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Israel and Judah, part 4

Many prophecies are either misinterpreted or misapplied. So prophecy is often fulfilled in ways that are unexpected.

We see this in the case of Christ’s first coming. Most of the people were expecting the Messiah to be born in a palace or the house of the high priest. No one expected Him to be born in a stable from a poor family.

Most people thought that the Messiah would become a miracle-working military commander who would deliver the nation from the dominion of Rome. This did not happen either. Furthermore, when Imperial Rome came to an end in 476 A.D., it was not at the hands of the Messiah but from “barbarian” invasions.

Today, as we look for Christ’s second coming, the vast majority of Christians again are looking for a military Messiah, thinking that the Jews were right the first time but got the timing wrong. Secondly, by misidentifying the Jews as Israelites, they think that the Kingdom must come through Judah rather than through Israel. Because Israel remains in exile as “lost tribes,” it is assumed that Judah replaced Israel as the birthright holder.

This is a strange version of Replacement Theology. If the people had been taught Jeremiah 18 and 19 properly, they would not have been blinded to the truth. Jeremiah 18:1-10 sets forth the jar made of wet, pliable clay as the House of Israel, but Jeremiah 18:11 to the end of chapter 19 presents Judah as the old earthen jar which is to be broken so completely that it can never again be repaired. Obviously, Israel and Judah had very different destinies.

When the kingdom was divided, the messianic line remained with Judah while the birthright (or “the kingdom”) remained with Israel (Ephraim). Reunification would be necessary to bring forth the Kingdom. Some insist that the Kingdom was established by Christ in His first coming. However, what actually happened was that prophetic “Saul” was given a kingdom under the leadership of the tribe of Benjamin, not Judah. In fact, most of the disciples were from Galilee, which had been settled by the tribe of Benjamin after the Babylonian captivity. Notable exceptions were Matthew Levi and Judas Iscariot (from Kerioth Arba, or Hebron).

What most people call the Church is actually the fulfillment of Saul’s kingdom. Yes, it was a kingdom, but it was only a temporary provision. Saul himself was crowned on the day of wheat harvest (1 Samuel 12:17; Exodus 34:22), which is the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost). When the Spirit was given to the Church in Acts 2:1, it was the crowning of King Saul. Saul was crowned on Pentecost, making him a type of the Church in the Pentecostal Age. David was crowned on the 59^th Jubilee from Adam, making him a type of overcomer in the Kingdom to come.

Judah’s Calling

Judah’s calling culminated in the Person of Jesus Christ, who was the true “King of the Jews,” as the inscription said on the cross. In those days the people were divided in their opinion about Him, but the majority sided with their religious leaders in rejecting Him as Messiah. Nonetheless, there were two groups of people.

Keep in mind that the leader of a tribe carried the right of tribeship. If anyone revolted against the true leader, he might be “cut off from among his people” (Leviticus 17:4). He could lose his citizenship and status as a member of the tribe, because membership was not purely a matter of genealogy but was ultimately a matter of law.

For this reason also, a foreigner could join the tribe by adopting the covenant with God, and he would then be considered part of that tribe (Isaiah 56:6-8). Consider the fact that before Abraham had any children, there were 318 men, “born in his house,” that he could send into battle against the kings of Shinar (Genesis 14:16). If we include the woman, children, and the elderly, Abraham’s household of faith must have included at least 2,000.

By the time of Jacob two centuries later, this number must have grown to perhaps 10,000, and all of these went to Egypt at Joseph’s invitation. The 70 mentioned in Exodus 1:5 were only those “who came from the loins of Jacob.” It did not include the herdsmen and others. By the time the Israelites left Egypt under Moses, all of these had joined the tribe where they were employed and were considered to be Israelites.

Again, each of the sons of Jacob took foreign wives, who then became Israelites as well.

The point is that being of an Israelite tribe was not necessarily a matter of genealogy. Yet if any of them violated the law without repentance or if any revolted against the prince of the tribe, he could be cut off from the tribe and from the nation as a whole.

