Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:
God's word has not failed even though many descended from Israel remain unconverted, reject Christ, and are not saved. Physical descent from Israel, Jacob, or Abraham does not by itself make anyone part of true Israel, a child of God, or an heir of the promise. The children of the flesh are not the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted for the seed, as shown when Isaac was called through promise rather than Ishmael and Jacob was chosen rather than Esau. Those children of promise become God's children by faith in Christ the promised Seed, by the new birth through the Spirit, and by obedience and righteousness, so that those of any nation who belong to Christ are Abraham's seed and heirs while unbelieving physical descendants have no part in the promise. Believing Gentiles are grafted as wild branches into the good olive tree and made nigh by Christ's blood to become fellow citizens, fellow heirs, and fellow partakers with the saints in the commonwealth of Israel, for there is no higher standing for Jew over Gentile in Christ.
Word Has Not Failed
Not as though God's word has taken no effect, for its failure is not proved by many descended from Israel remaining unconverted, rejecting Christ, and not being saved. Descent from Israel, Jacob, or Abraham does not by itself make a person true Israel, a child of God, or an heir of the promise. The children of the flesh are not counted as God's children, but the children of the promise are counted for the seed, as shown by the call in Isaac rather than Ishmael. Those born only according to the flesh cannot inherit the things of the Spirit, yet they are not excluded if through faith in Christ and the new birth by faith in God's promise they become children of promise. True Israelites are those to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, the promises, whose are the fathers and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, and as Abraham's children they keep the Sabbath forever for a perpetual covenant.
God's word never fails but always accomplishes His purpose, for He works all things after the counsel of His own will, His counsel stands forever, and He does all His pleasure. As Creator He has as potter among vessels the power and right to preserve or destroy any vessel according to His own will, and His decision for preservation or destruction is always in strict accordance with fitness or unfitness for continued existence, so all who submit to His will continue to exist while all who reject it must cease to exist. Satan compassed the death of Christ to destroy the Seed of Abraham and make God's word of no effect, but the death of the Seed proved not only its restoration but its multiplication, causing the seed of Abraham to abound everywhere by drawing all to Himself.
The verse concerns the relation of the Jewish people to God's plan worked out through them. It introduces the doctrine of election and settles who the heirs of the promise are and how the inheritance is obtained.
Birth Does Not Decide
Physical descent from Israel, Jacob, or Abraham does not by itself make a person part of true Israel, a child of God, or an heir of the promise. True Israel are not the children of the flesh even though they are the seed of Abraham, but the children of the promise who are counted for the seed, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience through faith in Christ. All theories and claims resting on bloodline are worthless, and no promise God made to Israel is ever fulfilled merely through natural birth, so it does not matter who the natural descendants of Abraham are today or what becomes of them, because the Israel of today is not decided by heredity. The distinction is illustrated by Abraham's sons, for although Isaac and Ishmael were both his children the promised line was counted through Isaac, and likewise people may belong to the Jewish nation by descent yet not be counted as God's Israel under His gracious promises and covenant, just as belonging nominally to Christendom does not make everyone a Christian acknowledged by Christ. Belonging to Israel is not determined by physical descent or Jewish nationality alone, but true Israel consists of people of faith, the spiritual descendants of Abraham, and Gentiles who belong to Christ are grafted into this people and are Abraham's seed. In this sense God's people include all who believe, and converted Gentiles are joined to Israel and become fellow citizens in its commonwealth, so that all the saved are the Israel of God, inheriting the Sabbath, the whole law, the glory, the covenants, and God's promises.
Belonging to Israel by birth, outward appearance, or religious profession does not make a person part of true Israel. In Paul's time the Jewish church was Israel outwardly, but many who professed the true religion did not possess what they professed, and only a small remnant was saved: those who accepted Christ and devoted themselves to Him. The distinction applies across generations, since only a small part has been willing to accept Christ, and outward descent from Israel and outward bearing of the name does not make one true Israel. Even after God chose the Jews and set them apart as His peculiar treasure, many were rebellious and fell out by the way, and apart from the heathen world, inside the professed church of God in every age true Israel has never included all who outwardly bore the name, for in no period of history have all living men been converted, God instead securing out of the multitude of Adam and Eve's children the requisite number to fill His original purpose for a holy race to people the earth. A true Jew is one inwardly, with circumcision of the heart, and believers in Christ from both Jews and Gentiles are the true Israel of God, for sharing Israel's name or outward membership does not make everyone part of true Israel, since the distinction is inward and a profession of truth must be matched by a life guided by it.
As not everyone who belongs outwardly to Israel is truly Israel, so profession of faith does not prove genuine faithfulness. God's people must be sifted, especially in a time when counterfeit religion greatly outnumbers true religion. Some are Sabbatarians by birth only, while others have left their first love and embraced the spirit of the world, showing that belonging outwardly does not mean truly belonging.
Children of Promise Identified
The word has not failed because descent from Israel does not by itself make a person true Israel, and being Abraham's seed does not by itself make all children. The children of the flesh are not the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. This is shown by the promise that in Isaac shall the seed be called, with the promised line counted through Isaac rather than Ishmael though both were Abraham's children, and by the choice of Jacob rather than Esau. In the same way people may belong to the Jewish nation by descent yet not be counted as God's Israel under His gracious promises, just as belonging nominally to Christendom does not make everyone a Christian acknowledged by Christ. The children of promise are those who have faith in Christ without regard to previous nationality, and to them alone the promises are made, not to the natural descendants as such, so that old Jerusalem, or the Jews as such, are rejected from the promises which pass to true Christians called by another name, who are the only true Jews and children of Jerusalem, with no promise of restoration or conversion to the literal descendants more than to any other class of sinners. To these true Israelites pertain the adoption and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the law and the service of God and the promises, whose are the fathers and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, they are Abraham's children, and they are to keep the Sabbath forever for a perpetual covenant.
