The Abrahamic Covenant is Not Based on Israel’s Obedience!

The Abrahamic Covenant is Not Based on Israel’s Obedience

Dr. Jeffrey Johnson is a humanitarian, author, and scholar on the Jewish roots of Christianity, the Middle East, and Bible Prophecy. As the founder of Israel Today Ministries, he has delivered over 253,000 meals and additional resources to the people of Israel. He was a pastor for over 17 years and received his master’s degree from Moody Bible Institute and his Doctorate from Louisiana Baptist University. For more information visit https://israeltodayministries.org/.

 

With the war between Israel and Iran ongoing, there is a lot of talk —even in the mainstream media —about how Christians differ on their views of Israel.  Many churches now teach “supersessionism” — the belief that the New Testament covenant supersedes the Mosaic covenant of the Hebrew Bible, and that the Christian church has displaced Israel as God’s chosen people.  Radical forms of supersessionism are manifested in militant antisemitism, stating that God is done with the Jew, and Israel is irrelevant.

A “softer” expression of supersessionism is commonly called “replacement theology,” meaning, that Israel has been “replaced” by the church.  Whereas, the church is now the recipient of all the promises, covenants, given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all their descendants. Replacement Theology also diminishes the prophetic biblical significance of the restoration of the State of Israel in 1948, after 2400 years of Jewish people being dispersed throughout the nations.

Christians need to brush up on their history. For the first-three centuries, the Christian church acknowledged and embraced her Jewish birth, and had relatively normal camaraderie, and respect, between Jewish and non-Jewish believers, until the Council of Nicaea (325 A.D.).  During the council, a magnificent church creed was established, the Nicene Creed. However, there were leaders at the council who were influenced by some of the earlier church writers, such as Ignatius of Antioch, Justin Martyr, and Marcion.  During the council, a decision was made, and the “church” formally severed the celebration of the resurrection from the celebration of Passover.

Unfortunately, this began an avalanche of hatred, and adversarial attitude toward the Jew for 1,600 years — from Luther’s 65,000-word anti-Semitic treatise “On the Jews and Their Lies” written in 1543, to Hitler’s Holocaust in the 20th century, who was partially influenced by Luther’s writings.

The strains of a deeper dynamic are at work, a historical cancer that may be traced to Marcion in the second century. Following the New Testament era, one of the first heresies that the church faced was propounded by Marcion, a wealthy ship owner in Turkey who came to Rome in AD 138. He began to argue that the Old Testament was inferior to the New and had no part of authoritative revelation. He fought to have it removed from the canon. To some degree, Marcion appears to have been influenced by the dualistic teachings of Gnosticism and Platonism. Marcion’s goal was to rid Christianity of every trace of Judaism. He became known as the archenemy of the “Jew God” and eventually was excommunicated as stated by Marvin Wilson in his book, “Our Father Abraham.”

Unfortunately, Marcion’s influence is still felt today almost 2,000 years later. In our concerted effort to be New Testament believers, we have too often unconsciously minimized the place and importance of the Old Testament and historic Hebrew roots.

Today, “Neo-Marcionism” is a vanguard in promulgating the false teaching that Israel has been permanently cast aside and has no theological significance in today’s world. Unfortunately, there are popular movements within protestant denominations that embrace this point of view. The fruit of this teaching is found in the deprecation of the reading of the Old Testament among Christians and the emphasis of Hellenistic interpretation of the Scripture from the pulpit. Yes, Christianity was cradled in a Hellenistic culture; however, the religion from which it came was Hebraic. Therefore, looking to the Hebrew construct is where one begins to understand the Christian faith and the faith of Jesus, not the Hellenistic construct.

Many Christian churches have been led to believe the Old Testament has no relevance today. And yet, when we read in the New Testament about the significance of the Word, the writers were referring to the Old Testament, since the New Testament was being written and would not be canonized or ratified until the third Council of Carthage (AD 397).

You will not find within Jesus’ teaching a church that is severed from the seed of Abraham. He never envisioned a body of followers that deprecated the Jewish roots. Jesus and his first followers thought and spoke within a Jewish framework. “The synoptic Gospels contain no evidence that Jesus visualized a Church which would grow separate from God’s chosen people of Israel,” according to G.A.F. Knight, A Biblical Approach to the Doctrine of the Trinity.

It would be good for us to remember that it was through Abraham’s seed that the Messiah came forth. And that the world would not know about God and His Salvation through His Son, if it were not for the Jewish messengers who took the gospel to the nations.  Jesus said it this way: “Salvation (Heb. Y’shua) is from the Jews” (John 4:22).

We need to remember that not only is Jesus Jewish, but Christianity is Jewish.

Ron Moseley, in his book “Yeshua, A Guide to the Real Jesus and the Original Church,” stated: “Contrary to what some believe, the first fifteen bishops of the original Church at Jerusalem were Jewish.”

James, Jesus’s half-brother, was the first pastor at the Jerusalem church. Eusebius, the first church historian, records for us in his work, “Ecclesiastical History, Book IV, chapter V,” that the first 15 Bishops of the original church were Jewish. And in fact, according to Mosely, evidence shows that all 15 were relatives of Jesus and chosen because of their godly credibility.

The Abrahamic covenant states we will be blessed if we bless Israel. The land promised to Israel is found in Genesis 15:18 and Ezekiel 48:1-29.  According to these scriptures, the land given to Abraham from God extends from the River of Egypt to the Great River Euphrates, from Hamath, near Damascus, to Kadesh in the south. The inheritance of the land belongs to the Jews.

So, when will this take place?  The fact the land was given to the Jews by God, and that they would be scattered throughout the world until the last days and then return to the land is found throughout Scripture.  We learn that the return will be progressive (Ezekiel 37) and will culminate when Messiah comes and establishes His kingdom.

This land grant is part of the Abrahamic Covenant. God promised Abraham many things, including, his name would be great (Genesis 12:2); he would have many children (Genesis 13:16); he would be the father of many nations (Genesis 17:4,5); and promises Abraham a nation called Israel with geographical boundaries (Genesis 12:7; 13:14,15; 15:18 – 21). And that all the families of the earth will be blessed by his lineage (Genesis 12:3; 22:18) speaking of the Messiah.

Abraham asked, “How shall I know?” (Genesis 15:8).  God said to him,
“Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, goat, ram, turtledove, and pigeon, cut them in two and place them opposite each other.” God told him about his future.  Then in the evening, God passed through the halves of the animals, thus making the Covenant unconditional.  Only God passed through the halves of the animals making the Covenant based on God and His faithfulness alone.  God gave Abraham proof, assuring him that God would keep His word.  The total focus of the Covenant was the faithfulness of God to keep His word (Genesis 15:9 – 21).  This Covenant is timeless —completely dependent upon God. It is not based upon Israel’s obedience.

The Abrahamic Covenant has never changed. The church in the 21st century would do itself a disservice not to acknowledge its Jewish beginnings, or to ignore the Jewish Jesus and the cultural mores that shaped His teachings.  The Christian church must never forget the womb and cradle from which it came.

Shalom and Blessings,

Dr. Jeff