Warning to Christians who think the Jews have been replaced

While many Christians, particularly evangelicals, have remained Israel’s most faithful and ardent supporters, a growing number of Christians have come out, in recent days, espousing the false doctrinal position of Replacement Theology, contending that Christians have inherited all of the Biblical promises God specifically proclaimed to the Jewish people.

The notion, which began as early as the 2nd century C.E., believes Jews were excluded from their full inheritance. Rooted in antisemitism, the mistaken claim asserts that “The Church,” a/k/a non-Jews are now the rightful heirs of the land promised to the Jewish people as well as every other blessing intended for the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Recently, this took on an even greater meaning after a conversation with a friend who spoke about a person of deep faith she knew, who suddenly turned bitterly against Israel, convinced that Jews were not worthy of God’s mercy.

That person went on to tell her that after doing a deep dive into the history of the Jewish people, their conclusion was that Jews were too evil to be deserving of all that was divinely promised to them.

Sadly, our history as a collective people, includes one which is filled with unfaithfulness, seeking after other gods and, in general, not living up to our calling as a “light to the nations.”

Having said that, though, no one has done a deeper dive into the history of the Jewish people than God, Himself. In fact, He’s seen and heard the worst of who we are, but, knowing all that, has chosen never to abandon us anyway. A quick read of Ezekiel 36 will incontrovertibly confirm this.

Here’s what God has to say about it: “When the house of Israel was living in their own land, they defiled it by their ways and their deeds. Therefore, I poured out My wrath on them…because they had defiled it with their idols. Also, I scattered them among the nations and they were dispersed throughout the lands.” (vs. 17-19)

Sounds as if God has a pretty good idea of who we were. But that’s far from the end of the story. In the same chapter, He goes on to say: “For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land…I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes. You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers, so you will be My people, and I will be your God.”  (vs. 24-28)

There is no other possible interpretation within these scriptures than to acknowledge that the people being spoken of are the Jews, the same ones who sinned, were dispersed and regathered. 

There is also no doubt that, despite all of our wanderings and infidelity, the Almighty still intends to continue His plan through us and not replace us with another people.

That is because He made an unbreakable and eternal covenant with the Jewish nation. “The covenant which He made with Abraham, and His oath to Isaac.  He confirmed to Jacob for a statute, to Israel as an everlasting covenant.” Psalm 105:10

Unlike the human impulse to angrily walk off and abandon the one who has been a disappointment, God’s eternal commitment is not conditioned upon our worthiness.  Because if that were true, no one would inherit anything!

What stands out most, in all of this, is that any Christian who has fallen for the deception that the Jews could ever be replaced, has, in their own way, chosen to act as if they know better than God. 

By coming to the erroneous conclusion that God is done with the Jewish people, because they are just too wicked and too lost to ever be redeemed, means, in essence, that they have written their own script, straying from the original one already penned.

Because if God, Almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth has found a reason to forgive, restore and walk beside the Jewish nation, who dares to know better or see more clearly than He?

That is why the warning to anyone who attempts to overrule God’s judgment is one which carries grave consequences. In fact, it is how this same chapter of Ezekiel 36 starts out.

God begins with a prophecy to Israel, saying that the enemy has spoken out against them, claiming that what belongs to them (Israel) has actually become their (the enemy’s) possession. If that’s not a direct reference to the lie of Replacement Theology, what is?

This despicable supposition enrages God who then says, “Surely, in the fire of My jealousy I have spoken against the rest of the nations who appropriated My land for themselves as a possession.” (vs. 5)

At that point, the tables are turned, as God assures Israel that the nations will be the ones to suffer the insults that they hurled against Israel. The reason is simple and heartfelt.  God says to Israel, “I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you will be cultivated and sown.” (vs. 9)

So dedicated to His people, God says, “I will not let you hear insults from the nations anymore, nor will you bear disgrace from the peoples any longer.” (vs. 15)

If anyone thinks that this warning, to the nations, is no longer in effect, how do they explain the 100% accuracy of the prophetic return of the Jewish people to their own land as mentioned in this same chapter? Is it coincidental?

And if it is, do we throw out the rest of the scriptures, rendering them no longer applicable to our modern society? While most Christians would likely say their faith is rooted in the Bible, why do a number of them seem so anxious to change what was so clearly written?

The hijacking of God’s Word is a serious infraction, because it supposes to correct the Almighty by replacing His intentions with someone else’s. Given the fact that nothing is hidden from Him, including the failings of His own people, why would anyone think that their revelation is a more correct one?

May the words, penned by God, Himself, stand as a stark warning to those who would dare to assume His position. That was already tried by Satan, and it didn’t work out too well for him.