Replacement theology teaches that the church has replaced Israel in God’s prophetic and redemptive plan. If this theology is correct, the implications are massive:
God would be a liar
God’s Word would be untrue
Israel would not be in God’s plans
God’s love would not be unconditional
These statements beg for biblical explanation.
God is not a Liar
Why would God be a liar if replacement theology is correct? Genesis 12:1-3 records God’s covenant with Abraham. God reiterated this covenant with Abraham in Gen. 13:14-18, 15:4-5, 17:1-22. God reminded Abraham’s descendants of this unconditional promise (Gen. 35:10-12; 1 Chron. 16:15-18).
“Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” (Gen. 12:1-3).
In Volume 4 of his Systematic Theology, Dr. Norman Geisler notes that this covenant is:
Unconditional (“I will bless thee”)
National (“I will make of thee a great nation”)
Geographical (“unto a land that I will shew thee”)
Perpetual (“to you and your offspring”)
International (“In thee shall all families of the earth be blessed”)
Hundreds of years after Abraham’s death, the kingdom divided and the Northern Kingdom became grossly immoral. God sent prophets to warn them, including Amos. God delivered a powerful promise to the ten tribes through Amos.
“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 9:14-15).
God promised that once Israel was restored to the promised land, they would never again be removed from it. The promises God made to Abraham were not merely spiritual. The promises extended to the land and the people who will dwell in that land. If God broke these promises to fulfill them allegorically in the church, He is a liar. If God is a liar, His Word cannot be trusted.
God’s Word is true
There are two kinds of covenants – conditional and unconditional. A conditional covenant depends on both parties holding up their end of the bargain. A dad could promise his son, “If you clean your room, we will go get ice cream.” The ice cream trip depends on the son’s effort to clean his room. However, the father could promise, “Son, we will go get ice cream tonight.” The ice cream trip does not require any effort from the son. It is solely based on the father.
God’s covenant with Abraham was an unconditional promise. God could have required effort from Abraham but He did not. Its fulfillment is solely based upon God the Father.
If God neglects to uphold His promise, He is a liar and His Word means nothing. But this statement flies in the face of what the Bible reveals about God’s character.
“God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?” (Num. 23:19).
“Blessed be the LORD, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant” (1 Kings 8:56).
“In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began” (Titus 1:2).
“That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us” (Heb. 6:18).
If God lied to Israel, what would keep Him from lying to the church? Why should anyone believe His Word or trust Him for salvation? How could any Bible prophecy be trusted? Replacement theology undermines the credibility of Scripture and God’s character.
Israel Is in God’s Future Plans
When God gave the law to Moses, He described His blessings for obedience (Lev. 26:1-13) and consequences for disobedience (Lev. 26:14-29). Some of the consequences included the desolation and destruction of the promised land and allowing Israel’s enemies to triumph over them. It sounds as if God would allow Israel to be annihilated. Thank God, the chapter does not end there.
“And yet for all that, when they be in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them: for I am the LORD their God. But I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the heathen, that I might be their God: I am the LORD” (Lev. 26:44-45).
Could it be any clearer? God declared that He would not break His covenant with Israel originally made with Abraham. God still has a plan for Israel.
Further, Romans 11:1-6 destroys replacement theology. Paul uses the strongest Greek negation possible to answer his question. “I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid” (Rom. 11:1a). No way! Impossible! Perish the thought! Israel is still in God’s plan.
Paul offers himself as an example of God’s continued plan for Israel then says, “God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew” (Rom. 11:1b-2a). If God cast Israel aside in favor of a Gentile bride, then why was Paul saved?
Further, Paul reminds his readers that Elijah felt like he was the last faithful Israelite who hadn’t turned his back on God (Rom. 11:2b-3). “But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal” (Rom. 11:4). God always has a faithful remnant of Jewish followers. This unbroken chain has continued generation after generation from Abraham until the present day.
“Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.” (Rom. 11:5-6).
Paul says there is a faithful Jewish remnant in this dispensation of God’s grace. They did not receive God’s grace by their merit because that would nullify grace. From dispensation to dispensation, God’s plan for Israel unfolds according to His grace.
God’s Love is Unconditional
Like a loving parent, God told Israel of the blessings and consequences of their actions in Leviticus 26. Yet, the Southern Kingdom turned away from God just as their Northern brothers had. Before Judah’s judgment fell, God raised up the prophet Jeremiah to warn His people that they were about to experience those consequences in the form of the Babylonian exile.
“And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years” (Jer. 25:11).
Instead of repenting of their sins, the Israelites rejected Jeremiah’s messages and trusted in false prophets (Jer. 26-28). When the people tried to kill Jeremiah, God preserved His prophet and destroyed a false prophet named Hananiah.
Just as God exposed the fakes and preserved the faithful, Jeremiah prophesied true hope for the righteous remnant (Jer. 29). God reminds them that they will be exiles in Babylon for seventy years. “For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place” (Jer. 29:10).
God follows this promise with a powerful reminder: “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end” (Jer. 29:11). This “expected end” speaks to the future God planned for His chosen people.
This hope-filled future is based on God’s unconditional love for Israel, as Jeremiah reveals. “The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee” (Jer. 31:3).
Israel’s exile might have felt like God was pushing them away but in reality, God was drawing their hearts back to His. Just as a loving parent allows their children to experience the natural consequences of their choices, God allowed Israel to experience His promised consequences. Just as a loving parent still loves their children, even when they rebel, God still loved Israel through the exile.
In a beautiful expression of His divine love, God told the children of Israel that He would love them as long as the sun, moon and stars were in the sky.
“Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name: If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever” (Jer. 31:35-36).
God’s character and Word repudiate replacement theology. God has a glorious future for Israel’s people and land.
Josh Davis serves as Staff Evangelist with SWRC. Connect with him at www.swrc.com.