biblical israel – The Christian Exile

Read the previous parts of this series here:
The Holy Land, Part 1: What Does it Really Mean to be Holy?
The Holy Land, Part 2: Who or What is Israel?
The Holy Land, Part 3: The Spiritual Significance of the Land

The Return to the Promised Land

The Old Testament is filled with stories of Israel’s repeated unfaithfulness. Time and time again, the people of Israel abandoned his ways in favor of idolatry and the adoption of the corrupt practices of the surrounding nations. Eventually, their continual rebellion led to judgment: exile from the very land God had promised to them.

First, the ten northern tribes of Israel were conquered by the Assyrian Empire and were scattered. Later, the southern kingdom – Judah and Benjamin – fell to Babylon, and its people were also taken into captivity.

But exile was not the end of the story – neither for Israel nor for the promised land. During the Babylonian captivity, God sent prophets to speak messages of hope. On multiple occasions, they foretold a return to the land. But the return to the land would be different. God had plans to do something new.

For example, consider the prophecy found in Ezekiel 47:22-23. God commanded that when the people returned to the land, the sojourners living among them would receive an inheritance in the land alongside the Israelites. Sojourners were non-Israelites, or foreigners, living in the land of Israel.

You shall allot [the land] as an inheritance for yourselves and for the sojourners who reside among you and have children among you. They shall be to you as native-born children of Israel. With you they shall be allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel. In whatever tribe the sojourner resides, there you shall assign him his inheritance, declares the LORD GOD.

Think for a moment about how significant this is. God Himself declared that when the exile was over, foreigners would receive an inheritance alongside the Israelites. Once again we see that genetics and genealogy have nothing to do with God’s definition of Israel. The prophet Ezekiel anticipated that God was preparing the way for something far greater than a merely ethnic nation. He was showing that being Israel was never primarily about bloodline – it was about being part of God’s chosen family, however God ultimately decided to define that family.

The Vine Metaphor

Throughout the Old Testament, Israel is described as a vine planted in God’s land. The imagery is used repeatedly, and provides us with a vivid and powerful way to picture God’s purposes for His people.

For example, the psalmist in exile cried out, remembering how God had brought a vine out of Egypt and planted it in the land.

You brought a vine out of Egypt;
You drove out the nations and planted it.
You cleared the ground for it;
It took deep root and filled the land.
Psalm 80:8-9

Similarly, Hosea mourned, describing Israel as a vine offering its own fruit on altars to other gods.

Israel is a luxuriant vine
that yields its fruit.
The more his fruit increased,
the more altars he built;
as his country improved,
he improved his pillars.
Hosea 10:1

Isaiah used the metaphor to condemn Israel’s injustice, idolatry, and violence.

For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts
is the house of Israel,
and the men of Judah
are his pleasant planting
and he looked for justice,
but behold, bloodshed;
for righteousness,
but behold, an outcry!
Isaiah 5:7

Together with numerous other similar passages (Isaiah 27:2-6; Ezekiel 15:1-8; 17:1-10; 19:10-14; Jeremiah 2:21; 5:10; 12:11) these images all paint a vivid picture. The land is the vineyard, and the people of Israel are the vines. God planted Israel in His land, but the vine went wild. The vineyard was filled with bad fruit.

Jesus, building on this deeply rooted Old Testament imagery, used the vineyard metaphor to explain His own mission and identity.

I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does not bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.
John 15:1-6

With this statement, Jesus reveals the true significance of the vineyard metaphor. He wasn’t redefining it – He was fulfilling it. God’s vineyard, that is, God’s “Holy Land” now has only one true vine: Jesus, the true and faithful Israel. And all who wish to be a part of God’s vineyard must now be branches in Him. Anyone not connected to Him is like a dead branch, destined for the fire. Jesus is now the only way to be connected to God’s people.