Physical descent is not the basis for inheriting the promise, as the contrast of Ishmael and Isaac illustrates, for those born only according to the flesh cannot inherit the things of the Spirit, but they are not excluded if they become children of promise, born through faith in God's promise. Those who have faith in Christ and are born again are Israel, while those who lack faith in Christ and the new birth are not Israel even if they are Abraham's physical descendants. A person becomes a child of God by faith in Jesus Christ, whether Jew or Gentile, and all who are children of God by faith in Christ Jesus and belong to Christ are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. Those who believed in Christ include both those whose faith was expressed through types and shadows before Christ and those who come directly to the crucified Christ.
The children of promise are those who keep the commandments of God on which the promise rests, because the Jewish nation did not obey God's voice and keep His covenant, the ten commandments, so the word did not fail but the promise was taken from them and given to another people who revere and honor God by fulfilling its conditions, and true Israel is therefore found wherever obedient believers are, irrespective of nation. This promised seed is the Israel that continues as a nation, bearing the name Israel given when Jacob prevailed as a prince with God and with men.
God's choice of Isaac rather than Ishmael and of Jacob rather than Esau for the covenant privilege of being the line through which He would bless the world distinguishes physical descent from belonging to God's people through His choice and call, and His people include believing Jews and Gentiles who answer His call. Belonging is by His promise and call rather than by ancestry, for the children counted as the seed are the children of promise who are justified by faith and share Abraham's inheritance, while natural descendants who do not have the character of faith are not counted as the promised seed. The name first marked character, as Jacob was called Israel and his twin Esau was not, though the name later also applied to Jacob's descendants, and Israel properly denotes the believing descendants of Jacob and Judah as distinct from Abraham's wider family of believers among many nations who are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise, without erasing the distinct identity of Israel and Judah. Thus God's promises remain fulfilled even when unbelieving people who claim the name are rejected, the kingdom being taken from nominal Israel and given to true Israel, the faithful overcomers, so that even if every literal descendant of Jacob were lost God's promises to Israel would remain sure, since Israel's failure to attain righteousness came from rejecting Christ, through whom alone the righteousness of the law is obtained.
Gentiles Grafted Into Israel
Belonging to Israel is not decided by physical descent or Jewish nationality alone, for God's word has not failed when many descended from Israel are not counted as Israel. The children of the flesh are not the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted for the seed, as shown when Isaac called through promise is distinguished from Ishmael and the following verses explain the same distinction. Gentiles who belong to Christ by faith are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise, grafted as wild branches into the good olive tree in place of natural branches broken off through unbelief, to partake with them of the root and fatness while still retaining the name Israel. Broken branches remain fit only for burning unless they repent and are grafted in again, while Israel is divided into one part scattered for hurt to be consumed and one part scattered for good to be gathered again.
Those made nigh by Christ's blood and cleansed by the Lamb's blood are joined to Israel and become fellow citizens in its commonwealth, fellow heirs and fellow partakers with the saints. In this sense God's people include all who believe, whether Jew or Gentile, whether of this dispensation or former, and thus all the saved are the Israel of God, numbered among Israel's tribes through gates named for them. They share its adoption, glory, covenants, giving of the law, service, promises, whole law and Sabbath, for the spiritual Israel inherits all that belonged to Israel. The names Israel, Judah, Jacob, Zion and Jerusalem can denote this delivered remnant, the holy people scattered among the nations, the remnant that will be saved; the 144,000 are Israelites indeed, marked by guilelessness, blamelessness and clean hearts as those who prevail with God and are turned away from sin.
There is no distinction between Jew and Greek in Christ and no higher standing for Jew over Gentile, for an Israelite by birth has no special claim over a believing Gentile. The true Jew is one inwardly with circumcision of the heart and a heart cleansed by faith, the true Israelite is one who prevails with God by faith and does the works of faithful Abraham, whether lineage to Israel can be traced or not. The remnant of Israel is therefore not ancient Israel nor literal descendants as such nor those who are Jews outwardly, but Jews inwardly and Israelites in the gospel sense, Israelites indeed grafted by faith into the tame olive tree, the Abrahamic stock, and gathered by God from all nations, Jews as well as Gentiles. The true Jew is the follower of Jesus Christ, made by faith the seed of Isaac and Abraham, whose praise is of God and not of men, while those who profess the name of Jesus yet reject His words and break His law are not Jews but spiritually uncircumcised.
Meaning of Israel's Name
Israel is a spiritual name meaning one who prevails with God, prevailing over sin and self, gained as Jacob strove with God and men with weeping and supplication and prevailed through steadfast seeking of God's blessing. It marks character and not lineage, for descent from Israel, Jacob, or Abraham does not by itself make anyone part of true Israel, and the children of the flesh are not all children of God while the children of the promise are counted as Abraham's seed. The name is true only of overcomers whose lives fit its meaning, otherwise it is misleading, and it belongs to those who are sanctified and not to rebellious unconverted descendants, to those who are Jews inwardly and overcome as princes with God, to those who do Abraham's works rather than cherishing the devil's spirit and practicing evil. It is a spiritual and individual identity and not merely a national one, so that every saved person becomes part of God's Israel through faith in Christ, even as Jacob became Israel, being Israel by faith. The promises to Israel therefore belong to Christians who are Christ's and are Abraham's heirs, and all who are saved, faithful Jews and Gentiles from both dispensations, are numbered among Israel's tribes.
