This blog entry will be a friendly and brief response to a dear friend of mine who currently holds to the view that the promises made to Abraham (Genesis 12: 2-3, 15:5, and 17) and to Israel (Exodus 19:5, Deuteronomy, and the Prophets) have yet to be fulfilled by Christ.
Here is her entry:
I absolutely believe the land, and Israel as a people, are still relevant. God’s covenantal promise to Abraham in Genesis 12 promised land, descendants becoming a great nation and the blessing of the nations through the people who would become known as Israel. We have not seen the fulfillment of these three promises simultaneously, if at all. I can’t suspend my belief in God’s faithfulness to His promises here and believe that He is done with Israel, as a land or a people, before the fullness of all three of these promises of the Abrahamic covenant are fulfilled.
Beyond that, there are too many prophetic promises pointing to a literal and physical New Jerusalem descending on Mount Zion. I don’t believe there is biblical support for a “new Israel”, with the notion that we as the Church have replaced her. Why would Jesus have told the Pharisees in Matthew 23, “You won’t see me again until you say, ‘blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord’,” unless they/Israel would one day proclaim Him as Messiah? This suggests to me that Israel as a people are still important.
Similarly, in Acts 1 - after spending 40 days with a resurrected Jesus - the disciples’ burning question is, “are you going to restore the Kingdom now?” This is a Jewish King, with Jewish followers, and an Old Testament understanding of the Kingdom. I just have a hard time rectifying that Israel is finished and the Church has replaced her, or Jesus would have explained that to them. Whatever He did talk to them about in those 40 days fueled their understanding that Israel would be restored, which fueled their writings in the later epistles. Romans 9-11 shows Paul’s anguish over his Jewish brothers and sisters, and his understanding of Jesus being central to both the destiny of the Gentile nations and to Israel.
It’s neat and easy to believe we, as the Church, have fulfilled the Abrahamic covenantal promises. But I just don’t see support for that biblically.
JESUS IS THE FULFILLMENT OF ALL PROMISES MADE TO ABRAHAM, ISRAEL, AND DAVID
First, the promises made to Abraham included that he would become the father of a great nation (Genesis 12:2), that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars (Genesis 15:5), and that through him all nations would be blessed (Genesis 12:3). The Promises made to Israel included that they would be God’s chosen people (Exodus 19:5), that they would possess the land of Canaan (Genesis 17:8), and additionally, that a descendent of David would rule on the throne forever (2 Samuel 7:16).
In Galatians 3:16-17, Paul explains that the promise that “through Abraham, all nations would be blessed” is ultimately fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the true Israel, the faithful son who perfectly fulfilled Israel’s mission to be a light to the nations (Matthew 2:15, Isaiah 49:6). Additionally, Jesus is the true King from the line of David (2 Samuel 7:16), as affirmed by the angel Gabriel in Luke 1:32-33. Jesus, through his death and resurrection, would go on to open the way for the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham that all nations would be blessed through him, as the Gospel was preached to people of all nations (Galatians 3:8, Matthew 28:19-20). We are also told that all nations are represented at Pentecost, and the Gospel is immediately shared (Acts 3:5-11). Jesus also promised to return and establish His kingdom on earth, in which the promises made to Israel will be fully realized (Acts 1:11, Revelation 21:1-4). Jesus certainly fulfills this with the inbreaking of his kingdom (the Church age) and the destroying of the old world (old heavens and earth) from Genesis 1 through the end of the Judaic Aeon with the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70.
JESUS IS THE NEW ISRAEL
1. Jesus fulfills the role of Israel: In the Old Testament, Israel as a nation was chosen by God to be a light to the nations and to bear witness to His saving power. Jesus, as the Messiah, fulfills this role perfectly by bringing salvation to Israel and all nations.
2. Jesus embodies the story of Israel: The history of Israel is marked by a series of exiles and returns. Jesus, too, experienced exile (in Egypt as a child) and return (to Nazareth), but His ultimate exile was His death, and His ultimate return was His resurrection.
