Israel (2): The New Testament Perspective

(Rom 9: 6-8)

1. GIBC (28 Sep 2025).

1. Intro: The Missed Opportunity

1.1. Value of Addressing this Topic: I realize that not everybody is enthusiastic about this topic. I apologize if you feel this way. The chances are many people have not given much thought to the issues that I spoke of last Sunday (about Israel). That’s why I felt that I should speak more into this void among Christians on one of the most important issues of our time not only politically but one that has biblical relevance. That means Scripture gives us a great lens to make sense of what is happening in political Israel and not all opinion coming from Christian sources is sound. In fact, I’ve heard many views that are not just unsound but dangerous. I wish to correct misinformation. The Extremes: If you come from one end of the Christian spectrum, you will take the view that as God wills the return of the Jewish people to the Middle East, whatever the Zionists do has to be encouraged even though it means death and destruction on all those who get in their way. For today, that means the 65,000 deaths, countless injuries, and destruction of Gaza is viewed as collateral damage, and if 2 million Gazans have to be deported to Sudan, so be it!  The other end of the spectrum isn’t much better. They demand the death and destruction of political Israel and in the meantime, any violence against the Jewish people is deemed to be justified. Such dangerous thinking!

1.2. The Question: That’s why a sound biblical viewpoint is necessary. Do you think Jesus Christ, who told us to love our enemies and go the extra mile, will support either view? The Q: what is the place of covenant today and how does the Gospel of Jesus address it.

2. Consequences of Rejection

2.1. Jesus’s Laments: Last week, we ended with Luke’s record of Christ weeping over Jerusalem before he faces the Cross. Jesus makes it very clear that Israel’s rejection of him is a rejection of God and all His desires for them. This is consequential. Today, what I want to do is to look at the consequences of that rejection. This preach could mistakenly be viewed as anti- Semitic by those who stumble on it on You Tube and so there will be no recording of today’s preach. We’ll look at 3 chapters in Romans. These make sad reading. My guess is most people have not really understood them.

2.2. Context in Romans: The great theme in Romans is justification by faith. That appears in the first few chapters. In chap 7, he writes of the powerlessness of the law in dealing with the great problem of humanity: sin! And, why the law is so inadequate to deal with sin. The law is holy and good, and from God, but it is inadequate. It gives us guidance but it does not give us power. For the answer to sin, he writes in chap 8, about why the believer has to depend on the Holy Spirit who gives us the kind of power that raised Christ from the dead and that sets us free from sin. Paul ends with a great declaration of the love of Christ. He asks: Who can separate us from the love of Christ? It is Paul’s way of saying we are not under the law now but under love. This is the answer to problem of humanity and sin: the power of Christ! Realization of the inadequacy of law, the necessity of faith, and the Spirit’s indwelling in the believer give us new life!

2.3. The Next Section: chap 8 is a highwater mark in this writing and before he can continue communicating from what arises from it, namely transformation, which we see in chap 12 onwards, he allows a moment of pain namely chaps 9, 10 and 11, to be expressed and this pain comes from what he sees happening to his own people: the Israelites! He calls them kinsmen according to the flesh! He writes about them and very clearly tells his audience where they stand because of their unbelief. These 3 chapters shed light on God’s judgment.

3. The Old Covenant

3.1. Not All of Abraham’s Descendants are His Spiritual Children: A big qualification is now made to the promise to Abraham. It is not every Israelite who will be saved but only a remnant (9:27) and instead, many who will be called God’s people will be those who were not his people (9:25 quoting Hosea); the Gentles!  This passage very clearly shows that Yahweh’s plan to open the doors of salvation to the gentiles. Why? Because Israel did not pursue righteousness by means of faith (9:32). They rejected Christ (9:33).

3.2. Christ: does not differentiate between Gentile and Jew (10:12). The biological children of Abraham are paying the price for rejection (10:21). The difficult parts to read come from this disobedience. Except for the remnant, who have been spared, the rest were hardened. Like the Pharoah, “God gave them a sprit of stupor” (11:8) and so, he excludes them and instead, brings in the Gentiles. The unbelieving Jews are broken off (11:20). That means they are removed from covenant. The imagery given is of horticulture. The natural vine gets rejected and its branch broken off and instead, a wild vine gets grafted in to take the place of the old vine. Paul calls the grafted gentiles: “a wild olive shoot.” He also adds though that those that were cut off will one day be returned and grafted back (11:24). That means one day they who are out of the fold of being God’s people, will be brought back into the fold.  Imagery of breaking of the natural and being grafted back, imagery of a wild shoot being grafted in.

What this means is natural, biological Israel is not covenanting, believing Israel. So, who is the real Israel? We need to refer to Paul in Galatians:

**“**And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise” (Gal 3:29)

4. The New Covenant

4.1. The New and The Old: last Sunday, I spoke of the Old Covenant. The importance of Yahweh reaching across time and space and establishing relationship with Noah, Abram, Moses, and David. Those covenants can be lumped as one covenant and we’ll need to ask what happens to them with the advent of the New Covenant? In fact, Jeremiah says that the day will come when Yahweh will establish a New Covenant with Israel and it is about a covenant whose laws will be in the hearts of the people (Jer 31:31+). So, what the place of the Old Covenant when a new one is established?

4.2. Christ and the New: Christ is at the center of the New Covenant, which is the one that you and I belong to. Sealed with his blood. What happens to the Old Covenant? In Heb 8:12, the writer tells us the Old becomes obsolete. Why? Because: 1. The Davidic Covenant is fulfilled in Christ. 2. The Mosaic Covenant is fulfilled in Christ. 3. The Abrahamic Covenant is in 2 parts: the part about land is expanded because the children of Abraham include all those in Christ (Gal 3: 29). We see partial fulfilment of the land by the formation of the state of Israel but that is the first part. The Q of what does Christ have to do with it arises here. Why has the ancient land been given to the biological children and what does that have to do with Christ? There is an unfulfilled part and that is one day, Jerusalem will be open to all the spiritual children of Abraham, both Jew and Gentile, but it will be the Jew who has to be awakened spiritually!

4.3. The Fulness of the Gentiles: Towards the end of Romans 11 in 11:25, Paul gives us a great prophetic declaration:

“Á partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles has come in. And in this way, all Israel will be saved.”  **        (Rom 11:25-26)