Only true Israel can fully value David's inspired psalms, moral instruction, and prophecies, and those who reject the Old Testament lose this help. The true Israel of God are the twelve tribes who will be gathered to the New Jerusalem on high, already built, which will come down upon this earth at the close of the thousand years after purifying fire has cleansed and renovated the earth, where Christ will personally rule over a regenerated people on a regenerated earth. This excludes a gathering of ten fleshly tribes and a rebuilt earthly city where Christ will reign. The 144,000 are Israelites indeed, marked by guilelessness and blamelessness, with clean hearts.
The Israelite indeed is guileless in heart like Nathanael, blameless, with circumcision of the heart, a follower of Jesus Christ made by faith the seed of Isaac and Abraham. Such are Jews inwardly and Israelites in the gospel sense whether they can trace lineage to Israel or not, grafted by faith into the tame olive tree and true stock, the Abrahamic stock from which many literal Jews were cut off through unbelief, made fellow citizens with the saints and members of the commonwealth of Israel. The remnant of Israel is therefore not ancient Israel nor the literal descendants of Israel as such nor those who are Jews outwardly, but this inward people who form the remnant or last end of the Christian church at the close of the gospel age to whom the promise that the remnant shall do no iniquity belongs. An earnest, obedient Christian need not feel reproached to be called a Jew, for his praise is of God and not of men.
Those who profess the name of Jesus yet reject His words are not Jews but are of the synagogue of Satan, and an Israelite who breaks God's law becomes uncircumcised spiritually, while Gentiles who keep the righteousness of the law through faith in Jesus become true Israel through circumcision of the heart. True Israel are not the children of Jacob, the twelve tribes, the literal Jews, or the seed of Abraham after the flesh, but the children of God, the children of the promise counted for the seed, those with circumcision of the heart under the new covenant with the law written on their hearts. The change of subjects from literal descendants to the new-covenant people never changes the moral law of God, which was never given to the Jews exclusively but was kept in their charge for a season to be handed down. Therefore the Sabbath given as a sign forever and a perpetual covenant to Israel still binds the Christian church and cannot be abolished while one true Israelite remains to claim the promise, and all difficulties about the Sabbath vanish once Israel is understood to mean the people of God.
Sabbath Covenant and Inheritance
The adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, the promises, the fathers, and the new covenant made with the house of Israel and Judah belong to spiritual Israel, not to fleshly descent or Jewish nationality alone. Not all descended from Israel are true Israel, for the children of the flesh are not the children of God, but in Isaac shall the seed be called and the children of the promise are counted for the seed. True Israel are those who prevail with God by being turned from sin, who are inwardly Israel grafted into the original stock, whether Jew or Gentile, with natural branches broken off through unbelief and believing Gentiles grafted in to partake of the root and fatness while retaining the name Israel. Changing the people who bear the law does not change God's moral law, and those outside this New Testament sense of Israel are cut off from its blessings unless they repent and are grafted in again. That Israel consists only of new creatures created in Christ Jesus, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, have no confidence in the flesh, believe on the Son and so have everlasting life as heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ.
The seventh-day Sabbath as a perpetual covenant sign between God and Israel belongs to this spiritual Israel in every age. The Israel that can keep the Sabbath throughout generations in a perpetual covenant forever cannot be the natural seed but must be those who are Christ's and are Abraham's seed through promise because the promised Seed is Christ. Only the children of promise count as Israel, those who are children of Abraham by faith in Jesus Christ, who worship God in the Spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and by God's grace believers are children of Israel and share in the Sabbath sign given to Israel. Therefore the Sabbaths given as a sign between God and Israel belong as a sign between Christ the Creator and all His people, and the true Sabbath of the Israel of God entered through Christ and adoption remains the seventh day. It cannot be abolished while one true Israelite remains, for it is the memorial of creation between God and that forever Israel.
The promised heritage is not exhausted by temporary possession of Canaan, circumcision, or fleshly descent. To true Israelites, who are Israelites indeed and children of the promise by faith in Jesus Christ, belongs the heritage promised to Abraham and Isaac, which is the same as the heritage of Jacob, embracing the world restored, the whole new earth. Those who belong to Christ are Abraham's seed and heirs of the promise, which will be fulfilled in the resurrection and inheritance of the New Earth when the meek inherit the earth. The promise that God will be the God of all the families of Israel belongs to the Israel of God, and it guarantees that all of that true Israel will be made alive from the dead with immortal life that can die no more. All the saved are reckoned as belonging to one of the twelve tribes, entering through gates named for Israel's tribes, and in the regeneration the twelve tribes represent the inhabitants of the new earth.
