Who are the "Israel of God?" (Introduction)

By Hazel Holland

With so much at stake these days with the “nation” of Israel being considered by many in the church to play a vital role in God’s prophetic timetable for the end times, let’s examine the Scriptures in order to find out if the hands on God's time-clock point to the modern state of Israel, or to God’s Son, Jesus Christ. Is it biblically correct to believe that God's covenant which He made with ancient Israel still applies to the “nation” of Israel today? Does God still consider the literal Jews His “chosen people” and regard them as His “treasured possession”—the “apple of His eye” (Deuteronomy 7:6; 26:18; Psalm 17:8).

In order to find answers to our questions we will study God’s Word in order to learn who “Israel” originally was, for what purpose God chose “Israel”, and if God’s covenant to “Israel” still applies today. To further help us in our study we will also look at two expressions that Paul frequently uses, “Israel of Promise” and “Israel after the flesh”. We will find out who the “Israel” is whom Paul is addressing and referring to in both of these phrases, and how he applied these terms to the people who made up the nation of Israel in his day.

Hopefully, as a result of our study we will be able to appropriate the spiritual truths we have gleaned from God’s Word so that we will see how to relate them, not only to the present “nation” of Israel today, but also to ourselves. Thus, we will come to understand who the people were that made up the “Israel of God” in Paul’s day, and who they are today.

Moses “Unveiled”

I believe that the main reason there is so much confusion in the church today about this subject is because we fail to let the New Testament interpret the Old. Since God has brought greater clarity to us through His Word as to how we are to interpret the Old Testament Scriptures, let’s remember to depend on the Holy Spirit to help us interpret and even reinterpret His Word in the light of God’s final revelation in His Son, Jesus Christ. When we allow the inspired authors of the New Testament to be our starting point for interpreting Old Testament passages, then we will truly be allowing Scripture to interpret Scripture. The New Testament must always interpret the Old, never the other way around.

After Jesus Christ died on the cross for all peoples on planet earth, God poured out His Spirit at Pentecost, and the old covenant veil of Moses was removed from the apostle’s eyes. The apostles who were witnesses of Christ’s life, death and resurrection only began to understand the meaning of His mission after the Holy Spirit fell upon them.

Prior to Pentecost they could not understand what was behind that veil unless they received a special revelation from God, or a specific teaching from Jesus. For instance, Peter needed a revelation from the Father to recognize Jesus as the Messiah. They had to repeatedly ask Jesus, “Explain to us…” because their understanding of the Scriptures was based upon the teachings and traditions they had received from the Scribes and Pharisees.

However, after Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was poured out upon all believers, the apostles understood the mysteries of God in the Scriptures, and were explaining them with such confidence that even the Scribes and Pharisees marveled at their wisdom, knowing that they were uneducated and untrained men. Before the cross they had been hoping (like most Jews) that Jesus, their Messiah, would deliver them from the Romans and set up a literal earthly kingdom. But after Pentecost, the Holy Spirit transformed their thinking in how they should interpret and understand the Old Testament types and shadows.

That is why everywhere in the New Testament the gospel writers announce that all the promises made by the prophets, and all the shadows of the Old Testament law have been fulfilled in Christ. They saw that Jesus was in reality the new Adam, the new Moses, the new Israel, the new Temple, the new King, and that His kingdom was not of this world. By not only fulfilling the law, but also the prophets, Jesus came to transform Israel’s hope and understanding of what the prophets had only seen in part.

However, when we go back and read the Old Testament prophecies we often fail to realize that the prophets were using language and imagery of the Palestinian culture to try and describe the salvation event. So they used phrases such as “the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose”, and “water shall break forth in wilderness” and “sorrow and sighing will flee away” to describe the mighty act of God in Christ, because it was utterly beyond the limits of their prophetic expression. So if we try to interpret the Old Testament prophecies literally according to the letter of their Palestinian language and tradition, we do great injustice to God’s Word. We end up trying to squeeze the awesome act of God in Christ into a narrow Judaistic framework.

Mystery Revealed

Unfortunately, instead of interpreting the Old Testament through the lens of the New, we often tend to do just the opposite. However, the Old Testament cannot be fully understood without the help of the New, because the Old Testament contains mysteries and truths that were not fully revealed, but shrouded in darkness, waiting for the flood of light that would be shed upon them by the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. What was a mystery before, veiled in types and shadows, now became clear to the New testament apostles and prophets as the Holy Spirit revealed to them how God’s final word, Jesus Christ, fulfilled the law and the prophets. This is confirmed by the following passages of Scripture.

“Then He turned to His disciples and said privately, ‘Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see; for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it’” (Luke 10:23-24).

“…according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began but now made manifest…” (Romans 16:25-26).

“Surely you have heard about the administration of God's grace that was given to me for you, that is… the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God's holy apostles and prophets. This mystery… is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus. I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God's grace… this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known…” (Ephesians 3:1-11).

As we begin our study of who “Israel” originally was, and for what purpose God chose her, let’s keep this biblical principle in mind and always let the New Testament interpret the Old. I pray that the “veiled” Scriptures that have brought so much confusion to so many in the church will become “unveiled” in Jesus Christ so that we will understand, not only who the people were that made up the “Israel of God” in Paul’s day, but who they are today.

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