More about Israel.
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Accept Jesus is the only way to salvation.
No other way.
No ethnicity, no political state, nothing else.
You all please stop repeating the same talking point. No one here in all the discussion has said there is another way to get saved. I don't know why you keep saying it.
We know Jesus is the high priest. We also know that He will keep the promise He made to the Jews.
Israel the Children of Promise cont
How do we discern discern which is which ? Lets seek the scripture to find a answer. As stated in Rom 9:6, Paul see's two Israel's, vs 7 seeds of Abraham, vs 8 Children of Abraham; Now within the scope of being children of Abraham, it could happen one of two ways, according to the flesh or according to promise.
The Two Israel's in vs 6 are of the flesh or of the promise [the spirit]
Now Abraham had Two Sons, Before Isaac was Ishmael. Ishmael can trace His natural [flesh] descent back to Abraham [as can natural Israel] for Jesus speaking to them [natural jews] says:
Jn 8:37
37I know that ye are Abraham's seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.
Yet Ishmael was not counted as a Heir of Promise Gal 4:30
30 Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman. see Rom 9:8
In fact in Gal 4:22ff, the Apostle identifies natural Israel according to the flesh as Ishmael and his mother hagar, they representing that Israel constituted at Mt Sinai :
24 Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.
25 For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.
And Identifies Isaac as as from the freewoman, born of promise to Abraham.
Ishmael was born by the flesh to Abraham [in unbelief], But Isaac was born by the power of God's word of Promise to Abraham.
You see Isaac was conceived and brought forth by the direct activity of God, Sarah having been hopelessly barren, and Abraham his Father was past the years of natural procreation ability [see Gen 17:17], but nevertheless God made a promise too them to give them a Son, A Heir. It was the power of that promise that brought forth Isaac in the womb, and likewise, its the sovereign power of God that gives being to the Children of Promise, which are born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of men, but of God Jn 1:13 [as Isaac] and thusly Isaac is a type or figure for the True Seed of Abraham, the Israel of Promise, born of the Holy Spirit of promise. Even Isaac was born after the Spirit Gal 4:29
But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after [or according to] the Spirit, even so it is now.
Hence all the jews in the OT that were born after[or according to] the Spirit was the True Israel, the True olive Tree. 5
How do we discern discern which is which ? Lets seek the scripture to find a answer. As stated in Rom 9:6, Paul see's two Israel's, vs 7 seeds of Abraham, vs 8 Children of Abraham; Now within the scope of being children of Abraham, it could happen one of two ways, according to the flesh or according to promise.
The Two Israel's in vs 6 are of the flesh or of the promise [the spirit]
Now Abraham had Two Sons, Before Isaac was Ishmael. Ishmael can trace His natural [flesh] descent back to Abraham [as can natural Israel] for Jesus speaking to them [natural jews] says:
Jn 8:37
37I know that ye are Abraham's seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.
Yet Ishmael was not counted as a Heir of Promise Gal 4:30
30 Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman. see Rom 9:8
In fact in Gal 4:22ff, the Apostle identifies natural Israel according to the flesh as Ishmael and his mother hagar, they representing that Israel constituted at Mt Sinai :
24 Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.
25 For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.
And Identifies Isaac as as from the freewoman, born of promise to Abraham.
Ishmael was born by the flesh to Abraham [in unbelief], But Isaac was born by the power of God's word of Promise to Abraham.
You see Isaac was conceived and brought forth by the direct activity of God, Sarah having been hopelessly barren, and Abraham his Father was past the years of natural procreation ability [see Gen 17:17], but nevertheless God made a promise too them to give them a Son, A Heir. It was the power of that promise that brought forth Isaac in the womb, and likewise, its the sovereign power of God that gives being to the Children of Promise, which are born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of men, but of God Jn 1:13 [as Isaac] and thusly Isaac is a type or figure for the True Seed of Abraham, the Israel of Promise, born of the Holy Spirit of promise. Even Isaac was born after the Spirit Gal 4:29
But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after [or according to] the Spirit, even so it is now.