Remnant Prophecy and Restoration
The true Israel to whom the promises belong is the remnant saved through faith in Christ, not all who bear Israel's name by birth, outward appearance, or religious profession. In every generation only a small part has been willing to accept Christ and devote themselves to Him, while the many who professed the true religion did not possess what they professed. The children of the flesh are not counted for the true seed, but the children of promise who become children of God through faith in Christ are counted as Abraham's seed, whether Jew or Gentile. When the unbelieving tribes were cut off, believing Gentiles were grafted by faith into the tame olive tree, the Abrahamic stock, and thus became Israel, the household of Israel and the one body of whom Christ is the head, so that all predictions about the people of God in the last days refer to believers and not to Hebrews according to the flesh. That remnant is Jews inwardly and Israelites in the gospel sense, Israelites indeed with or without traceable lineage, forming the last end of the Christian church to whom belongs the promise that the remnant shall do no iniquity, gathered in the last work of recovering Israel together with those called from among the Gentiles on equal terms, with no later special privilege or change of dispensation, and to them the sealing message is sent. All Israel that shall be saved is therefore the full number of God's faithful people.
God's word has not failed, and descent from Israel by flesh alone does not make anyone part of the Israel God will save, for His people are the children of promise and not merely the children of the flesh. To them alone, those who have faith in Christ without regard to previous nationality, the promises are made, and old Jerusalem, or the Jews as such, are rejected from the promises, which pass to true Christians called by another name, the only true Jews and children of Jerusalem, with no promise of restoration or conversion to the literal descendants of Abraham more than to any other class of sinners. There is in Christ no higher standing for Jew over Gentile, for believing Jews and Gentiles share the promises as God's Israel, the Jewish nation having fulfilled its role in preparation for the Messiah, while Old Testament prophecies about Israel were either fulfilled in the nation, served as types of their fullest fulfillment in God's people under Christ, or were conditional and unmet through disobedience. The kingdom was therefore taken from disobedient literal Israel for forfeited conditional promises and given to faithful overcomers, so Israel's promises must be read in light of Christ and the apostles rather than in a fleshly national sense. The verse thus excludes a gathering of ten fleshly tribes, a national restoration of the Jews to Palestine, or a rebuilt earthly city where Christ will reign before He comes.
All who are saved, faithful Jews and Gentiles from both dispensations, are reckoned as belonging to one of the twelve tribes, for there is no separate Bible class of Gentile Christians and there are only twelve. Every Christian is an Israelite who must enter through one of the gates named for Israel's tribes into the New Jerusalem on high, already built, with the names of the twelve apostles in the foundations showing the city is Christian and not Jewish. Those twelve tribes are the true Israel of God by faith, as Jacob became Israel, who will be gathered to that city when it comes down upon this earth at the close of the thousand years after purifying fire has cleansed and renovated the earth, where Christ will personally rule over a regenerated people on a regenerated earth. The twelve heavenly tribes recorded in heaven include believers from all nations, over whom the apostles reign in the regeneration as inhabitants of the new earth, and the sealed 144,000 are this spiritual Israel of the last generation, Israelites indeed marked by clean hearts, guilelessness, and blamelessness as those who prevail with God.
All Israel who are saved at Christ's coming means all believers, who will be raised from the dead or changed at the last trumpet, not the restoration of the Jewish nation as a means of converting the world. Those who belong to Christ are Abraham's seed and heirs of the promise, justified by faith and sharing Abraham's inheritance, loving the promised blessings like Isaac and Jacob rather than rejecting the birthright like Esau, and they will receive the covenant blessings at the second advent in the resurrection and inheritance of the new earth. Even though national Israel through disobedience and unbelief frustrated God's purpose that Israel be a spiritual kingdom, a theocracy in the earth, God reckons Israel spiritually, and everyone who becomes a subject of the kingdom of grace is enrolled as one of the Israel of God, like Isaac the child of faith. The promised Israel includes believing descendants of Abraham and remains distinct as a people among the nations of the saved, with both personal and national identity preserved. The promise that God will be the God of all the families of Israel therefore belongs to the Israel of God, guaranteeing that all of that true Israel will be made alive from the dead with immortal life that can die no more.
Warning to Professed Church
Not all who are descended from Israel are counted as Israel in the sense of those recognized in the gracious promises, for belonging to the Jewish nation by descent does not make a person God's Israel any more than belonging nominally to Christendom makes a person a Christian acknowledged by Christ. As Abraham's two sons show, though both Isaac and Ishmael were his children the promised line was counted through Isaac, so birth, outward appearance, or religious profession does not constitute true Israel. In Paul's day the Jewish church was Israel outwardly, yet many who professed the true religion did not possess what they professed, and only a small remnant was saved, namely those who accepted Christ and devoted themselves to Him. Even after being chosen and set apart as a peculiar treasure, many were rebellious and fell out by the way, proving that in every age true Israel has never included all who outwardly bore the name, since in no period have all living men been converted.
God instead secures out of the multitude of Adam and Eve's children the requisite number to fill His original purpose for a holy race to people the earth. Being called a Christian is not the same as belonging to Christ, for those who are Christ's are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise, and genuine belonging is shown by receiving Christ's character rather than merely appearing righteous outwardly. Profession therefore does not prove genuine faithfulness, and God's people must be sifted, especially in a time when counterfeit religion greatly outnumbers true religion. The same distinction appears where some are Sabbatarians by birth while others have left their first love and embraced the spirit of the world, showing that outward attachment does not equal inward belonging.
Natural descendants are not all children of God, but true Israel consists of those who are Jews inwardly and overcome as princes with God. Only such true Israel can fully value David's inspired psalms, moral instruction, and prophecies, and those who reject the Old Testament lose this help. Israelites indeed are to prepare for the coming judgment by obeying the warning and bringing their children into homes where they can learn God's Word. As with life itself, although all life in the universe is from God, not all life that is from His life remains His life in the true sense, but only life directly connected with God, unperverted and tending only to perpetuity, in harmony with His law and flowing in uninterrupted affluence from the Fountain to perpetuate every living creature where there is no death, so outward origin does not decide inward reality.
