For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:
Hebrews 8:8 (KJV)
House of Israel & house of Judah – Stop right here, and answer this question: who is the new covenant made with?
There is a huge division in the US right now. While we’ve seen terrible aggression from opposing groups, I’d like to note something. A small group of Nazis marched recently in America and protested against Jews among other sects of humans. Why is there still protest against Jewish people? The most common reason is because of Replacement Theology. This theology teaches that the church replaced Israel as the chosen people of God. Antisemitism will teach that the church is made up of only Gentiles, and doesn’t have Jewish roots. But history and Biblical truth declares quite the opposite.
As the author states in Hebrews 8, the new covenant is only for the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It’s only for the nation of Israel – God’s chosen people. Could this nation include Gentiles? Of course. Gentiles, as they have always been allowed to do, can join Israel whenever they want. But as Scripture states (Exodus 12:48), once a Gentile joins Israel, they become a native born Israelite. They are no longer a Gentile. I’ve talked about this before.
The Priests Nobody Talks About
So I realize this might be a bit redundant here. But until we realize the history of the house of Israel and house of Judah, we’ll never fully understand what happened in the New Testament, or why Yeshua says that he’s only come for the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matt 15:24).
It’s always been about Israel, the 12 tribes.
Replacement Theology myths:
- The Jews are all 12 tribes
- Incorrect. The Jews only comprise of the tribes Judah, Benjamin, and Levite. These 3 tribes are the only ones that came back to build the second Temple (Ezra 1:5).
- Gentiles replaced the Jews on the olive tree and the Jews were pruned off
- Incorrect. Only some branches were broken off and the new branches are grafted among the old branches (Romans 11:17).
- God abandoned Israel in favor of people who believed
- Incorrect. God only divorced the house of Israel which is only 10 tribes (Jeremiah 3:8). He never divorced the house of Judah because of his promise to David – no matter how they believed. The house of Judah (the Jews), to this very day, still remain married to God. The house of Israel has been freed from the law of divorce by Yeshua’s death (Romans 7) and can now remarry the resurrected Messiah.
- The New Covenant has replaced the Old Covenant
- Incorrect. Covenants don’t replace one another in Hebrew thought. They build on top of each other. You can have simultaneously a covenant with Noah, and Abraham, and Moses, and David… and these covenants never replace one another. Same for the new, or renewed, covenant. Read more about covenants here: It’s Not Just One Covenant and A Renewed Covenant and The Covenants.
- The Jews crucified Jesus
- Incorrect. Yes, a very small sect of the Jewish leadership captured Yeshua at night, but they had to do it at night because the majority of the Jewish population would have revolted if they knew what was happening. And finally, it wasn’t the Jews that crucified the Messiah, it was Roman soldiers. Crucifixion was a Roman practice, not a Jewish practice.
The claim that something in the Bible has been replaced only leads to division and hate. The recent Nazi march expressed these views of antisemitism because they believe their religion has replaced the Jews. Radical Islam teaches similarly that Islam has replaced both the Jews and Christians as the authentic expression of Abrahamic prophetic monotheism.
God’s people has always been Israel, and it’s never changed. It was prophesied clearly in Hosea, Jeremiah, etc. Apostle Paul teaches this as well. James and Peter both write to the scattered people (house of Israel) in order to help them back into the fold.
We have to overcome antisemitism and learn the true history found in the Bible if we’re to understand anything that happened in the New Testament. Go back and read it again. The new covenant is only for the house of Judah and the house of Israel. Learn what that means. It will completely enhance your understanding of Scripture, and hopefully rid these false teachings of replacement that only lead to hate.
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