Too many have been deceived to believe that the Israel of the Old Testament still exists today as the ethnoreligious group of so-called Jews arbitrarily declared by man to be a nation in the year of our Lord 1948. This is patently delusional, as modern Israel has no genealogical continuity whatsoever with the Exodus generation of Hebrews1 descendent from the patriarch Abraham, declared by God to be a nation of His people in 1446 BC:
I am the LORD your God, Who divided the sea whose waves roared– The LORD of hosts is His name. And I have put My words in your mouth; I have covered you with the shadow of My hand, that I may plant the heavens, lay the foundations of the earth, and say to Zion, ‘You are My people.’ ” -Isaiah 51:15-16
This is the “heavens and earth” that passed away definitively in 70 AD.
He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. -John 1:11
He came unto his own,.... not all the world, who are His own by right of creation; for these, His own, are opposed to the world, and distinguished from them; and His coming to them designs some particular favour, which is not vouchsafed to all: nor yet are the elect of God intended; though they are Christ's own, in a very special sense; they are His by His own choice, by His Father's gift, by His own purchase, and through the conquest of His grace, and are the objects of His special love; and for their sake He came in the flesh, and to them He comes in a spiritual way, and to them will he appear a second time at the last day unto salvation: but they cannot be meant, because when He comes to them they receive Him; whereas these did not, as the next clause affirms:
...but by His own are meant the whole body of the Jewish nation; so called, because they were chosen by the Lord above all people; had distinguishing favors bestowed upon them, as the adoption, the covenants2, the promises, the giving of the law, and the service of God; and had the Shekinah, and the symbol of the divine presence in a remarkable manner among them; and the promise of the Messiah was in a particular manner made to them; and indeed, He was to be born of them, so that they were His kindred, His people, and His own nation: and this His coming to them is to be understood not of His incarnation; though when He came in the flesh, as He came of them, so He came to them, particularly being sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and was rejected by them as the Messiah; yet His incarnation is afterwards spoken of in John 1:14 as a new and distinct thing from this; and to understand it of some coming of His before His incarnation, best suits with the context, and the design of the evangelist.
Now Christ, the word, came to the Jews before His incarnation, not only in types, personal and real, and in promises and prophecies, and in the word and ordinances, but in person; as to Moses in the bush, and gave orders to deliver the children of Israel out of Egypt: He came and redeemed them Himself with a mighty hand, and a outstretched arm; in His love and pity He led them through the Red Sea as on dry ground; and through the wilderness in a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night; and He appeared to them at Mount Sinai, who gave unto them the lively oracles of God:
...and His own received him not; they did not believe in Him, nor obey His voice; they rebelled against Him, and tempted Him often, particularly at Massah and Meribah; they provoked Him to anger, and vexed, and grieved His holy Spirit, as they afterwards slighted and despised His Gospel by the prophets.3
Now the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. (Psalm 118:22)
The fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. brought to an end the civil-religious system founded by Jehovah fifteen centuries earlier. It was during the last days of this system that the promises of God to bless mankind with a Saviour was manifested in the Flesh (1 Pet. 1:20), God spoke to mankind through His Son (Heb. 1:2), the Spirit of God was poured out upon all flesh (Joel 2:28; Acts 2:16-17), and the church of Christ was established (Isa. 2:2). The last days of the old system saw the inauguration of a completely new religion which will endure until the Lord's second coming.
The catastrophic occurrence at Jerusalem was the ultimate sign that all the claims made by Jesus Christ were true, and it was proof that the gospel being preached by Christians was divine in origin. This sign was not something newly introduced to the people of the first century. it was described by Moses as punishment for the nation if it did not adhere to God's standards. Daniel set the approximate time of the destruction in his Seventy Weeks Prophecy. And the Lord Jesus Christ pronounced impending doom on the nation during the short time He spent on earth as the Son of Man., In the first fifty years after the establishment of the church inspired men wrote of this event and warned it was soon to come.4
Zionism’s distorted theology disregards the first century coming of Christ in judgment of apostate Israel, the passing away of the old covenant and the inauguration of the new covenant gospel age of the church, also known as the "millennium" of Revelation 20. The new covenant has superseded the old covenant, and just prior to His ascension to reign at the right hand of the majesty on high, Jesus, having crushed the head of the serpent, binding him from deceiving the nations, confirmed that Jewish nationalism was over:
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:18-19)
Zionists claim that the modern assortment of foreigners now occupying territory in the land of Palestine, while identifying as “Jewish” and officially rejecting the Son of God, are nevertheless divinely entitled to the old covenant promises made to ancient Israel notwithstanding that they have already been fulfilled to the uttermost in Jesus Christ.
