Replacement Theology
Replacement Theology teaches that the Church has
replaced the Jewish people and is now the "new
Israel." Those promoting this theory believe
God rejected the Jewish people because of their
rejection of Christ. This doctrine is imbedded
in many Christian denominations.
It is critical for Christians to understand that
we do not replace natural Israel in God's plan.
God did not made a mistake in creating Judaism
and then in utter exasperation send His son to
correct it 4,000 years later.
This doctrine has been at the forefront of anti-Semitism,
Judeo-phobia, and has fully provided fuel for
catastrophic historical events such as the Spanish
Inquisition, the Catholic Crusades, and the holocaust.
My fifteen year old daughter, Regina, wrote an
essay on Replacement theology. She has graciously
allowed me to reprint parts of it here.
Genesis says that the covenant between God and
Abraham is an everlasting (unconditional) covenant.
“And I will establish my covenant between
me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations
for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto
thee, and to thy seed after thee.” (Genesis
17:7). In this covenant God promises Abraham and
his seed: the land, great blessings, and numerous
offspring. Abraham only needed faith to accept
the covenant.
The covenant God made with Moses was an extension
to the covenant He made with Abraham. (Exodus
19-24). This extension was the instructions on
how to please God (keep the Torah) in the covenant
relationship.
The Messianic covenant was a further extension
of His covenant (when Christ died on the cross
for our sins.) “For this is my blood of
the New Testament, which is shed for many for
the remission of sins.” (Matthew 26:28)
Gentiles were invited into the new Covenant that
Jesus made with Israel (Romans 9:22-33) as full
fellow heirs of all the promises of God. The word
"new" in the Greek and in the Hebrew
sometimes means "renew." The old did
not replace the new. The new was an extension.
The New Testament mentions Israel seventy-four
times in the Bible. Seventy-one times out of those
seventy-four, it is clearly talking about Israel
as a Nation, and a people. This proves the Hebrews
are the promised people. The covenant was never
revoked or replaced. To believe in the doctrine
of replacement theology, one cannot study the
Bible literally. Terms like, Zion, Temple, Jerusalem,
Promised Land, have to be replaced by synonyms
for the "church".
God is not a liar. He said, “Yet for all
that, when they are in the land of their enemies,
I will not cast them away, nor shall I abhor them,
to utterly destroy them and break My covenant
with them; For I am the Lord their God. But for
their sake I will remember the covenant of their
ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt
in the sight of the nations, that I might be their
God: I am the Lord” (Lev. 26:44-45).
God still kept His covenant with Israel even
when they were in sin. He promises in His word
that He will always be with them in their time
of need, and this was a definite time of need
for them.
We see this in Isaiah 43:1-7: "But now
thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob,
and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for
I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy
name; thou art mine. When thou passest through
the waters, I will be with thee; and through the
rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou
walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned;
neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For
I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel,
thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia
and Seba for thee. Since thou wast precious in
my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have
loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee,
and people for thy life. Fear not: for I am with
thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and
gather thee from the west; I will say to the north,
Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring
my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends
of the earth; Even every one that is called by
my name: for I have created him for my glory,
I have formed him; yea, I have made him."
God was with them always in spite of all they
had done. What a picture of God’s mercy.
This should give all children of God hope.
The Lord did not reject His people and Paul confirms
this in God's word. Paul said in Romans 11 “I
say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly
not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of
Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not
cast away His people whom He foreknew… in
part has happened to Israel until the fullness
of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel
will be saved, as it is written: The Deliverer
will come out of Zion, and He will turn away from
Jacob; for this is My covenant with them, when
I take away their sins” (Rom. 11:1-2,
25-27). Paul he was an Israelite himself. He knew
that the Lord would not forsake Israel.
In the end, the people of the Lord will be restored
both physically and spiritually. The Lord says
that He will restore Israel in his word... "In
that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David
that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof;
and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build
it as in the days of old. And I will bring again
the captivity of my people of Israel, and they
shall build the waste cities and inhabit them;
and they shall plant vineyards and drink the wine
thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat
the fruit of them. And I will plant them upon
their land, and they shall no more be pulled up
out of their land which I have given them, saith
the Lord thy God." (Amos 9:11,14,15)
. They are to be planted upon "their land,"
the land which God says he had "given them",
the land which he promised.
We know this is a true and everlasting covenant.
God tells us in Genesis... "And I will
give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the
land wherein thou art a stranger-- all the land
of Canaan, for an everlasting possession."
(`Gen. 13:14-17; 17:8`)
Dr. Morgan explains, If God was through with
the Jew, and the church was now the "true
Israel of God" then there is no need to have
anything to do with them let alone need to provoke
them to jealousy. The fruit of the doctrine that
the Church has replaced Israel has been
-
The sin of rejecting the scriptural command
not to be arrogant toward the natural branches
-
The sin of actually becoming arrogant toward
the natural branches, that produced
-
Centuries of sinful spiritual darkness in
the church and the horribly sinful persecution
of the natural branches.
In short, rather than a jealousy provoking testimony
of the Gospel this doctrine produced hatred; in
the church for the Jew, and in the Jew for the
church.
Danger in the Homeschool Movement!
That could easily be the name of this book by Hal Lindsey.
 The
Road To Holocaust by Hal Lindsey
Hal Lindsey's bestselling expose of a dangerous movement in the church is a book every homeschooler should read because the many authors in homeschooling are Reconstructionists-- covertly teaching the same errors that brought catastrophe to the Church and Dark ages and lead to the Holocaust.
When I began homeschool our Bible studies lead us to in-depth studies on Israel’s history and culture and God’s promises to Israel. When I shared my excitement with a leading homeschool vendor I was told I better watch out—90% of homeschoolers were Reconstructionists and would have serious problems with anything to do with Israel.
I was completely ignorant about the term Reconstructionists, I had been writing for and speaking to homeschool audiences for many years and didn’t know one Reconstructionists. I set off to find out more. I search and searched and became more and more confused. The main thing I found out about Reconstructionists is that they are all confused about what they believe.
When I found this book by Hal Lindsey I was thrilled! I finally found a book that explained who Reconstructionists, what they believe, and their history.
I still don’t know the percentage of homeschooler that are Reconstructionists but I do know there are many are in churches and homeschool groups teaching this false doctrine.
Reconstructionists are often keynote speakers at major homeschool conferences and authors of best selling homeschool books—but you rarely hear their true motivations from a podium or books. If you homeschool you need to be aware of their false doctrines and its dangers!
Click to read more
Footnote: According to Soulen's book The God of Israel and Christian Theology there are three categories of Supersessionism. For Soulen there are three types of supersessionism:
- Economic: whereby the Jews are no longer needed in the divine plan for humankind.
- Punitive: whereby the Jews are seen as rejected by God because of their rejection of Jesus as the Christ.
- Structural: whereby the true relationship with God is between God and humans per se and not between God and a singular people.
For more see Three Categories of Supersessionism.
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