Hence all the jews in the OT that were born after[or according to] the Spirit was the True Israel, the True olive Tree. 5
The promises that He made to the unfaithful Jews were not that nice.
You can read them in Deuteronomy 28:15-68.
He fulfilled them when He judged apostate Jerusalem in 70AD.
The nation that began in 1948 is not old covenant Israel, and no such earthly nation will ever be restored.
The ethnic distinction between Jew and Gentile is no longer clearly defined now.
The hope that Jesus will restore an earthly Jewish nation is not new.
Even in the time of Jesus' ministry people were incorrectly interpreting scripture to accommodate that hope.
When large crowds cried:
"Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest."
You might think there were many who believed in Jesus.
Soon afterwards these people had their hopes disappointed, and some may have been among the crowds crying "crucify him!".
Don't waste your faith on false hopes.
It may not even be a good thing that you wish for, but the true kingdom inherited by the house of David is an incredible thing.
If you believe in Jesus, believe in Him fully and think BIG!
Even in the OT, God don't save people because of their ethnic blood, read OT, how many isrealites, jews got God's punishment? Only the one has relationships with YHVH are saved.
Same from OT to NT. Never changed. God never change.
Entitlement to live in the holy land was not entirely a separate issue from salvation either.
That is why so many perished in the wilderness for their unbelief.
Just as the ceremonial sacrifices of the Levites were a ministry of the true sacrifice of Christ,
the holy land was a ministry of the true kingdom of heaven.
The kingdom of heaven is also a "land" where Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the faithful Israelites dwell.
One effort to accommodate a more worldly interpretation of the kingdom and priesthood is the idea that a third "Ezekiel" temple will be built during an earthly 1000 year (not eternal) reign of Christ.
Ezekiel of course predicted a restoration of the Levitical sacrifice too, so that leaves us with the absurd notion that Jesus Himself will be sitting and watching ceremonial animal sacrifices.
Is this not is a mockery of sacrifice made by Jesus?
This is crucial to understanding the world we live in.
Yes, Jesus is definitely the author and finisher of our faith. In fact, He is the one who gave the Abrahamic Covenant to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and his descendants. Curious though, when you say the entire Greater Israel belongs to those who repent in Jesus, are you referring to a spiritual land of greater Israel or the physical greater Israel? If it is a physical greater Israel, what does the greater physical Israel encompass? Thanks.
In this time it encompasses the whole world and the kingdom of heaven as well, as all of this rightly belongs to Jesus.
Abraham was to be the father of MANY nations.
Romans 4:13 For the promise, that he should be the heir of the WORLD, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.
So we learn that Abraham had both a land promise (fulfilled under David and Solomon), and a WORLD promise, fulfilled under Jesus and realized in the heavenly Jerusalem.
Regarding the fulfillment of the land promise, we are told of it in the OT:
1kings 4:21 And Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the river unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt: they brought presents, and served Solomon all the days of his life.
Hebrews 11 also speaks of Abraham's understanding of this greater promise:
Hebrews 11:10 For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
That understanding was also shared by the faithful Old Testament saints:
Hebrews 11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
14 For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.
15 And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.
16 But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.
Okay, so just to be clear, are you saying that the promise of the land of Canaan to the people of Israel has been fulfilled during the time of David and Solomon, so now it is not their land anymore? Now the land promised to Israel does not belong any longer to the Jews, but rather anyone who puts their faith in Jesus? Please correct me if I am misunderstanding you.
Those who put their faith in Jesus inherit the eternal "land" promise made to Abraham.
Nobody can inherit an eternal earthly kingdom, because the earth is to pass away.
Christians, like Abraham, are called to be citizens of Jerusalem Above (Galatians 4:21-28).
Earthly Jerusalem no longer exists as it was, and is not a Christian cause.
It is the earthly land promise to ABRAHAM that was fulfilled under David and Solomon.
The earthly land promise to Israel was fulfilled under Moses by Joshua (Joshua 11:15 and 11:23).
It was not an unconditional promise, but one that required the keeping of the law.
The land of Palestine no longer belongs to "The Jews" in the eyes of God because they have long ago failed to keep the law.