Paul and the Definition of Israel

Paul builds on this idea in Romans 11:19-21 explaining that:

Some natural branches (unbelieving Jews) were broken off
Wild branches (believing Gentiles) were grafted in.
The root (God’s covenant and promises) remains

According to Paul, the key question that identifies whether one is in God’s vine is not ancestry, but faith. In Galatians 3, Paul takes us even deeper. Abraham, the father of Israel, was considered righteous because of his faith. That means that the true children of Abraham are those who have faith in Christ. Paul writes:

Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scriptures, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying “In you shall all the nations be blessed.
Galatians 3:7-8

And then he goes further:

Christ redeemed us…so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.
Galatians 3:13-14

The promise to Abraham was never meant to end with ethnic Israel. It was always meant to extend to all nations through Abraham’s true offspring – Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:16). As Paul affirms, “All the promises of God find their Yes in him” (2 Corinthians 1:20). In Christ, the good news declared to the fathers is fulfilled (Acts 13:32-33).

In Ephesians 2, Paul explains that in Christ, Jews and Gentiles are brought together to share a common citizenship in God’s kingdom (Ephesians 2:11-13, 19). Through the cross, Jesus has “created one new man in place of the two,” having destroyed the dividing wall of hostility between them (Ephesians 2:14-15).

Does This Mean God “Replaced” Israel with the Church?

Some modern evangelicals recoil at this idea, dismissing it as “Replacement Theology,” the notion that the church has replaced Israel as God’s true people. But a careful reading of Scripture shows that Israel was never replaced – it was fulfilled.

God didn’t scrap one plan for another. Rather, His plan has always been for a people defined by faith, not flesh. Israel hasn’t been replaced; Israel has been expanded. Jesus, the Jewish Messiah, has fulfilled the promises made to Abraham and has thrown open the gates of Israel to include all nations. In Him, the people of God are not defined by ethnicity or geography, but by faith in Christ. Far from replacing Israel, the church is the ultimate fulfillment of all that Israel was always meant to become.

Shortly after His death, resurrection, and ascension, Peter writes to Christians using language that was first spoken to Israel:

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
1 Peter 2:9

Why can Peter say this? Because Christ makes all the difference. Jesus is the true Israel. And all who are in Him – Jew or Gentile – are part of God’s true Israel.

Paul echoes this in Galatians 6:16, referring to the church as “the Israel of God.” How much clearer could he be?

All the promises – including the promise of land – are granted to those who belong to Christ.

What Became of the Holy Land?

The land that was promised to Israel was once at the heart of God’s activity – a land that belonged to God, a land Israel was given, exiled from, and promised restoration to. For generations, it played a central role in God’s redemptive plan for the world. But even as Israel dwelled in the land, the prophets spoke of something greater. Not only would Israel expand to include foreigners, but the day was coming when God’s glory would fill all the earth as the waters cover the sea (Habakkuk 2:14). And then came Christ – not to abolish God’s promises, but to fulfill them.

So we’re left asking: what became of sacred space? What happened to the land God once called His own? Did the Holy Land lose it’s holiness? Or did something far more radical take place?

That’s the question we turn to in the final part of this series.

The term “Holy Land” is frequently used today to describe the modern nation of Israel.

In the first part of this study we asked the question, “What does it mean to be holy?” Throughout the Bible, holiness is about being set apart for God’s presence and for God’s purpose. With that foundation in place, we now turn to a second essential question: “Who – or what – is “Israel”?

Many people today refer to the modern land of Israel as the “Holy Land.” But in doing so, they often assume a definition of “Israel” that doesn’t line up with the way the Bible itself uses the term. If we’re going to come to grips with what the Bible teaches about a holy land, we must also understand who or what “Israel” is.

A People, Not a Place

The word “Israel” in the Bible never refers to a piece of land. Yes, God gave the people of Israel a land to dwell in, and yes, that land had deep spiritual significance. But the term “Israel” itself always refers to a people – a special group of people who were in a covenant relationship with God, set apart for His purposes.

The name “Israel” comes from Genesis 32, when Jacob wrestled with a mysterious man, who was later revealed to be the angel of the LORD. It was this Angel who gave Jacob a new name: Israel, meaning “He who strives with God” (Genesis 32:28). Jacob’s twelve sons would become the patriarchs of the twelve tribes of Israel. From that moment forward “Israel” referred to the descendants of Jacob – not a geographical area, but a people in a covenant with the LORD.

