodus 2:24-25). A Gentile is anyone who is not a Jew. In the Old Testament, Gentiles could take part in the Jewish blessings if they embraced God (e.g., Rahab and Ruth believed).

The Christian Church

The Jew and Gentile distinction continued for millennia until the formation of the Christian church. Now, in the Church age, there are three groups of people: Jews, Gentiles, and the Church. This is why Paul comments, “Give no offense, either to the Jews or the Greeks or to the church of God” (1 Corinthians 10:32; italics added).
      
More to Come
God is working out His current plan through His Church. However, God is not finished with Israel. They are under divine discipline (Matthew 23:37-39; Romans 11:25-27), but God plans to restore them and bless the world through them.
God’s covenant promises to Israel are still in effect (Genesis 12:1-3; Romans 9:1-5; 11:1-2).
These promises point to a future regathering of Israel in the Promised Land (Isaiah 14:1; 60:21; Ezekiel 37:12).
A Davidic King and Kingdom (2 Samuel 7:16; Luke 1:31-33), and a righteous rule (Isaiah 9:6-7; Revelation 11:15; 19:11-16), which will last for a thousand years (Revelation 20:4-6).

Jesus is the son of David, the son of Abraham, and He will inherit the throne of His Father and rule on earth.

What Does the Bible Say About Israel?

Summary
Israel is a unique nation created by God Himself.
God loves Israel with eternal love.
God made covenants with Israel that He will yet fulfill.
The national rejection and crucifixion of Jesus, Israel’s promised Messiah, is their greatest historical failure. 
The church is distinct from Israel and Gentiles.
Once Jesus raptures the Church, God will resume His plan with national Israel and fulfill all the promises He made to them through the covenants.

We invite you to watch the “Great News” video on this page and find out more about God’s love for you and how you can receive forgiveness and eternal life – today!

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