Introduction:
Replacement Theology is becoming rampant within wider Christendom today. Many within the spectrum of denominational structures are turning against Israel and believing and teaching that God has finished with the Jews. As Gentile leaders took over from Jewish leaders within wider Christendom the ‘doctrine’ started to spread through a mainly Gentile Church.
The Latin and Greek Church fathers through their teaching began to remove the Church from its Jewish roots and started to use the Greco-Roman western way of thinking when interpreting scripture. They started to teach that Israel as a nation had been replaced by the Christian Church in order to fulfil God’s purposes, and that the Church was now “the Israel of God” or “spiritual Israel” to the exclusion of the physical nation of Israel and the Jewish people.
What is Replacement Theology?
According to replacement Theology they say that after the day of Pentecost in Acts Chapter two when we see “Israel” mentioned in the New Testament, it no longer refers to literal Israel but to the Church, therefore the Jewish people and the nation of Israel itself is no longer a “chosen people,” and that they are no different than any other Gentile nation. Added to this, today they say what we see happening in Israel since 1948 when Israel was reborn as a nation in a single day (Isaiah 66:7-9), has nothing to do with God’s prophetic end-time purposes for Israel.
Replacement Theology teaches that apart from repentance, water baptism, the new birth and being incorporated into the Church, the Jewish people have no future, no hope, and no calling according to the plan and prophetic purposes of God for the nation.
Those in the Replacement Theology camp say that the promises, the covenants and blessings ascribed to Israel in the Old Testament scriptures have been taken away from the Jews, and now are given to the Church which has superseded them, and that the Jews are subject to the curses of the Law as a result of their rejection of the Messiah our Lord Jesus. Those who teach this doctrine have no revelation of the irrevocable covenants of God!
The basis for Replacement Theology
The main starting point of their ‘theology’ for this ‘doctrine’ is found in the prophet Jeremiah concerning God’s chastisement of Israel when they had backslidden spiritually.
(Jeremiah 3:6-8) “During the reign of King Josiah, the LORD said to me, “Have you seen what faithless Israel has done? She has gone up on every high hill and under every spreading tree and has committed adultery there. I thought that after she had done all this she would return to me but she did not, and her unfaithful sister Judah saw it. I gave faithless Israel her certificate of divorce and sent her away because of all her adulteries. Yet I saw that her unfaithful sister Judah had no fear; she also went out and committed adultery.”
During the latter days of the ministry of the Messiah our Lord Jesus He Himself spoke of a future very severe judgement that would come upon the nation of Israel.
(Matthew 21:43) “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.”
This happened in 70AD with the fall of Jerusalem to the Roman armies including the destruction of the Temple. Then in 132–136 AD you had the Bar Kokhba revolt, a major uprising by the Jews of Judea against the Roman Empire marking the final and most devastating of the Jewish–Roman wars.
The revolt was ultimately crushed by the Romans resulting in the near-depopulation of Judea through large-scale killings, mass enslavement, and the displacement of many Jews from the region. The land of Israel became a colony of Rome and renamed “Palestine” to eradicate the Jewish identity, the name itself taken from the word “Philistine.”
The Philistines that lived in Gaza in Old Testament times were the enemies of Israel and were not of Arab descent at all but a people from the Aegean Sea who were closely related to the ancient Greeks. They lived on the coast of what is now the Gaza Strip in Israel, but had disappeared by the 6th century BC.
Now the replacement theologians will further argue their case from what the apostle Paul wrote.
(Romans 2:28-29) “For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God.”
The History of Replacement Theology
Ignatius of Antioch (ca 50-117 AD); He taught that those who partake of the Passover are partakers with those who killed Jesus. Justin Martyr (100-106 AD); He claimed God’s covenant with Israel was no longer valid and that the Gentiles had replaced the Jews.
Irenaeus (ca 130-202 AD); He declared the Jews were disinherited from the grace of God. Tertullian (ca 155-230 AD); He blamed the Jews for the death of Jesus and argued they had been rejected by God. Origen (185-254 AD); He was responsible for much anti-Semitism, all of which was based on his assertion that the Jews were responsible for killing Jesus.
The Council of Nicea (325 AD in Anatolia); prohibited Christians from sharing a meal with a Jew, marrying a Jew, blessing a Jew or observing the Sabbath. They changed the celebration of the Resurrection from the Jewish Feast of First Fruits to Easter in an attempt to disassociate it from Jewish feasts.