God's word has not failed even though many descended from Israel remain unconverted, reject Christ, and are not saved. Physical descent from Israel, Jacob, or Abraham does not by itself make anyone part of true Israel, a child of God, or an heir of the promise. The children of the flesh are not the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted for the seed, as shown when Isaac was called through promise rather than Ishmael and Jacob was chosen rather than Esau. Those children of promise become God's children by faith in Christ the promised Seed, by the new birth through the Spirit, and by obedience and righteousness, so that those of any nation who belong to Christ are Abraham's seed and heirs while unbelieving physical descendants have no part in the promise. Believing Gentiles are grafted as wild branches into the good olive tree and made nigh by Christ's blood to become fellow citizens, fellow heirs, and fellow partakers with the saints in the commonwealth of Israel, for there is no higher standing for Jew over Gentile in Christ.
Word Has Not Failed
Not as though God's word has taken no effect, for its failure is not proved by many descended from Israel remaining unconverted, rejecting Christ, and not being saved. Descent from Israel, Jacob, or Abraham does not by itself make a person true Israel, a child of God, or an heir of the promise. The children of the flesh are not counted as God's children, but the children of the promise are counted for the seed, as shown by the call in Isaac rather than Ishmael. Those born only according to the flesh cannot inherit the things of the Spirit, yet they are not excluded if through faith in Christ and the new birth by faith in God's promise they become children of promise. True Israelites are those to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, the promises, whose are the fathers and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, and as Abraham's children they keep the Sabbath forever for a perpetual covenant.
God's word never fails but always accomplishes His purpose, for He works all things after the counsel of His own will, His counsel stands forever, and He does all His pleasure. As Creator He has as potter among vessels the power and right to preserve or destroy any vessel according to His own will, and His decision for preservation or destruction is always in strict accordance with fitness or unfitness for continued existence, so all who submit to His will continue to exist while all who reject it must cease to exist. Satan compassed the death of Christ to destroy the Seed of Abraham and make God's word of no effect, but the death of the Seed proved not only its restoration but its multiplication, causing the seed of Abraham to abound everywhere by drawing all to Himself.
The verse concerns the relation of the Jewish people to God's plan worked out through them. It introduces the doctrine of election and settles who the heirs of the promise are and how the inheritance is obtained.
Birth Does Not Decide
Physical descent from Israel, Jacob, or Abraham does not by itself make a person part of true Israel, a child of God, or an heir of the promise. True Israel are not the children of the flesh even though they are the seed of Abraham, but the children of the promise who are counted for the seed, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience through faith in Christ. All theories and claims resting on bloodline are worthless, and no promise God made to Israel is ever fulfilled merely through natural birth, so it does not matter who the natural descendants of Abraham are today or what becomes of them, because the Israel of today is not decided by heredity. The distinction is illustrated by Abraham's sons, for although Isaac and Ishmael were both his children the promised line was counted through Isaac, and likewise people may belong to the Jewish nation by descent yet not be counted as God's Israel under His gracious promises and covenant, just as belonging nominally to Christendom does not make everyone a Christian acknowledged by Christ. Belonging to Israel is not determined by physical descent or Jewish nationality alone, but true Israel consists of people of faith, the spiritual descendants of Abraham, and Gentiles who belong to Christ are grafted into this people and are Abraham's seed. In this sense God's people include all who believe, and converted Gentiles are joined to Israel and become fellow citizens in its commonwealth, so that all the saved are the Israel of God, inheriting the Sabbath, the whole law, the glory, the covenants, and God's promises.
Belonging to Israel by birth, outward appearance, or religious profession does not make a person part of true Israel. In Paul's time the Jewish church was Israel outwardly, but many who professed the true religion did not possess what they professed, and only a small remnant was saved: those who accepted Christ and devoted themselves to Him. The distinction applies across generations, since only a small part has been willing to accept Christ, and outward descent from Israel and outward bearing of the name does not make one true Israel. Even after God chose the Jews and set them apart as His peculiar treasure, many were rebellious and fell out by the way, and apart from the heathen world, inside the professed church of God in every age true Israel has never included all who outwardly bore the name, for in no period of history have all living men been converted, God instead securing out of the multitude of Adam and Eve's children the requisite number to fill His original purpose for a holy race to people the earth. A true Jew is one inwardly, with circumcision of the heart, and believers in Christ from both Jews and Gentiles are the true Israel of God, for sharing Israel's name or outward membership does not make everyone part of true Israel, since the distinction is inward and a profession of truth must be matched by a life guided by it.
As not everyone who belongs outwardly to Israel is truly Israel, so profession of faith does not prove genuine faithfulness. God's people must be sifted, especially in a time when counterfeit religion greatly outnumbers true religion. Some are Sabbatarians by birth only, while others have left their first love and embraced the spirit of the world, showing that belonging outwardly does not mean truly belonging.