Not Defined by Race

A common misconception, not only during the time of Christ, but extending even to today throughout much of modern evangelicalism, is that “Israel” refers to the ethnic Jewish people. Since “Israel” was used to refer to the descendants of Jacob, it is easy to see how many would easily draw this conclusion. However, a careful reading of Scripture quite clearly reveals that from the very beginning, the people of Israel included those from other nations who had chosen to align themselves with the LORD.

Here’s a few examples:

Exodus 12:38 says that a “mixed multitude” left Egypt along with the Israelites
Numbers 12:1 describes Moses’ wife as a Cushite
Rahab, the woman who protected the spies in Jericho, was a Canaanite from Jericho (Joshua 2:1; 6:25)
Ruth, the great-grandmother of King David, was a Moabite (Ruth 1:4)
Uriah the Hittite, one of David’s mighty men, wasn’t ethnically Jewish (2 Samuel 11:3)
Esther 8:17 tells us that “many from the peoples of the country declared themselves Jews” out of fear and reverence

In Zechariah’s prophetic vision where God promises to restore and dwell in Jerusalem after Israel’s exile, an Angel proclaims that the time is coming when God’s covenant family will expand far beyond ethnic Israel to include people of all nations.

And many nations shall join themselves to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people. And I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you.
Zechariah 2:11

Clearly, the biblical category of “Israel” was never tied exclusively to ethnicity. Instead, Israel has always included anyone who turns to the LORD in faithful obedience. This is exactly the point that the apostle Paul makes in Romans 2:28-29, when he says,

For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.

According to Paul, being an Israelite, a true Jew, is a matter of faithfulness. Rather than being marked out by a physical feature such as circumcision, they are marked out by the Spirit. The same God who welcomed foreigners in the Exodus, and welcomed Ruth and Rahab into the family of Israel, welcomes all those who turn to Him in faithful obedience today.

A Family Bound by Faith

In the first century, this non-ethnic definition of Israel stirred up controversy. Many Jewish people feared that including the Gentiles among God’s people would mean that God had abandoned His promises to Abraham. This concern stands behind much of what Paul said throughout his letter to the Romans. For instance, consider Paul’s words in Romans 9:6-8

But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of promise are counted as offspring.

Here, Paul draws a sharp line between ethnic descent and those to whom God has promised an inheritance. God’s promises were never about bloodlines; they were about faithfulness. The true children of Abraham are those who act out of trust in God’s promises.

Jesus made this same point when speaking to a group of Jews:

They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did.”
John 8:39

Then, just a few verses later, He declares that their true father is not Abraham, but the devil (John 8:44). Why? Because they rejected the truth of God’s Word.

And let’s not forget John the Baptist’s bold statement to the Pharisees:

And do not presume to say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our father,” for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.
Matthew 3:9

In other words, physical descent means nothing without faithfulness to God.

Not the Modern Nation-State

Since Israel is not defined as the land itself, and not defined by an ethnic group of people, it should also be plain to see that the biblical definition of “Israel” does not apply to the modern nation-state of Israel. While some may contend that today’s Israel (founded in 1948) may have some distant cultural and genealogical connections to the people of the Bible, it is fundamentally a secular political entity, not a “holy nation” in the biblical sense.

The modern state of Israel does not function as a covenant people living under God’s law. Its borders are not defined by faithfulness to God. For this reason, it is a serious error to equate modern Israel with biblical Israel, or to take what the Bible says about Israel and apply it to modern Israel.

A Holy Nation

Peter calls the church, Jew and Gentile alike, “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession” (1 Peter 2:9). This echoes the very language used by God for Israel at Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:6).

So yes, we may rightly speak of Israel as a “holy nation.” But only if we are using the term the way the Bible does – to describe a people, not a plot of land; and to describe a people who are set apart by the Spirit through their faithfulness to God.

Having carefully defined the term “holy,” and now having a biblical understanding of the term “Israel,” we can now return to the study of the land itself. In the next article we’ll ask the question “Why was Israel’s land considered holy?”