The Council of Nicea stated, “For it is unbecoming beyond measure that on this holiest of festivals we should follow the customs of the Jews. Henceforth let us have nothing in common with this odious people…” It decided that “the Sunday a week after the Sunday after Passover would be the official date and that all celebrating on Passover would be considered anathema.” This is when the persecution started of those that celebrated Passover on 14 Nisan.
Eusebius (ca 275-339 AD); He taught that the promises of Scripture were meant for the Gentiles and the curses were meant for the Jews. He asserted that the Church was the “true Israel.” Hilary of Poitiers (AD 291-371) wrote; “Jews are a perverse people accursed by God forever.” Gregory of Nyssa (died AD 394), Bishop of Cappadocia wrote: “the Jews are a brood of vipers, haters of goodness…” Jerome (AD 347-407); describes the Jews as “serpents, wearing the image of Judas, their psalms and prayers are the braying of donkeys.”
Augustine (354-430 AD); He asserted that the Jews deserved death but were destined to wander the earth to witness the victory of the Church over the synagogue. He also taught that there will not be a literal millennium.
Added to all of this, during the Middle Ages, Passion plays abounded and they were used to cultivate hatred toward the Jewish people.
In 1478, Pope Sixtus IV granted the monarchs of Spain, Ferdinand and Isabella, the right to establish a special inquisition in Spain to deal with baptized Jews who were suspected of remaining faithful to Judaism. Thousands were burned at the stake by order of the Spanish Inquisition. In 1492, King Ferdinand decided that all Spanish Jews should be banned from Spain. It was feared that Jews were a danger to Christianity. Approximately 150,000 Jews were forced to leave Spain.
The results produced in the Church from Replacement Theology.
Replacement Theology produces arrogance concerning Israel’s duty and destiny. When the Church boasts its replacement of Israel it becomes “branches” without “roots.” Many Christians boast of being New Testament believers as we see in the Book of Acts onwards down to the present time and as such see no reason to study the Old Testament forgetting the fact or sidelining the reality that the only scriptures the first Century Body of Messiah had was the Old Testament (Covenant).
The real truth is that the New Testament (Covenant) is a commentary on the Old Testament. In fact Replacement Theology strips the Church of its Jewish roots and interprets the New Testament through the lens of western thinking, and not in the way a first century Jewish believer would interpret it.
Replacement Theology produces allegorizing literal prophecies concerning Israel. Once Replacement Theology has been established as a foundation doctrine in a Church, especially many in the reformed tradition, it tries to apply the promises made to Israel to the Church.
It turns all the prophetic scriptures dealing with a future Israel into mystical and allegorical predictions about the Church. In fact when you look at the myriad of passages in the Old Testament scriptures about the spiritual and national restoration to the Land of Israel in the Last Days they are literal. To try to spiritualize them and apply them to the Church is like trying to shave a wooden square peg with a pocket knife to make it fit into a perfectly round hole! Those who do this change the primary understanding of the plain text!
One example of Israel’s spiritual and national restoration that is clearly enunciated is found in Ezekiel Chapter 37. In verses 1-9 we see the nation restored nationally, the Jews are back in the Land of Israel which happened in 1948. In verses 37-10 we see the spiritual restoration of the Jewish people already back in the Land itself, a future event still to occur.
Then in verses 11-14 we have a further revelation of Jews from the nations coming home to Israel. Today Jews are coming home through making Aliyah which is the immigration of Jews from the diaspora to the geographical Land of Israel. Traditionally described as “the act of going up”, moving to the Land of Israel or “making Aliyah” is one of the most basic tenets of Zionism. The Jews coming home to Israel in the last days is affirmed in scripture!
After the Messiah our Lord Jesus has come back and inaugurated His messianic Kingdom on earth the Jews still living in every Gentile nation will come home to Israel. To this truth the Biblical prophets testify! Now in Ezekiel Chapter 37 from verses 15-28 we see the Messiah’s Millennial Kingdom established. The whole text of Ezekiel Chapter 37 in context refers to the complete spiritual and national restoration of Israel as a nation under the reign of the Messiah our Lord Jesus in the age to come after this present age is over.