Children of Promise Identified
The word has not failed because descent from Israel does not by itself make a person true Israel, and being Abraham's seed does not by itself make all children. The children of the flesh are not the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. This is shown by the promise that in Isaac shall the seed be called, with the promised line counted through Isaac rather than Ishmael though both were Abraham's children, and by the choice of Jacob rather than Esau. In the same way people may belong to the Jewish nation by descent yet not be counted as God's Israel under His gracious promises, just as belonging nominally to Christendom does not make everyone a Christian acknowledged by Christ. The children of promise are those who have faith in Christ without regard to previous nationality, and to them alone the promises are made, not to the natural descendants as such, so that old Jerusalem, or the Jews as such, are rejected from the promises which pass to true Christians called by another name, who are the only true Jews and children of Jerusalem, with no promise of restoration or conversion to the literal descendants more than to any other class of sinners. To these true Israelites pertain the adoption and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the law and the service of God and the promises, whose are the fathers and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, they are Abraham's children, and they are to keep the Sabbath forever for a perpetual covenant.
Physical descent is not the basis for inheriting the promise, as the contrast of Ishmael and Isaac illustrates, for those born only according to the flesh cannot inherit the things of the Spirit, but they are not excluded if they become children of promise, born through faith in God's promise. Those who have faith in Christ and are born again are Israel, while those who lack faith in Christ and the new birth are not Israel even if they are Abraham's physical descendants. A person becomes a child of God by faith in Jesus Christ, whether Jew or Gentile, and all who are children of God by faith in Christ Jesus and belong to Christ are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. Those who believed in Christ include both those whose faith was expressed through types and shadows before Christ and those who come directly to the crucified Christ.
The children of promise are those who keep the commandments of God on which the promise rests, because the Jewish nation did not obey God's voice and keep His covenant, the ten commandments, so the word did not fail but the promise was taken from them and given to another people who revere and honor God by fulfilling its conditions, and true Israel is therefore found wherever obedient believers are, irrespective of nation. This promised seed is the Israel that continues as a nation, bearing the name Israel given when Jacob prevailed as a prince with God and with men.
God's choice of Isaac rather than Ishmael and of Jacob rather than Esau for the covenant privilege of being the line through which He would bless the world distinguishes physical descent from belonging to God's people through His choice and call, and His people include believing Jews and Gentiles who answer His call. Belonging is by His promise and call rather than by ancestry, for the children counted as the seed are the children of promise who are justified by faith and share Abraham's inheritance, while natural descendants who do not have the character of faith are not counted as the promised seed. The name first marked character, as Jacob was called Israel and his twin Esau was not, though the name later also applied to Jacob's descendants, and Israel properly denotes the believing descendants of Jacob and Judah as distinct from Abraham's wider family of believers among many nations who are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise, without erasing the distinct identity of Israel and Judah. Thus God's promises remain fulfilled even when unbelieving people who claim the name are rejected, the kingdom being taken from nominal Israel and given to true Israel, the faithful overcomers, so that even if every literal descendant of Jacob were lost God's promises to Israel would remain sure, since Israel's failure to attain righteousness came from rejecting Christ, through whom alone the righteousness of the law is obtained.
Gentiles Grafted Into Israel
Belonging to Israel is not decided by physical descent or Jewish nationality alone, for God's word has not failed when many descended from Israel are not counted as Israel. The children of the flesh are not the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted for the seed, as shown when Isaac called through promise is distinguished from Ishmael and the following verses explain the same distinction. Gentiles who belong to Christ by faith are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise, grafted as wild branches into the good olive tree in place of natural branches broken off through unbelief, to partake with them of the root and fatness while still retaining the name Israel. Broken branches remain fit only for burning unless they repent and are grafted in again, while Israel is divided into one part scattered for hurt to be consumed and one part scattered for good to be gathered again.
Those made nigh by Christ's blood and cleansed by the Lamb's blood are joined to Israel and become fellow citizens in its commonwealth, fellow heirs and fellow partakers with the saints. In this sense God's people include all who believe, whether Jew or Gentile, whether of this dispensation or former, and thus all the saved are the Israel of God, numbered among Israel's tribes through gates named for them. They share its adoption, glory, covenants, giving of the law, service, promises, whole law and Sabbath, for the spiritual Israel inherits all that belonged to Israel. The names Israel, Judah, Jacob, Zion and Jerusalem can denote this delivered remnant, the holy people scattered among the nations, the remnant that will be saved; the 144,000 are Israelites indeed, marked by guilelessness, blamelessness and clean hearts as those who prevail with God and are turned away from sin.
There is no distinction between Jew and Greek in Christ and no higher standing for Jew over Gentile, for an Israelite by birth has no special claim over a believing Gentile. The true Jew is one inwardly with circumcision of the heart and a heart cleansed by faith, the true Israelite is one who prevails with God by faith and does the works of faithful Abraham, whether lineage to Israel can be traced or not. The remnant of Israel is therefore not ancient Israel nor literal descendants as such nor those who are Jews outwardly, but Jews inwardly and Israelites in the gospel sense, Israelites indeed grafted by faith into the tame olive tree, the Abrahamic stock, and gathered by God from all nations, Jews as well as Gentiles. The true Jew is the follower of Jesus Christ, made by faith the seed of Isaac and Abraham, whose praise is of God and not of men, while those who profess the name of Jesus yet reject His words and break His law are not Jews but spiritually uncircumcised.