So-called “Christian Zionists”5 have adapted the unbiblical (scofieldian) paradigm into their theology so that rather than reflect on the good and faithful saying uttered by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, “Blessed are the peacemakers”6, they instead say “we stand with Israel” in support of clear and present military genocide of civilians in Gaza, ridiculously justified as a “right to exist” in the land where the indigenous people are denied any such right, based on misappropriation and misinterpretation of Old Testament Scripture.
The Scriptures are however unambiguous in distinguishing between the old and new covenants. In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. (Heb. 8:13). There is therefore, from a Christian perspective, no sense in which the old covenant can be viewed as still in force or applicable.7
The New Testament teaching is definitive as to the true significance of the covenants and histories of the Old Testament.8
Being a member of Israel in the Old Testament was dependent upon faith and obedience to God. When the Israelites obeyed God, God loved them. But when the Israelites turned from Him, He hated them, stripping them of their Israelite status. After centuries of Israelite rebellion against God, culminating in their rejection of Jesus the Messiah, the titles, attributes and blessings of Israel were transferred to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and to no one else, regardless of Abrahamic descent.9
Jesus said to the "chief priests and elders of the [Jewish] people":
Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. (Matt. 21:43)
And to His [Jewish] disciples: Do not fear, little flock, for it is the Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. (Luke 12:32)
The Promised Land
God’s word clearly indicates that the land promise made to old covenant Israel was completely fulfilled:
So the LORD gave to Israel all the land of which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they took possession of it and dwelt in it. The LORD gave them rest all around, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers. And not a man of all their enemies stood against them; the LORD delivered all their enemies into their hand. Not a word failed of any good thing which the LORD had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass. (Joshua 21:43-45)
This clear passage of old testament Scripture certainly overrides Zionists’ attempts to literalistically interpret the geographical boundaries described in Genesis 15:18-21, expressed in spatial merisms10, inapplicably drawing them as border lines on a modern map.
“The modern state of Zionist Israel is the bane of global peace, American prosperity, Christian discernment and Biblical understanding.” 11
“In my view, Christian Zionism is a much greater threat to the United States than communism or fascism or Islam or any other tyrannical doctrine. Christian Zionism completely controls the Republican Party (Jewish Zionism controls 90% or more of the Democrat Party); it controls 80% of the evangelical churches in America and at least that same percentage of the evangelical colleges, universities and seminaries; it condones and justifies mass murder, ethnic cleansing and genocide on behalf of Israel; it is the biggest cheerleader for perpetual foreign wars; its loyalty is first to Israel, not the United States; it refuses to oppose the invasion of criminal illegal aliens into America, because it knows that Israel is the largest facilitator of this invasion; its egregiously iniquitous use of the erroneous teachings of Israel-based eschatology has made Zionist zombies out of most evangelical pastors and churches. In short, there is almost NO spiritual opposition to this evil antichrist beastly system. And without spiritual opposition to antichrist, the Church becomes “good for nothing” (Jesus, Matthew 5:13).” 12
Sinner and Sacred Resolved
But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. (Galatians 3:22)
And so the gospel is the what we preach… the gospel of the new covenant in the blood of Jesus Christ. Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12)
For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 3:11)
As it is written: "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!" (Romans 10:15)
The resurrected, ascended Lord Jesus Christ is reigning now and reconciling the world to Himself as the Holy Spirit regenerates and sanctifies His people. Only by the world returning to a right relationship with God will the curse be progressively purged as sin and evil are defeated. Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. (1 Cor. 15:24-26)
The coming and kingdom of God are not just in our future. The kingdom has come, is coming, and is yet to come in final glory. The hope of Israel has become the hope of the world. The changing of hearts and minds by the transforming work of the Holy Spirit is ongoing until the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea. (Isaiah 11:9; Habakkuk 2:14) Let us consider the impact of a world full of people quickened to new life together as the body of Christ striving to love God with all our hearts, and our neighbors as ourselves.
Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth and Life.
Postscript: Love Fulfills the Law
For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." (Galatians 5:14)
Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false witness,” “You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. (Romans 13:8-10)
"If you love Me, keep My commandments". (John 14:15)
Douglas Knight, "Hebrews", The Oxford Companion to the Bible: "An ethnic term, it antedated the common sociopolitical names Israel or Judah in the monarchic period, as well as the more ethnoreligious appellative Jew in later times."
John Gill’s commentary on John 1:11
Tommy Shaw, The Destruction of Jerusalem: Its Important Place in the Divine Plan, 1979
Matthew 5:9
Stephen Sizer, Zion's Christian Soldiers?, 2008
Alan Nairne, Does the Nation of Israel have a distinct and separate future..., 2000
Charles D. Provan, The Church is Israel Now, Ross House Books, 2004
merism [noun]: (literature, rhetoric) A reference to something by its polar extremes, as in "we searched high and low"