Replacement
Theology was introduced to the Church shortly
after Gentile leadership took over from the
original Jewish leadership, some time after
70 AD. Replacement Theology teaches that the
Church replaces Israel in the program of God.
The Church is the New Israel, and the replacement
for Israel, and the many promises made to Israel
in the Bible are fulfilled in the Christian
Church, not in biblical, literal, Israel. Replacement
Theology teaches that the Jewish people are
now no longer a "chosen people." In
fact, they are no different from any other nation.
The Jewish people have no special future, and
no longer have a special purpose in the plan
of God. In Romans 11:1 Paul asks, “Has God rejected
His Jewish people?” Dispensationalists, like
Paul, emphatically answer no. Replacement theologians
answer yes.
Replacement
Theology does not believe that all the prophecies
in the Holy Scriptures concerning the blessing
and restoration of Israel to the Land of Promise,
like Ezekiel 36-48, and Zechariah 12-14, much
of Isaiah 59-66, and many other prophetic passages
are to be taken literally, but taken non-literally,
or "spiritualized" into promises of
God's blessing for the Church. However, the
prophecies of condemnation and judgment still
remain for the nation of Israel and the Jewish
people. Those passages are taken literally.
When you take away the promises of blessing
from the Jewish people, and leave only the curses,
this lack of theological balance can lead to
anti-Semitism, which some accuse Replacement
Theology of being guilty of.
But,
if God has rejected Israel, and there is no
special future for the Jewish nation, how do
we account for the supernatural survival of
the Jewish people among the nations for 2500
years, Israel's rebirth among the nations, a
flourishing modern democratic Jewish state,
these amazing victories in major wars with the
surrounding Egyptian and Arab nations, who have
a vastly larger population, supported by great
oil wealth? How about the Spirit of God being
given to more and more Jewish people, so that
the Messianic Jewish community is growing and
growing?
If
God has rejected Israel, why should Christians
stand by Israel? And if they don’t stand by
Israel, won’t they be in danger of going along
with the nations, and experiencing the punishment
foretold in Joel 3:1-2? “In those days and at
that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah
and Jerusalem, I will gather all the nations
and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat.
Then I will enter into judgment with them there
on behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel,
whom they have scattered among the nations;
and they have divided up My land.”
Might
Christians not join with all the nations that
unite to destroy the Jewish people who will
be in the Land of Israel in the Last Days and
wind up fighting against the Lord (Zechariah
12)? Who is a Christian to stand with? The nations
of the world, and their united nations army,
or little Israel? Aren’t they in danger of experiencing
the curse found in Genesis 12? I will bless
those who bless you and curse those who curse
you?
The
eschatology of the Scriptures is connected to
the nation of Israel. Paul tells us that the
future blessing of the entire world depends
on Israel, and on Israel’s salvation. “If their
transgression be riches for the world, and their
failure be riches for the Gentiles, how much
more will their fulfillment be?” And, we want
that “how much more!” Paul also writes, “if
their rejection be the reconciliation of the
world, what will their acceptance be but life
from the dead?” When the majority of Israel
accepts Messiah Yeshua, and God’s full acceptance
of us, it will be like life from the dead, resurrection
for the entire world, like a whole new glorious
golden age for mankind.
And
Christians should want to be part of that, and
work with God toward that glorious goal. But
you generally won’t if you accept Replacement
Theology. You will, if you believe in Dispensational
theology. If you are a Dispensationalist, you
take these things literally, and your sympathies
are with the Jewish people. If you are a Replacement
theologian, then generally you are not very
sympathetic to Israel.
Christians
should be the greatest lovers and supporters
of the Jewish people. Salvation has come to
the Gentiles to make the Jewish people jealous.
So Christians have a special love and sympathy
and compassion and heart for the Jewish people.
But that has rarely been the case in the Church
- in fact, quite the opposite, and part of the
fault lies with Replacement Theology.