Meaning of Israel's Name
Israel is a spiritual name meaning one who prevails with God, prevailing over sin and self, gained as Jacob strove with God and men with weeping and supplication and prevailed through steadfast seeking of God's blessing. It marks character and not lineage, for descent from Israel, Jacob, or Abraham does not by itself make anyone part of true Israel, and the children of the flesh are not all children of God while the children of the promise are counted as Abraham's seed. The name is true only of overcomers whose lives fit its meaning, otherwise it is misleading, and it belongs to those who are sanctified and not to rebellious unconverted descendants, to those who are Jews inwardly and overcome as princes with God, to those who do Abraham's works rather than cherishing the devil's spirit and practicing evil. It is a spiritual and individual identity and not merely a national one, so that every saved person becomes part of God's Israel through faith in Christ, even as Jacob became Israel, being Israel by faith. The promises to Israel therefore belong to Christians who are Christ's and are Abraham's heirs, and all who are saved, faithful Jews and Gentiles from both dispensations, are numbered among Israel's tribes.
Only true Israel can fully value David's inspired psalms, moral instruction, and prophecies, and those who reject the Old Testament lose this help. The true Israel of God are the twelve tribes who will be gathered to the New Jerusalem on high, already built, which will come down upon this earth at the close of the thousand years after purifying fire has cleansed and renovated the earth, where Christ will personally rule over a regenerated people on a regenerated earth. This excludes a gathering of ten fleshly tribes and a rebuilt earthly city where Christ will reign. The 144,000 are Israelites indeed, marked by guilelessness and blamelessness, with clean hearts.
The Israelite indeed is guileless in heart like Nathanael, blameless, with circumcision of the heart, a follower of Jesus Christ made by faith the seed of Isaac and Abraham. Such are Jews inwardly and Israelites in the gospel sense whether they can trace lineage to Israel or not, grafted by faith into the tame olive tree and true stock, the Abrahamic stock from which many literal Jews were cut off through unbelief, made fellow citizens with the saints and members of the commonwealth of Israel. The remnant of Israel is therefore not ancient Israel nor the literal descendants of Israel as such nor those who are Jews outwardly, but this inward people who form the remnant or last end of the Christian church at the close of the gospel age to whom the promise that the remnant shall do no iniquity belongs. An earnest, obedient Christian need not feel reproached to be called a Jew, for his praise is of God and not of men.
Those who profess the name of Jesus yet reject His words are not Jews but are of the synagogue of Satan, and an Israelite who breaks God's law becomes uncircumcised spiritually, while Gentiles who keep the righteousness of the law through faith in Jesus become true Israel through circumcision of the heart. True Israel are not the children of Jacob, the twelve tribes, the literal Jews, or the seed of Abraham after the flesh, but the children of God, the children of the promise counted for the seed, those with circumcision of the heart under the new covenant with the law written on their hearts. The change of subjects from literal descendants to the new-covenant people never changes the moral law of God, which was never given to the Jews exclusively but was kept in their charge for a season to be handed down. Therefore the Sabbath given as a sign forever and a perpetual covenant to Israel still binds the Christian church and cannot be abolished while one true Israelite remains to claim the promise, and all difficulties about the Sabbath vanish once Israel is understood to mean the people of God.
Sabbath Covenant and Inheritance
The adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, the promises, the fathers, and the new covenant made with the house of Israel and Judah belong to spiritual Israel, not to fleshly descent or Jewish nationality alone. Not all descended from Israel are true Israel, for the children of the flesh are not the children of God, but in Isaac shall the seed be called and the children of the promise are counted for the seed. True Israel are those who prevail with God by being turned from sin, who are inwardly Israel grafted into the original stock, whether Jew or Gentile, with natural branches broken off through unbelief and believing Gentiles grafted in to partake of the root and fatness while retaining the name Israel. Changing the people who bear the law does not change God's moral law, and those outside this New Testament sense of Israel are cut off from its blessings unless they repent and are grafted in again. That Israel consists only of new creatures created in Christ Jesus, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, have no confidence in the flesh, believe on the Son and so have everlasting life as heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ.
The seventh-day Sabbath as a perpetual covenant sign between God and Israel belongs to this spiritual Israel in every age. The Israel that can keep the Sabbath throughout generations in a perpetual covenant forever cannot be the natural seed but must be those who are Christ's and are Abraham's seed through promise because the promised Seed is Christ. Only the children of promise count as Israel, those who are children of Abraham by faith in Jesus Christ, who worship God in the Spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and by God's grace believers are children of Israel and share in the Sabbath sign given to Israel. Therefore the Sabbaths given as a sign between God and Israel belong as a sign between Christ the Creator and all His people, and the true Sabbath of the Israel of God entered through Christ and adoption remains the seventh day. It cannot be abolished while one true Israelite remains, for it is the memorial of creation between God and that forever Israel.
The promised heritage is not exhausted by temporary possession of Canaan, circumcision, or fleshly descent. To true Israelites, who are Israelites indeed and children of the promise by faith in Jesus Christ, belongs the heritage promised to Abraham and Isaac, which is the same as the heritage of Jacob, embracing the world restored, the whole new earth. Those who belong to Christ are Abraham's seed and heirs of the promise, which will be fulfilled in the resurrection and inheritance of the New Earth when the meek inherit the earth. The promise that God will be the God of all the families of Israel belongs to the Israel of God, and it guarantees that all of that true Israel will be made alive from the dead with immortal life that can die no more. All the saved are reckoned as belonging to one of the twelve tribes, entering through gates named for Israel's tribes, and in the regeneration the twelve tribes represent the inhabitants of the new earth.