Replacement Theology produces a deviation from sound Biblical exegesis. It produces historic errors like the doctrine of “British Israel” which teaches that the people of Western Europe, particularly those in Great Britain, are the direct lineal descendants of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. The ten tribes (the Northern Kingdom) were never lost! They were scattered but their Jewish identity remained in the nations into which they were exiled in 722BC by the Assyrians. It has been the same way with the exiles from Judah (the Southern Kingdom) when by and large they were exiled in 586 BC by the Babylonians.
In 70AD when the Jewish Temple was destroyed and Jerusalem sacked by the Romans more Jews were exiled. The final exile came after 136 AD when the Romans demolished Jerusalem after they had put down the Bar Kokhba revolt, a major uprising by the Jews of Judaea against the Roman Empire, marking the final and most devastating of the Jewish–Roman wars.
After almost 2,000 years of exile in 1948 Israel was reborn as a nation and since that time Jews have been coming home from every nation. Today even though Israel is fighting a war on seven fronts, Jews are coming home to Israel as prophesied in the scriptures.
To take God’s promises made to Israel and try to make them apply to the Church is to take away the plain meaning of the texts referring to Israel’s restoration at the end of this present age and from the Messianic kingdom in the age to come when the Messiah Himself our Lord Jesus will sit on David’s throne at Jerusalem and ruling the surviving nations with a rod (sceptre) of Iron!
Replacement Theology produces Amillennialism. This widespread doctrine within wider Christendom denies a literal Millennium of 1,000 years in the age to come after this age has come to an end. This is a classic misapplication of Biblical Eschatology. If there is “no literal Israel” in the future then there is no future need for a future Messianic kingdom. Augustine of Hippo taught this and it was passed on down to become one of the main tenants of reformed theology today which is also strongly Calvinistic and replacement in its view of Israel.
Concerning Israel, whether it is Arrogance, Allegorization, Aberration and Amillennialism it is all Anti-Semitic. Martin Luther was used by God to challenge the Roman Catholic Church of its unbiblical doctrines and practices, however, in the end he became an Anti-Semitic if ever there was one! In 1543 Martin Luther, the “pin up boy” of Reformed Theology, wrote a pamphlet entitled “On the Jews and Their Lies.” He said “they are “A miserable and accursed people”, “Stupid fools,” “Miserable, blind and senseless,” “Thieves and robbers,” “The great vermin of humanity,” and “Lazy rogues.”
Luther went on to write; “For such ruthless wrath of God is sufficient evidence that they (the Jewish people) assuredly have erred and gone astray. Even a child can comprehend this. For one dare not regard God as so cruel that he would punish his own people so long, so terrible, so unmercifully. Therefore, this work of wrath is proof that the Jews, surely rejected by God, are no longer his people, and neither is he any longer their God.”
In 1924 at a Christian gathering in Berlin, Hitler spoke to thousands and received a standing ovation when he made the following proclamation: “I believe that today I am acting in accordance with the will of Almighty God as I announce the most important work that Christians could undertake — and that is to be against the Jews and get rid of them once and for all.” Many Jewish people today believe that due to Martin Luther’s writing damming the Jews, that his tirade against them influenced Hitler’s hatred and genocide against the Jews.
Hitler was affiliated with the Lutheran Church which was the dominant Protestant church in Germany in the 1930s, and was an important part of German culture and history. The Nazi parades with their banners and flags reflected the Liturgical processions of Lutheranism. Like all other national organizations and symbols, the Nazi Party aimed to integrate German Christianity within the Third Reich. The rise of the Nazi Party and its co-optation of the church split the Lutheran community in two.
A Biblical Rebuttal to Replacement Theology
We only need to examine four of the unconditional covenants of God to find ample reason to question the Biblical soundness of the Replacement Theology doctrine. Let’s briefly look at these…
1. The Covenant concerning “the Seed”
After the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, God announced that the salvation of mankind would come through the “seed of the woman” (singular, not plural) (Genesis 3:15).
Later the revelation of that saving seed would be revealed through Abram, who later was renamed by God as “Abraham.” His name change connected him with the name of God. After this he was called the friend of God! (Isaiah 41:8) (2 Chronicles 20:7) (James 2:20-24). As far as God was concerned Abraham “was family!”
Literally, Isaiah 41:8 could be translated as “Abraham, who loved Me.” Abraham showed his love for God through his faith accompanied by obedience (Genesis 12:1, 4; 15:6). He was more than an acquaintance of God and more than a companion. He was indeed a friend of God!
