Is Israel Still The “Chosen People?”
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THIS DISPENSATIONAL MOMENT
Every time a rocket is launched from the Gaza strip, a dispensationalist gets his wings. And by wings, I mean like Red Bull, in that he will receive a rather large boost of courage, enough, in fact, to crawl up and out of the hole he has been hiding in from his last failed prediction and to flood the internet with a panoply of reasons why the end times are really here this time and happening right before our eyes. This confusion is entirely unhelpful and could be cleared up if any of my former 28 articles on this blog and podcast episodes on the topic of eschatology were seriously engaged with. Shameless plug intended.
Along with this, I have also seen a litany of social media posts proclaiming solidarity with Israel in their current war with Hamas, because they are God’s chosen people and we do not want to be on the wrong side with God. For this reason, before getting on to our topic today, I thought it might be wise to mention a few things to consider regarding the covenantal status of modern-day Israel.
STILL GOD’S CHOSEN PEOPLE?
Perhaps the best place to start would be with what the word Israel means. From the Scriptures, the first time the word is used is when God wrestles with Jacob and then renames Him Israel, which means “the one who wrestles with God.” Knowing this, it is obvious that “Israel” is not a genetic term that is passed through bloodlines down through families in the same way “Egyptian” would be. To be a member of Israel was a spiritual activity, of knowing God and wrestling with Him in intimate fellowship, not just merely inheriting the right DNA.
We know this is true, because God calls all kinds of ethnic peoples “Israel.” For instance, when the Israelites leave the land of Egypt, escaping from the slavery to be a free people serving their covenant God, the text tells us that a “mixed multitude” went out with them (Exodus 12:38). Apparently, there was a contingency of Egyptians who were so impressed by Yahweh, that they abandoned the empire of the Pharaohs and joined themselves with Israel, becoming followers of Jehovah. Just like the ethnic born sons of Abraham, they too were accounted as Israel.
Moses also reiterates that Israel was a spiritual distinction, when he admonishes the people to “circumcise their hearts” (Deuteronomy 10:16). All of the men of Israel had performed the physical sign of circumcision on their genitals, but there were many of them who were not true Israel in the heart (Romans 9:6). This is because being a member of true Israel was never about biology or physicality, but of spiritual allegiance to Yahweh.
Thinking also of the lineage of Christ, from the genealogies recorded in the Gospels, we can ascertain that Ruth the Moabite was a part of His lineage and was grafted into Israel. Along with Ruth, Rahab the Canaanite prostitute was a part of His line as well as Bathsheeba, who was the wife of Uriah the Hittite and could have been a Hittite herself (the text is unclear). Regardless, the Servant of the Lord, whom Isaiah calls “true Israel” was the one who assimilated people who were far off, and foreigners to His covenant promises, and brought them into Him as one people. This is why Paul says that there is neither Jew nor Greek (Galatians 3:28) because all are one in Christ, made one through His finished work (Ephesians 2:14-16), to be children of Abraham by faith (Galatians 3:29), and have been made into a new nation, the “Israel of God” which includes slaves and free, male and female, Jews and Gentiles together as one unified people of God (Galatians 6:16).
Thus, when we speak about “the chosen people of God” we are not talking about the biological Jews who have assembled themselves in modern day Palestine. We are not theologically weighing in on the modern day conflict over land and tribal allotments. When we refer to “Israel” are talking about everyone who is in Christ, who is true Israel. Further, that distinction, “chosen people” is more appropriately given to the Church, who God has made into “A kingdom of priests and a holy nation” for His purposes (1 Peter 2:9).
Because of this, we must not assign a special or mystical status to the modern-day secular nation of Israel. They are a people just like every other people on earth who needs to repent and turn to Christ. If judgment day were today, all who reject the Lord, Jews and Greeks, would be one in hell, delivered over to the wrath of God for rejecting Christ. And while the New Testament does allude to a national revival that will come to the people of Israel in the future (Romans 11), that revival is solely and squarely because they will one day abandon their secularism, leave their paganism and idolatry behind, and bowed the knee to King Jesus.
I share this because there is nothing covenantally or spiritually significant about modern-day Israel. Sure, they are people made in the image of God. And, politically, I do agree that they are an expedient ally in the Middle Eastern region. But, from a covenantal standpoint, they do not have God’s favor upon them in any unique sense. They are the branch that was cut off and we are the branch that the Lord’s pure grace has grafted in.
If we side with them in this war, we will not be more blessed than if we hadn’t. Instead, modern-day Israel is a people we must pray for, a people we must evangelize, and a people we will interlock hands with in glory, shouting together in the resurrection, singing the praises of our King right alongside them.
Thus, as you think about this current war, pray for them. Pray that this would be the kind of thing that causes them to repent and turn to Christ. And do not forget to pray for the Christians in Palestine. As Christians, we have more in common with a Palestinian Christian than with a secular democratic Jew.
Pray without ceasing. May the Lord Himself bring perfect peace.
