Believers in Christ are the true Jews.

Biblical Israel wandered through the desert for 40 years in rebellion against God. The wilderness was their graveyard. They all died there. But Jesus spent only 40 days in the wilderness during which He prevailed against the temptations of the devil. Jesus passed all the tests that biblical Israel failed.

Israel was told to serve only God:

“Fear the Lord your God, serve Him only.” (Deuteronomy 6:13).

But Israel served other gods.

“All the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. And he received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a moulded calf. Then they said, ‘This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!’ So when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, ‘Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord.’ Then they rose early on the next day, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.” (Exodus 32:3-6).

But Jesus served only God.

“The devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour. ‘All this I will give you,’ he said, ‘if you will bow down and worship me.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’” (Matthew 4:8-10).

Biblical Israel was warned not to put God to the test: 

“Do not test the Lord your God.” (Deuteronomy 6:16).

But Israel disobeyed and tested God:

“The people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, ‘Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?’ Then Moses cried out to the Lord, ‘What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.’ The Lord answered Moses, ‘Walk on ahead of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.’ So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarrelled and because they tested the Lord, saying, ‘Is the Lord among us or not?’” (Exodus 17:3-7).

Jesus, on the other hand,  refused to test God:

“The devil took (Jesus) to the holy city and had Him stand on the highest point of the temple. ‘If You are the Son of God,’ he said, ‘throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He will command His angels concerning You, and they will lift You up in their hands, so that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’ Jesus answered him, ‘It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” (Matthew 4:5-7). 

The Israelites insisted on living by bread alone. Moses said to them:

“(God) humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.” (Deuteronomy 8:3-4).

But the Israelites rejected manna and despised it. 

“The mixed multitude who were among them yielded to intense craving; so the children of Israel also wept again and said:”Who will give us meat to eat? We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; but now our whole being is dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes!” (Numbers 11:4-6).

Jesus, on the other hand, agreed to live by the word of God: 

“When the tempter came to (Jesus), he said, ‘If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.’ But He answered and said, ‘It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 3-4).

True and False Bread

The manna that Moses gave the Israelites in the wilderness was not the true bread. Jesus is the true bread from heaven. As He said to the Jews:

“Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.” And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.” (John 6:31-35).   

Rejection of the Gospel

Biblical Israel rejected the gospel of the kingdom of God:

“Although (Jesus) had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him, that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke: ‘Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?’ Therefore, they could not believe, because Isaiah said again: ‘He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, lest they should see with their eyes, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.’” (John 12:37-40). 

As a result, God created a new Israel, the Israel of God and faith. This fulfilled the kingdom principle whereby the last became first and the first last. So Jesus said to the Jews of biblical Israel:

“Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? ‘Therefore, I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it.’” (Matthew 21:42-43).

Believers in Christ are now God’s Chosen People. Peter proclaimed this to New Testament followers of Christ:

“To you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, ‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone’ and ‘a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence.’ They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed. But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.’” (1 Peter 2:7-10).

Paul also confirmed it:

“If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” (Galatians 3:29).

The Israelites of today are not Abraham’s children. Instead, naturally-born Israelites who reject Christ belong to the synagogue of Satan: 

“They answered and said to (Jesus), “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, ‘If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham. But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. You do the deeds of your father.’ Then they said to Him, ‘We were not born of fornication; we have one Father — God.’ Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me.  Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.” (John 8:39-44).

Jesus reiterated this in a letter to the church in Smyrna: 

“I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.” (Revelation 2:9).

Paul also confirmed that believers in Christ are the true Jews. We are the Israel of God for whom God made the promise to Abraham:

“It is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel, nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, ‘In Isaac your seed shall be called.’ That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed.’” (Romans 9:6-8).

So, when Paul says, “All Israel shall be saved” (Romans 11:26), he is not referring to physical Israel, nor biblical Israel, nor the nation of Israel. He is only referring to the believers who are in Christ Jesus. 

“For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.” (Romans 2:28-29). CONCLUDED.

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