Israelology

Daily Reading: Romans 9

But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel. (Romans 9.6)

Devotional Thought: Should Christians be concerned about Israelology (It’s a word – I looked it up on the internet, so it must be!) - the study of what the Bible says about Israel?  The Apostle Paul certainly was.  He devoted a whole section of Romans, chapters 9-11, to the relationship between Israel and the Church, answering the question, "How does the nation of Israel fit into the divine plan?"

There is a great deal of theology popular today that would have us believe that Israel and the Church represent two distinct plans of God. The Bible, however, is clear in its teaching that all the history of Israel culminated in the person of Jesus Christ.  He was the archetypical Seed in the Promise to Abraham and the eternal King in the Promise to David.  As the Suffering Servant, he was the distillation of the remnant theology of Isaiah.  Jesus Christ is also the beginning point of the Church which extends the Kingdom of God in the world.  The Church was not an afterthought in God’s plan when his first plan – Israel – didn’t work out.  Israel and the Church represent God’s continuous plan of redemption. Israel was the beginning, and the Church is the completion of God’s plan.  Jesus is the connection point between Old Testament Israel and New Testament Church.

So, as you read Romans 9-11, don’t get bogged down on confusing discussions about the nature of Israel vs. the Church.  Thank God that you are a child of the Promise, a child of the living God!

Prayer: I bow before you - O God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob - and rejoice in the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable are your judgments, your paths beyond tracing out!  For from you and through you and for you are all things.  To you be the glory forever! Amen.  (Adapted from Romans 11.33, 36)

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 21.8-13

8  Your hand will find out all your enemies; your right hand will find out those who hate you.

9  You will make them as a blazing oven when you appear. The Lord will swallow them up in his wrath, and fire will consume them.

10  You will destroy their descendants from the earth, and their offspring from among the children of man.

11  Though they plan evil against you, though they devise mischief, they will not succeed.

12  For you will put them to flight; you will aim at their faces with your bows.

13  Be exalted, O Lord, in your strength! We will sing and praise your power