In the Book of Galatians Rabbi the apostle Paul himself refers to this “seed” (singular) as the Messiah our Lord Jesus.
“Brothers, let me put this in human terms. Even a human covenant, once it is ratified, cannot be cancelled or amended. The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say, “and to seeds,” meaning many, but “and to your seed,” meaning One, who is Christ” (Messiah)(Galatians 3:15-16).
Let’s now look further at what God said to His friend Abram (Abraham)…
“Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who curses you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed”(Genesis 12:1-3).
Salvation would come through a Jew, not a Gentile as the Lord Jesus Himself said; “Salvation is from the Jews.” God‘s intention always was to spiritually graft Gentiles who came to saving faith in the Messiah into the Commonwealth of Israel (Amos 9:11-12) (Acts 15:13-18) (Romans 11:17-18) (Ephesians 2:11-22). Abraham is still the father of faith and the father of all who believe in Messiah and who embrace the same kind of faith he had in God (Romans 4:9-25).
2. The Covenant concerning the Land
When Abram (later renamed Abraham) arrived in the Promised Land, he heard from God again who spoke to him personally…
“The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward; for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants forever. I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can number the dust of the earth, then your descendants can also be numbered. Arise, walk about the land through its length and breadth; for I will give it to you”(Genesis 13: 13-17).
Later God confirmed this land Covenant with Abram (Abraham) by entering into a covenant of blood or one of strong friendship. When Abram asked the LORD, “Lord GOD, by what means shall I know that I shall inherit it?” God told Aram to “take Me a heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”
Abram then “divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another.” Because of the heat of the day Abram fell into a deep sleep. God then made His declaration of “an everlasting covenant” without Abram’s participation for God alone passed between the dismembered carcasses. The land was given to Abram and to his descendants forever! (Genesis 15:7-17).
Once this kind of blood covenant had been ratified by the shed blood of a sacrificial animal, the promises of that covenant would never be violated by the one who had initiated it. In the time of Abraham when this kind of covenant was made between two men and their respective families, no one ever thought of violating it. If they did there were dire consequences.
In Abraham’s case God was the one who took the initiative and He never breaks His covenants or goes back on His Word (Leviticus 26:42) (Psalm 105:8-11) (Psalm 111:5). When the Israelites were unfaithful God dealt with them and they had to experience the penalty for disobedience but He never reneged on His promises to them as a nation because of the Covenant He had made with Abraham concerning the land of Israel.
Later in Abraham’s life the LORD reaffirmed His covenant.
“When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before Me faithfully and be blameless. Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.” Abram fell facedown, and God said to Him, “As for me, this is My covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram, your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God”(Genesis 17:1-8).
When God passed between the divided carcasses, passing through the trench of blood Abram didn’t. How could sinful man enter into a Covenant with a sinless God? Well no man could, hence we see the scriptures teaching that those who walk with God are justified in His sight by faith and not by works (Romans 3:19-31) (Ephesians 2:8-10). Why then could the LORD enter into this blood covenant?
Well in Galatians we are told that a sinless man passed through the blood at the cross on the behalf of Abraham and his descendants sealing forever the salvation of all who believe by faith in the Messiah our Lord Jesus to save them. This was the New Covenant God made with the House of Israel and with the House of Judah (Jeremiah 31:31). The New Covenant was not made with the Church! Gentiles who believe are spiritually grafted into Israel and share in the blessings and promises made to Abraham (Romans 4:16-25).
That covenant God made with Abram was, in its context, for the Land of Israel as “an everlasting possession” for the Jewish people, however, in its broader application that “seed” (singular), the Messiah our Lord Jesus the Passover lamb of God, would provide salvation for all men both Jew and Gentile. The Messiah our Lord Jesus walked in that trench of blood on our behalf when He shed His own blood on the cross sealing forever the New Everlasting Covenant (Galatians 3:15-16).
During the time of the kings in Israel we read…
“Remember His covenant forever, the word that He commanded, for a thousand generations, the covenant that He made with Abraham, His sworn promise to Isaac, which He confirmed to Jacob as a statute, to Israel as an everlasting covenant, saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan, as your portion for an inheritance” (1 Chronicles 16:15-18).
