One people group that has drawn more attention than perhaps any other throughout time are the Jewish people. There are historical records from thousands of years back recounting their 400 years in slavery followed by 40 years in the wilderness. Despite this oppression and time of trial, coupled with the Nazi Holocaust in recent times, the Jewish people have had tremendous influence in the arts, the business world, and even government.
Presently, the Jewish people are viewed from different perspectives including those in Judeo-Christian circles. Many proclaim that they are still God’s people, while others are chastised and labeled as Replacement Theologians for insisting that the role of Jewish people has changed at the coming of Jesus Christ.
So, to sort all of this out, we must go to the source that contains all truth, the Holy Bible, containing both the Old and New Testaments. The pivotal starting point is the 12th chapter of Genesis. At that time, God approached Abraham calling him out of obscurity and revealed that a great nation will come from him. From this nation, God told him that all the families throughout the world will be blessed. Furthermore, God told Abraham something that many people still quote today and that is, “I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse.” I can hardly imagine what it must have been like for the Holy, Almighty, and Sovereign God to make such a direct pronouncement.
Now, fast forward to Genesis 15. God had already made a covenant with Abraham establishing that a nation will be set aside from all others through him. In Genesis 15, God expanded His covenant with Abraham by promising him that his own son will be his heir. Not only that, God also directed Abraham’s attention to the sky and equated the stars with his offspring. Abraham believed and was declared righteous in God’s eyes. Now, as a sign to signify the promise He made to Abraham, God required him to circumcise every male throughout all generations born inside his house and those brought into it. Not only did this ritual separate Abraham’s people from descendants of other nations, the shed blood from circumcision also pointed to Jesus’ death on the cross which fulfilled God’s promise concerning Abraham’s offspring (Galatians 3:29)
After the Angel of the Lord told Abraham not to sacrifice his son and heir Isaac (Genesis 22:11-14), God reminded Abraham of the promise He made concerning Abraham, himself. In verse 18 of Genesis 22 we see God reminding Abraham that his offspring will be a blessing to all the nations. This foreshadowed the blessings that would come through Abraham’s offspring under the Jewish people. Then later, under the New Covenant, the true Israel, the chosen remnant among Abraham’s physical offspring and the chosen remnant from all other nations collectively advance Christ’s Kingdom.
Now, when addressing Abraham’s promised heir Isaac, God further emphasized the covenant He had made with his father. In verse 4 of Genesis 26, God once again equated Isaac and his father Abraham’s offspring with the stars in the sky. Furthermore, God promised land to Isaac’s offspring and stated that all nations of the earth will be blessed by Abraham’s obedience. Later God also confirmed His promise to Isaac’s son Jacob, whom He renamed Israel. In verses 11-12 of Genesis 35 God commanded Israel to be fruitful and multiply and then told him that a company of nations and kings would come from his own body.
So, it’s clear that God set Israel, Abraham’s national offspring, apart for a distinct purpose. In fact, Jesus who descended from the line of David, began His ministry by first approaching the Jewish people of His time. Not only that, but His disciples were also Jewish. Coming full circle to God’s call for Abraham’s offspring to be a blessing to all nations, Jesus, in the words He spoke to His Jewish disciples just prior to His ascension, said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…” (Matthew 28:19).
Now, in the early times of the church when Jews and Gentiles were coming together as one body, there were issues that Paul and the other Apostles had to settle. For instance, in Romans 2, Paul dealt with Jews who found their identity in keeping Old Covenant practices such as circumcision and ceremonial rituals, issues he also confronted in other epistles such as Galatians. His message was clear: salvation comes through grace alone by faith alone for everyone since according to what he tells us in Romans 3:23, “all have sinned and faith short of the glory of God.” Later in Romans 6:23, Paul goes on to say, “the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” This once again addresses all people since everyone will face a reckoning for their sin apart from God’s mercy.
In the New Covenant, it’s clear that remnants from all nations comprise the body of Christ. For example, we see in 1 Corinthians 12:13 that the body has many parts consisting of both Jews and Greeks, slave and free, and all are united by the Holy Spirit. Paul further emphasizes this in Galatians 3:27-28 where he stresses that our unity is in Christ, regardless of our background as Jew, Greek, slave, free, male, or female. The beauty we see here is that Jesus, being the vine (the promised seed of Abraham), as He refers to Himself in John 15 brings new branches in during this new church age. There is a consistent theme when we look back to God commanding Abraham to circumcise not only those in his household but also those he brought in, thus demonstrating the inclusiveness of God’s covenant, even prior to the coming of Christ. Once again, we have proof that God does not draw lines of distinction amongst His flock.
Going back to the original question posed about the Jewish people, we must once again consider Romans 2. There, Paul says that one’s identity as a true Jew has nothing to do with physical circumcision or any status amongst the nations. In fact, in verses 28-29, he states, “For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.” Along those lines, we also see that Moses speaks to this in Deuteronomy 30:6, “And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.” Not only that, in Ezekiel 36:26 we’re told the following: “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”
So, in the final analysis, a true Jew is one who has sinned (as everyone else in Adam) and falls short of the glory of God, but who has been redeemed by the perfect obedience of our Lord Jesus having been appointed to eternal life in Him before the foundation of the world.
In His Image 