Will the Real Israel Please Stand Up?: The Identity of God's Israel

"You know, I'm a Jew." When those immediately surrounding you come from a Christian background, this is a statement that will usually perk some ears. In fact, I have used it at times to transition a conversation toward biblical theology--and more specifically the Gospel--when I sense confusion over the place of Jewish people in relationship to Christianity.

Of course, such a statement comes with necessary qualification, but according to Russell Moore (and more importantly, the New Testament), I'm correct in asserting my Jewish heritage.

At the recently revamped Moore to the Point, Dr. Moore has posted on the too often controversial topic of the identity of true Israel according to the Bible. In his article, "Is there a Future for Israel?", Moore notes that all Christians believe Israel has a future. However, the disagreement occurs in the discussion over to what (or whom) exactly the word Israel refers in various contexts in addition to its place in redemptive history, especially eschatology. After laying out the basic positions taken by dispensationalists and covenant theologians, Moore tells of his differences with both views. He writes:

Both covenant theology and dispensationalism, however, often discuss Israel and the church without taking into account the Christocentric nature of biblical eschatology. The future restoration of Israel has never been promised to the unfaithful, unregenerate members of the nation (John 3:3-10; Rom 2:25-29)-only to the faithful remnant.

The church is not Israel, at least not in a direct, unmediated sense. The remnant of Israel-a biological descendant of Abraham, a circumcised Jewish firstborn son who is approved of by God for his obedience to the covenant-receives all of the promises due to him.

"Israel is Jesus of Nazareth," Moore states. In Ezekiel 37:13-14, God promised to raise Israel from the dead and put his Spirit within them in order to make known that "I am the LORD." According to the apostle Paul, God has done this in Christ (Rom 1:2-4).

Once more from Ezekiel, Israel is referred to as the useless "wood of the vine" which is given over to fiery judgment (Ezek 15:6-8). In John's Gospel, Jesus speaks of himself as the true vine (John 15:1, 5-6). As Israel was judged and eventually given over to exile due to their disobedience, so too was Jesus of Nazareth exiled from the presence of God (Matt 27:46), except not for his own disobedience but ours.

The parallels between Christ and Israel are vastly numerous, indicating the Christocentric nature of the biblical narrative. The apostle Paul summarized this reality best in asserting that "all the promises of God find their Yes in him" (2 Cor 1:20 ESV). Furthermore, Paul goes on to say that through Christ we obtain our guaranteed inheritance (2 Cor 1:21-22; Rom 8:17). This inheritance is not merely the salvation of our souls but to act as rulers of the entire cosmos. Moore explains:

This is the radical nature of the gospel in the New Testament. Dispensationalists are right that only ethnic Jews receive the promised future restoration, but Paul makes clear that the "seed of Abraham” is singular, not plural (Gal 3:16). Only the circumcised can inherit the promised future for Israel. All believers-Jew and Greek, slave and free, male and female-are forensically Jewish firstborn sons of God (Gal 3:28). They are in Christ. Circumcision is not irrelevant. Instead, both Jews and Gentiles in Christ are “the circumcision” because they have “the circumcision of Christ” (Col 2:11-12).

To make matters clearer, Moore adds, "In Christ, I inherit all the promises due to Abraham’s offspring because I am 'hidden' in Abraham’s promised offspring so that everything that is true of him is true of me."

Much of the time, due to the influence of dispensationalism upon our churches, evangelicals grow unnecessarily distressed over current events relating to modern-day Israel. Such an anxiety stems from Christians, as so many theologians have put it, "reading the newspaper in one hand and the Bible in another." This anxiety can be resolved in realizing that the promises of God rest not in Palestinian land disputes but in Christ, the firstborn and rightful heir of all creation (Col 1:15).

In other words, the Canaanite land promised to Abraham ages ago will indeed be given to God's people. Yet, it will stretch much farther than the Gaza Strip; it will be literally the entire cosmos (Rom 4:13). And yes, this land is reserved for ethnic Israel. As Russell Moore puts it, this land belongs to "one ethnic Jew whose name is Jesus."

To paraphrase a certain Caucasian rap artist, "Will the real Israel please stand up?" The truth remains that he has already stood up when on the third day he walked out of a Jerusalem tomb almost 2,000 years ago. In the meantime, he sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, from where he will come to judge the living and the dead... and then to reign (Psalm 110).

From hereon, the question, "Are you Jewish?" should call for a bit more perplexing answer.