Who Is Israel?
• 6 min read
It is not as though God’s word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. Romans 9:6
Check out this wonderfully viral clip of Tucker Carlson digging into Senator Ted Cruz's theology:
The Senator's theology could clearly use a bit of work. But honestly, so could mine. I was left thinking: as a Christian, am I called to support the government of a state called Israel? Is this entity the same as the Israel mentioned in Genesis 12:3? Who actually is Israel?
The Verse in Question
Senator Ted Cruz's mentioned verse is oft-quoted by Evangelical Christians to support the state of Israel:
I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you. Genesis 12:3
Note this promise occurs before Jacob (later renamed Israel) is born, and is expansive (all peoples, not just the descendants of Jacob).
Isaiah Introduces Israel, The Servant
Israel normally refers to descendants of Jacob. But Isaiah 49 opens with a speaker who is clearly a person, not a nation, who is called Israel:
Listen to me, you islands; hear this, you distant nations: Before I was born the LORD called me; from my mother’s womb he has spoken my name... He said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.” Isaiah 49:1-3
The Servant Is Not The Nation
Two verses down, this servant, Israel, is to restore Israel and gather the remnant:
And now the LORD says... “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” Isaiah 49:5-6
Israel the nation cannot restore Israel the nation (the tribes of Jacob), for how can one restore himself? Clearly, Israel refers to somebody else--the same Servant as in Isaiah 53, Jesus Christ.
Jacobites vs Israel
Moreover, it seems Isaiah attempts to distinguish between descendants of Jacob from Israel:
"Listen to this, you descendants of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel and come from the line of Judah, you who take oaths in the name of the LORD and invoke the God of Israel—but not in truth or righteousness—you who call yourselves citizens of the holy city and claim to rely on the God of Israel— the LORD Almighty is his name..." Isaiah 48:1-2
If my understanding is correct, this would be the precedent in the Old Testament that implies there is not a bijection between Israel and the descendants of Jacob, contra Senator Cruz.
Not All Genetic Israel Will Be Saved?
Paul famously says, in Romans 11:25-26:
I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, and in this way all Israel will be saved...
It turns out that the first century phrase "all Israel" does not mean "all Israel." It is apparently closer to a qualified set, according to NT Wright (around 13:00):
‘All Israel’ is very much a first-century phrase. In the Mishnah there is a line that says, ‘All Israel has a share in the age to come,’ and it is immediately followed by a list of exceptions: not the Sadducees, not the Epicureans, not this group, not that group.
In other words, ‘all Israel’ means the people whom God is saving, the people who will turn out to be the real Israel.
And Paul says in Romans 2 that the true Jew is the one inwardly, the one in whom the Spirit has been at work to produce what the Law originally intended.
Moreover, Paul says a few verses prior:
But they [Israelites] were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but tremble. Romans 11:20
Because Christ is true Israel, and He is within us:
On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. John 14:20
We believers are Israel as well, and if the unbelievers were broken off from prior Israel, all that remains is believers (which gets expanded with those the Deliverer turns away from godlessness, as Paul writes in Romans 11:26).
"All Israel," then:
- slims down by casting out unbelievers,
- expands with Jewish converts, and also
- expands with the fullness of the number of Gentiles ("all peoples")
Thereby fulfilling the promise made to Abraham in Genesis, as well as fulfilling that which was required of Israel through Jesus Christ.
By construction, all Israel will be saved, and those who are in Jesus Christ (true Israel) are Israel.
Politics Is Downstream of Theology
Instead of the Evangelical interpretation, could Genesis 12:3 mean instead that:
- Whoever blesses Jesus and the church will be blessed by God, and
- Whoever curses Jesus and the church will be cursed by God?
After all, Paul interprets the promise as to Abraham and his Seed, which is Christ:
The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say “and to seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your seed,” meaning one person, who is Christ. Gal 3:16
Who, today, is cursing Christ? Ironically, it is fleshly Israel:
Contributors to Wikimedia projects
On 4 April, Samir Ibrahim Salman the bellringer of the Church was shot several times in the chest by an Israeli sniper and died.
Rev Dr Fares Abraham
Monjed Jadou
Could it be that fleshly Israel is the one cursing true Israel?
Everything is downstream of theology. If this take is correct, we should fix our foreign policy. The IFCJ has sent an estimated $1.5bn to Israel, on top of the tens of billions in direct aid from the US and the trillions in indirect aid prosecuting wars in the Middle East on behalf of Israel.
I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you. Genesis 12:3
Thanks to Chris Olson for discussing.
Disclaimer
Of course, I don't know whether this is true and no doubt I will read a commentary right after publishing this that changes my entire view. But this seems sensible to me currently. I hope this at least makes you think and crack open your Bible to verify, even if you disagree with me.