3. The Covenant Concerning the Throne of David.
Most New Covenant Bible believers in Messiah recognise the significance of the connection between King David and the Messiah our Lord Jesus. As we read in the prophet Isaiah…
“For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of Hosts will accomplish this” (Isaiah 9:6-7).
As we also read in the Gospel of Luke what the angel Gabriel said to Mary concerning the child she would bear in her womb…
“Behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The LORD God will give Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever. His kingdom will never end!” (Luke 1:32-33).
4. The Covenant Concerning the Discipline of Israel.
Not all of the covenants God made with Israel are pleasant. King Solomon wrote; “Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him” (Proverbs 13:24).
When the LORD gave the demands of the covenant to Moses there were blessings and curses attached to it. The blessings were for obedience and the curses for disobedience. When you look at them in Leviticus Chapter 26 and in Deuteronomy Chapter 28 the curses far outweigh the blessings because sin and disobedience are very serious offences against God which result in punishment.
In Leviticus Chapter 26 Moses records six progressive punishments that God would carry out if the Israelites did not obey Him. It began with distress, then Drought, Destruction, Disease, Desolation, Debased mind, and ultimately Dispersion among the Gentile nations.
From the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC by the armies of Babylon until the reinstatement (rebirth) of the nation of Israel in 1948, the Jews have endured more than 2,500 years of discipline during which they were dispersed among the Gentile nations of the world.
As for the City of Jerusalem, it is a city that has been fought over sixteen times during its long and troubled history; it has been destroyed twice, besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times, and captured and recaptured 44 times.
At the end of this present age the last battle that will occur between the Messiah and Israel’s enemies will be fought over the City of Jerusalem (Zechariah 12:1-9; 14:1-6). At that time the Messiah’s feet will stand once again on the Mount of Olives and every Jew still alive will be saved! (Zechariah 12:10-13:1) (Romans 11:25-27). After the Messiah has returned and destroyed all opposition the Messianic Kingdom will commence with all of the surviving Gentile nations under His Rod (sceptre) of Iron (Zechariah 14:6-21) (Revelation 19:14-16).
Epilogue:
Is God finished with the Nation of Israel?
Has God then given up on the Jews as those in the Replacement Theology camp so confidently assert? Well Rabbi the apostle Paul answers this question emphatically!
“I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew…” (Romans 11:1-2a).
Through the prophet Jeremiah the LORD reaffirmed His covenant to Israel even when they were being prepared for defeat at the hands of the Babylonians which would bring about 2,500 years of dispersion.
“Thus says the LORD, Who gives the sun for light by day And the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar; The LORD of Hosts is His name: “If this fixed order departs From before Me,” declares the LORD, “Then the offspring of Israel also will cease From being a nation before Me forever.” Thus says the LORD, “If the heavens above can be measured And the foundations of the earth searched out below, Then I will also cast off all the offspring of Israel For all that they have done,” declares the LORD” (Jeremiah 31:35-37).
And again the prophet Jeremiah confirms the absolute certainty and surety of God’s covenants with Israel as a nation.
“Thus says the LORD, ‘If you can break My covenant for the day and My covenant for the night, so that day and night will not be at their appointed time, then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant so that he will not have a son to reign on his throne, and with the Levitical priests, My ministers. As the host of heaven cannot be counted and the sand of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the descendants of David My servant and the Levites who minister to Me’” (Jeremiah 33:20-22).
Rabbi the apostle Paul sums it up when speaking primarily to the Gentile New Covenant believers at Rome who had even at that time a form of replacement theology in embryo form. What was happening back then in the Body of Messiah at Rome in Paul’s time cannot be compared to what we have seen of Replacement Theology happening down through the history of wider Christendom and increasing today at an alarming rate within its global denominational and ecumenical structures. Before the Messiah our Lord Jesus comes back I am persuaded there will be a major split within wider Christendom over the status of Israel and Jerusalem and over the way it interprets the Word of God. The Bible is a Jewish Book, not a Gentile Book!
And so we read what Paul said…
“Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will banish ungodliness from Jacob”; “and this will be My covenant with them when I take away their sins.” As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” (Romans 11:25-29).
In closing, if God cannot be depended upon to keep His covenant promises, sealed in blood, to Israel, being and Abraham’s physical descendants through Isaac and Jacob, then how can He be depended upon to keep His covenant promises to the Body of Messiah, the faithful Church sealed in the blood of Messiah? Selah.