3. Jesus' ministry mirrors Israel's journey: Israel wandered in the wilderness for 40 years before entering the Promised Land. Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness before beginning His ministry. Israel was tested in the wilderness and failed, but Jesus was tested and triumphed over temptation.
4. Jesus is the true vine: In John 15, Jesus declares He is the true vine and His followers are the branches. This image recalls Israel as a vineyard (Isaiah 5:1-7) and suggests that Jesus fulfills Israel's calling.
5. Jesus embodies the Law and the Prophets: Jesus himself said in Matthew 5:17 that he did not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets but to fulfill them. This suggests that Jesus embodies the Law and the Prophets, which were central to Israel's identity.
JESUS’ DEPARTURE (MATTHEW 23)
I believe there is a possible chiastic structure to Jesus’ departure:
(a)23:39 For I say to you, in no way will you see Me again until you say, “Blessed is the one coming in the Lord’s name.”
(b)24:1 And going forth, Jesus went away from the temple.
(c)And His disciples came to point out to Him the buildings of the temple.
(c)24:2 And/but Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things?
(b)Amen I say to you, not at all shall be left here stone upon stone that shall not be thrown down.”
(a)24:3 And/but as He was sitting on the Mount of Olives (which is higher than Zion, which the city was built on, and Moriah which the Temple was built on), the disciples came to Him apart saying, “tell us when these things will be, and what is the sign of Your manifestation, and of the consummation of the age.
You’ll note the connection between a & a (the seeing of Jesus and of His appearing), b & b (Jesus leaving the temple and stating it will be torn down- desolation), and c & c (disciples ask Jesus to look at the temple, then Jesus asking them to look at it.)
*Below is commentary from James B. Jordan regarding Matthew 23*
“When Jesus entered Jerusalem in Matthew 21:9, the people shouted, “Blessed is the One coming in the Lord’s name,” and they saw Jesus daily in the temple until they had rejected Him. Now, leaving the temple and the city, Jesus states that they will not see Him again until they reaffirm what they said when He first arrived.
It is clear that “The One Coming in Yahweh’s Name” is the Messiah. The quotation is from Psalm 118:26. This same Person has been identified as “Yahweh’s Right Hand” (vv. 15-16) and as the ‘Chief Cornerstone” (vv. 22). Jerusalem will not see Jesus again until they again affirm that he is the promised Messiah. Their temple will not stand unless Jesus is the Chief Cornerstone.
This “seeing” will not, however, be a seeing with the eye. As in English, “seeing” mean “discerning.” It can mean also mean “take care,” as in Matthew 24:4, “See that no one misleads you.” There can also be the idea of presence. To see someone is to be present with him, even if you don’t see him visually. As we shall see below, when the disciples ask Jesus about His “appearing,” the same kind of mental and relational sight is meant.
Jesus’ departure from the temple fulfills the numerous departures of Yahweh from the sanctuary in the preceding history. In Exodus 32-34, after the golden calf incident, Yahweh pitched His tent away from the people and did not return to their midst until the tabernacle had been set up. In 1 Samuel 1-4, Yahweh departed from the sanctuary, went into Philistia, and allowed the sanctuary to be taken apart; the Ark and the Altar were not put back together until the building of Solomon’s temple. In Ezekiel 8-11, Yahweh is seen leaving the temple in Jerusalem and going with the exiles to Babylon; shortly thereafter the temple is destroyed.
In a parallel way, Jesus’ departure from the temple is the departure of the righteous from the wicked city. In Matthew 10:14-15, Jesus had told the disciples to kick the dust off their feet as they leave a city that rejects the gospel. He compared such a city to Sodom. Only after Lot and his family left Sodom was Sodom destroyed. After the Israelites left Egypt, we find the Amalekites moving in to destroy it, and Egypt does not figure in Biblical history for several centuries thereafter. Jesus and His disciples are God’s faithful, who are leaving behind the city of destruction. In Matthew 24:15-20, Jesus informs the disciples that this sequence of events will be repeated and that they are to leave Sodom-Jerusalem when they see the “abomination of desolation.” (*On Jerusalem as Sodom and Egypt, see Revelation 11:8) The Lord is with His people. When they leave, He leaves, whether in the days of Ezekiel or in the days of the Great Tribulation.
