Eckert forgets that Israel had a temporary function (1/3)
11-04-2024
Opinion
Piet Guijt
Let's not stick to the shadow but go to the real thing. Photo EPA
Opinion
Let’s not stick to the shadow but go to the real thing: Not Israel but the Kingdom through Jesus. That is Piet Guijt’s response to Harald Eckert.
First of all, I reject antisemitism. Unfortunately, that term is often linked to a caricature of what is known as “replacement” theology. From that caricature, a connection is then construed with antisemitism.
In essence and in a Biblical sense, the transition from the old to the new covenant has nothing to do with excluding substitution, let alone with antisemitism.
The modern state of Israel cannot be a fulfilment of the well-known Old Testament prophecies. These prophecies are metaphors for humanity’s deliverance from its lost situation. God wants them to return to His intended situation, which is to reside forever in the worldwide Kingdom of God for all (both Jews and Gentiles) who have accepted Jesus as Saviour.
With the first advent of Jesus, the shadow of the old covenant (in the history of the ethnic people of Israel as an example of God’s dealings with the world) has been removed. Now, God’s purpose for all nations is fully revealed in the much better new covenant, which has become valid in the blood of Christ! This covenant rests on better promises (Hebrews 8:6).
This means that God faithfully fulfils His promises of salvation to every Jew and non-Jew who has accepted His Son as Saviour. They are God’s children (John 1:12) and, therefore, His heirs (Galatians 3:29). God has a personal, individual, and loving relationship with them through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. And now, they are the only and specific people of God, the true Israel.
To belong to it, only rebirth is necessary. All who have been reborn have and honour the same heavenly Father. Earthly ethnicity is no longer of any essential theological relevance. In Christ, all God’s promises are yes and amen (2 Corinthians 1:20).
Hence, God keeps all His promises, including those to the Jews. Still, even more gloriously than the Old Testament prophets could foresee (1 Corinthians 2:9). There is no need to fear that God would not fulfil His promises and make them effective.
Those who still cling to the shadowy images of the old covenant do not realise that the ethnic people of Israel had a temporary function and task until the coming of Jesus to show God’s purpose for the nations. Moreover, they have not correctly understood the essence of the advent of Jesus. Only through faith in Jesus Jews and Gentiles can enter the Kingdom of God. In Christ, the completion of God’s world mission concerns all people of all nations.
Drs. Piet Guijt is a Dutch Bible researcher and has an MA in economics.
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