Let's Get This Straight: The Church is not Israel

 Oh, there is so much to say here. 

Theologically, ethnically, historically, soteriologically, eschatologically, and culturally--we are not Israel.

Let's stop acting like we are. 

Theologically: There are three big differences:  1.  We are indwelt by the Holy Spirit corporately and individually.  They were not. 2. We are in the body of Christ, not a nation. We get there despite our ethnicity or physical birth. We are chosen (by God or ourselves or both; take your pick, that's not the point of this article).  3.  Jesus said, "The Gates of Hell shall not prevail against his church." Our relationship to God is covenantal but not the same covenant and not the same terms.

We could write books on each of these points--and some have--but let's leave it there. Ethnically and culturally, despite Christian sects that want to have Jewish style weddings or eat kosher, we are not Jews (at least, not as a whole). More "woke" people talk about cultural appropriation nowadays, even in regard to food we might like, but cultures have been appropriating from each other since the dawn of time.  (The biggest problem to me about "wokeness" is that it denies reality and our basic humanity.) There is no reason to borrow Jewish cultural traditions. They are not Biblical, but the product of 3000+ years of communal existence. It's insulting for Gentiles to act like they know Judaism better than a Jew. 

Historically, obviously not. Christians should read the history of the early church and especially the time of Titus' destruction of Jerusalem.  That was a turning point. Yes, the original church was primarily Jewish, and it would have been great if there hadn't been a split. A lot of evil things were done by the "church" institutions to Jews over 2000 years; unspeakable things. Finally, salvation and the second coming, difficult, complicated subjects, are the same for Israel and the Church--and aren't. I appreciate the work of NT Wright here and other scholars. 

Why do I bring this up today? Well, I was supposed to teach the second chapter of the book of Judges. I started by saying it is a terrible book. I should have said it was a book about terrible times. The literature wanted me to warn my class about the possibilities that could befall them if they are like Israel. I refused to do that, and took another road.  

Studying the Old Testament is valuable (I'm not Andy Stanley here) but not for daily advice.  It is more for constructing a core understanding of a certain aspect of the history of the world so that we can understand the New Testament and what Jesus did better.  Let's stop wrong teaching. We worship Jesus, not an Old Testament cultural tradition.  And we are not supposed to!