The disciples followed Jesus and caught up with Him. They knew that He had pronounced doom upon the temple, but Herod’s temple was so massive and magnificent that they had a hard time believing it could really happen. Jesus assures them that it will.”
Jordan, JB. (2022). Matthew 23-25 A Literary, Historical, and Theological Commentary (p. 77-78). American Vision.
REGARDING ACTS 1
The confusion here lies with understanding when the Kingdom will be inaugurated, which doesn’t happen until Pentecost. Christ in Acts 1 will ascend to get the Kingdom from the Father which isn’t complete until the fall of Jerusalem AD 70 (AD 30 to AD 70 marks 40 years, keeping with the Exodus typology). We are mistaken to think that the Day of the Lord is only marked by redemption (at the cross), but as it is throughout the Old Testament, the Day of the Lord is always marked by redemption and vengeance, as indicated by Revelation. The events of AD 30-AD 70 are not the Parousia (the second coming) of Jesus. Matthew Henry, in his commentary, illuminates Acts 1:6-11
“(1.) Their expectation of the thing itself. They thought Christ would restore the kingdom to Israel, that is, that he would make the nation of the Jews as great and considerable among the nations as it was in the days of David and Solomon, of Asa and Jehoshaphat; that, as Shiloh, he would restore the scepter to Judah, and the lawgiver; whereas Christ came to set up his own kingdom, and that a kingdom of heaven, not to restore the kingdom to Israel, an earthly kingdom. See here, [1.] How apt even good men are to place the happiness of the church too much in external pomp and power; as if Israel could not be glorious unless the kingdom were restored to it, nor Christ’s disciples honored unless they were peers of the realm; whereas we are told to expect the cross in this world, and to wait for the kingdom in the other world. [2.] How apt we are to retain what we have imbibed, and how hard it is to get over the prejudices of education. The disciples, having sucked in this notion with their milk that the Messiah was to be a temporal prince, were long before they could be brought to have any idea of his kingdom as spiritual. [3.] How naturally we are biased in favor of our own people. They thought God would have no kingdom in the world unless it were restored to Israel; whereas the kingdoms of this world were to become his, in whom he would be glorified, whether Israel should sink or swim. [4.] How apt we are to misunderstand scripture—to understand that literally which is spoken figuratively, and to expound scripture by our schemes, whereas we ought to form our schemes by the scriptures. But, when the Spirit shall be poured out from on high, our mistakes will be rectified, as the apostles’ soon after were.[1]’
[1] Henry, M. (1994). Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible: complete and unabridged in one volume (p. 2063). Peabody: Hendrickson.
OTHER SOURCES
A few examples from the many expositors who, although there may be differences in emphasis and interpretation, there is an overall agreement among Christian thinkers that Jesus is the true and ultimate fulfillment of God’s promises to his people.
John Calvin wrote in his Institutes of Christian Religion that Jesus is the true and ultimate fulfillment of the promises made to Abraham, as He is the seed through whom all nations are blessed and the mediator of the new covenant.
Charles Spurgeon preached many sermons on Jesus as the fulfillment of the promises made to Israel. He believed that Jesus is the true Israel who perfectly fulfilled God’s plan for His chosen people and that God’s promises to Israel were fulfilled through Him.
John Piper, whom I’m not the biggest fan of, has written extensively on Jesus as the fulfillment of Old Testament promises. Piper argues that Jesus is the true and ultimate fulfillment of God’s promises to Abraham and Israel and that through Him, all of God’s promises are “Yes” and “Amen” (2 Corinthians 1:20).
N.T. Wright has also written extensively on this topic. Wright argues that Jesus is the true Israel who perfectly embodies Israel’s calling to be a light to the nations and that God’s promises to Israel were fulfilled through His death and resurrection.
In summary, I agree with the many orthodox commentators and expositors regarding the kingdom of God that Jesus fulfills the promises made to Abraham and Israel and that through Christ, the new Israel, all nations can receive the blessing of salvation. That salvation is no longer restricted to a specific geography. We who are in Christ are the New Priesthood.