Those who have put their faith in Jesus also did not keep the law of Moses, yet they put their faith in one who has not failed.
How then is God able to keep the land promise if none remain to receive it?
It so happens that one person remains.
The Lord Jesus Christ.
So Jesus alone is to inherit the land of Canaan, yet His kingdom is heavenly and eternal and He has inherited the whole earth together with that land.
As king, He will renovate this earth as He sees fit (Revelations 21).
In this time many Christians struggle to understand that "everlasting" promises of God, such as Genesis 17:8 are always fulfilled in the kingdom of heaven.
That does not seem to be the case with the writers of earlier commentaries, and it is due to bad teaching that an earthly fulfillment of Genesis 17:8 is looked for.
The result not only contradicts the rest of the Bible, but has brought much unnecessary pain and suffering.
Just to illustrate, lets look at another "everlasting" covenant that gets less attention:
Genesis 17:13 He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.
Most of us would understand that the earthly body of a man must pass away, and he will not continue to have the sign of this covenant in his flesh for eternity.
We who read the Bible also understand that together with the law, this requirement has been "done away" (1Corinthians 13:10), because in its place God has required that our "circumcision is that of the heart" (Romans 2:29).
So we conclude that circumcision in the flesh was only symbolic of God's everlasting covenant.
It was obeyed by Jesus, but done away with a a requirement of God for the rest of us because the thing it symbolized in now eternally here.
I put it to you that Genesis 17:8 is to be understood in the same way.
You can't blame me for finding this interpretation weird.
Not only do you have the perfect sacrifice who has already payed the price of salvation watching the ceremonial sacrifice that was supposed to remind people of Himself, but if an everlasting earthly land/circumcision covenant is added into the mix, you have this situation continuing for eternity.
You also have a group of unbelievers being dealt with in an entirely different way from other unbelievers, on account of being "The Jews".
In a society where the DNA of Jacob is so spread out and thinned, it makes no sense to single out one group for special punishment on account of being "Jewish".
In the past antisemitic persecutors have of course attempted to do just that, but their definitions were as flawed as many of ours are to this day.
What happens to the unbeliever who is 1% Jewish?
You could refer me to the curses of Deuteronomy 28 especially for the unbelieving Israelites, but God has already fulfilled those curses in the 70AD destruction.
All the genealogical records that were not destroyed by Herod were already lost by the time Jerusalem was destroyed.
Even at the time Paul wrote Romans 11 only the tribes of Judah and Benjamin remained in tact as blood lines.
Modern Israelis are not Israelites, and as there is not a single one that can prove their ancestry to Jacob, they are to God like all other people.
He will deal with the believers in His mercy and the unbelievers in His Judgement,
just as He will deal with the other Gentiles.
Secular, earthly kingdom comes and goes. Yep, no need to worship an earthly secular kingdom, which is same as worshipping a golden calf.
For whatever it's worth, I agree with almost all of the points of your post with the following few exceptions:
I would suggest that because this is an eternal, heavenly promise concerning a spiritual and eternal land given solely by God’s unconditional act, those who place their faith in Jesus do so only because God first included them in that promise, with their faith coming from it as a result. In other words, faith is not a prerequisite for someone to satisfy in order to be placed under the promise. If faith were a transactional requirement for receiving the promise, then the promise would still depend on us, making it a performance/works-based promise. If we had to produce faith to obtain it, then we —not God—would have to satisfy it. However, the promise was given and obtained only by God's grace
The Bible teaches that the heavenly inheritance belongs to Jesus alone because He is the only one who qualified for it (Galatians 3:16). Therefore, it cannot be earned by our faith. Jesus fully satisfied the Abrahamic covenant, and God, in His abundant mercy and grace, sovereignly chose to include certain people under it - those whom He had appointed for it. Human performance is neither required nor permitted because Jesus alone is the Savior, man is not.
I think the earthly land promises were given by God while under the name of Abram, not Abraham. However, the promise for the spiritual land (spiritual Israel) was given to Abraham, not Abram, and was satisfied by Jesus Christ, not David and Solomon