When Jesus came as the Messiah-King, most of the religious leaders rejected Him, and most of the people joined the rebellion. They violated the law of sacrifice which commanded them to bring the blood of the sacrifice to the altar so that it would apply to them personally. By their unbelief, they failed to apply the blood of the great Sacrifice to their own souls and thereby violated Leviticus 17:4.

For this reason, they were cut off from the tribe of Judah. Paul later used the metaphor of the branches being cut off from the Kingdom tree (Romans 11:17, 21). Most Christians have not been taught these things, and so they continue to believe that being a Jew or an Israelite is purely a matter of genealogy. Hence, they insist that God still considers unbelieving Jews to be of the tribe of Judah. Paul, however, tells us plainly in Romans 2:28, 29,

²⁸ For he is NOT A JEW who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. ²⁹ But he IS A JEW who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter, and his praise is not from men, but from God.

Paul defines a “Jew” (Judahite) as one who is circumcised in the heart, because this is the sign of the New Covenant. Though men continue to apply the name “Jew” to those who descend from those who have rejected the Mediator of the New Covenant, God sees it differently. Judah means “praise,” and in order to praise God properly, one must recognize Jesus as the Messiah and come under the New Covenant that He brought to us. To reject Christ is to reject His Father in heaven.

In other words, “his praise” (i.e., status as a Jew) is not what men claim but what God claims. This is why Jesus Himself rejected the claim of the unbelievers that they were Jews on account of their genealogy (John 8:38, 39). We read also in 1 John 2:23,

²³ Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also.

The Children of Abraham

In Hebrew thought, there were two ways to interpret the word “son.” A son might be a biological son, or he may be one who in some way resembles someone or something. So the Scriptures refer to “children of Belial” (Deuteronomy 13:13), “sons of thunder” (Mark 3:17), “children of light” (Ephesians 5:8), and children of the devil (John 8:44). None of these were about physical genealogy but about character traits.

So also the children of Abraham are those who exhibit the New Covenant faith seen in Abraham. This is clearly how Paul understood it in Galatians 3:6, 7, 29,

⁶ Even so Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. ⁷ Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham…. ²⁹ And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.

Those who believe the New Covenant promise of God are—like Isaac—the heirs of Abraham. There is no biblical descendant of Abraham apart from faith in Jesus Christ, and if we believe that the children of the flesh are Abraham’s heirs, then we show ourselves to be of Ishmael, not Isaac (Galatians 4:23-26).

The Church is Judah

The Church, which began primarily with Christ’s disciples but also extended to Greeks, Romans, and Samaritans, etc., are those who were loyal to King Jesus, who carried the tribeship of Judah. Those who rejected Him and His sacrifice for sin were cut off, and God no longer considered them to be Jews—regardless of what men called them.

The Church, then, did not replace Judah; it was and is the tribe of Judah, regardless of ethnicity. These are Abraham’s descendants and heirs. The Church later began to teach the doctrine of Replacement Theology, claiming that the Church replaced the Jews and/or Israel. But that is not strictly true, nor does it conform to Paul’s definition of a Jew in Romans 2:29.

If a self-styled Jew wishes to be a Jew that God recognizes, he/she must accept Jesus as the Christ—in essence, he must become part of the true body of Jews, that is, the Church. Yet many lack understanding, and so we find many Christians trying to become Jews in order to be heirs of Abraham. This trend began when Pat Boone was converted to Christ in the 1960’s. His spiritual mentors convinced him that biological Jews were chosen, and so he converted to Judaism. Many Christians then followed his example, for this is the natural result of wrong teaching.

To be a biblical Jew of the tribe or kingdom of Judah, one must acknowledge Jesus and His mission in His first coming. In other words, believe that He died for the sin of the world, was raised from the dead, and ascended to the right hand of the Father. Next, we will see what it means to be an Israelite, which is an overcomer who will reign with Christ.