Remnant Prophecy and Restoration
The true Israel to whom the promises belong is the remnant saved through faith in Christ, not all who bear Israel's name by birth, outward appearance, or religious profession. In every generation only a small part has been willing to accept Christ and devote themselves to Him, while the many who professed the true religion did not possess what they professed. The children of the flesh are not counted for the true seed, but the children of promise who become children of God through faith in Christ are counted as Abraham's seed, whether Jew or Gentile. When the unbelieving tribes were cut off, believing Gentiles were grafted by faith into the tame olive tree, the Abrahamic stock, and thus became Israel, the household of Israel and the one body of whom Christ is the head, so that all predictions about the people of God in the last days refer to believers and not to Hebrews according to the flesh. That remnant is Jews inwardly and Israelites in the gospel sense, Israelites indeed with or without traceable lineage, forming the last end of the Christian church to whom belongs the promise that the remnant shall do no iniquity, gathered in the last work of recovering Israel together with those called from among the Gentiles on equal terms, with no later special privilege or change of dispensation, and to them the sealing message is sent. All Israel that shall be saved is therefore the full number of God's faithful people.
God's word has not failed, and descent from Israel by flesh alone does not make anyone part of the Israel God will save, for His people are the children of promise and not merely the children of the flesh. To them alone, those who have faith in Christ without regard to previous nationality, the promises are made, and old Jerusalem, or the Jews as such, are rejected from the promises, which pass to true Christians called by another name, the only true Jews and children of Jerusalem, with no promise of restoration or conversion to the literal descendants of Abraham more than to any other class of sinners. There is in Christ no higher standing for Jew over Gentile, for believing Jews and Gentiles share the promises as God's Israel, the Jewish nation having fulfilled its role in preparation for the Messiah, while Old Testament prophecies about Israel were either fulfilled in the nation, served as types of their fullest fulfillment in God's people under Christ, or were conditional and unmet through disobedience. The kingdom was therefore taken from disobedient literal Israel for forfeited conditional promises and given to faithful overcomers, so Israel's promises must be read in light of Christ and the apostles rather than in a fleshly national sense. The verse thus excludes a gathering of ten fleshly tribes, a national restoration of the Jews to Palestine, or a rebuilt earthly city where Christ will reign before He comes.
All who are saved, faithful Jews and Gentiles from both dispensations, are reckoned as belonging to one of the twelve tribes, for there is no separate Bible class of Gentile Christians and there are only twelve. Every Christian is an Israelite who must enter through one of the gates named for Israel's tribes into the New Jerusalem on high, already built, with the names of the twelve apostles in the foundations showing the city is Christian and not Jewish. Those twelve tribes are the true Israel of God by faith, as Jacob became Israel, who will be gathered to that city when it comes down upon this earth at the close of the thousand years after purifying fire has cleansed and renovated the earth, where Christ will personally rule over a regenerated people on a regenerated earth. The twelve heavenly tribes recorded in heaven include believers from all nations, over whom the apostles reign in the regeneration as inhabitants of the new earth, and the sealed 144,000 are this spiritual Israel of the last generation, Israelites indeed marked by clean hearts, guilelessness, and blamelessness as those who prevail with God.
All Israel who are saved at Christ's coming means all believers, who will be raised from the dead or changed at the last trumpet, not the restoration of the Jewish nation as a means of converting the world. Those who belong to Christ are Abraham's seed and heirs of the promise, justified by faith and sharing Abraham's inheritance, loving the promised blessings like Isaac and Jacob rather than rejecting the birthright like Esau, and they will receive the covenant blessings at the second advent in the resurrection and inheritance of the new earth. Even though national Israel through disobedience and unbelief frustrated God's purpose that Israel be a spiritual kingdom, a theocracy in the earth, God reckons Israel spiritually, and everyone who becomes a subject of the kingdom of grace is enrolled as one of the Israel of God, like Isaac the child of faith. The promised Israel includes believing descendants of Abraham and remains distinct as a people among the nations of the saved, with both personal and national identity preserved. The promise that God will be the God of all the families of Israel therefore belongs to the Israel of God, guaranteeing that all of that true Israel will be made alive from the dead with immortal life that can die no more.
Warning to Professed Church
Not all who are descended from Israel are counted as Israel in the sense of those recognized in the gracious promises, for belonging to the Jewish nation by descent does not make a person God's Israel any more than belonging nominally to Christendom makes a person a Christian acknowledged by Christ. As Abraham's two sons show, though both Isaac and Ishmael were his children the promised line was counted through Isaac, so birth, outward appearance, or religious profession does not constitute true Israel. In Paul's day the Jewish church was Israel outwardly, yet many who professed the true religion did not possess what they professed, and only a small remnant was saved, namely those who accepted Christ and devoted themselves to Him. Even after being chosen and set apart as a peculiar treasure, many were rebellious and fell out by the way, proving that in every age true Israel has never included all who outwardly bore the name, since in no period have all living men been converted.
God instead secures out of the multitude of Adam and Eve's children the requisite number to fill His original purpose for a holy race to people the earth. Being called a Christian is not the same as belonging to Christ, for those who are Christ's are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise, and genuine belonging is shown by receiving Christ's character rather than merely appearing righteous outwardly. Profession therefore does not prove genuine faithfulness, and God's people must be sifted, especially in a time when counterfeit religion greatly outnumbers true religion. The same distinction appears where some are Sabbatarians by birth while others have left their first love and embraced the spirit of the world, showing that outward attachment does not equal inward belonging.
Natural descendants are not all children of God, but true Israel consists of those who are Jews inwardly and overcome as princes with God. Only such true Israel can fully value David's inspired psalms, moral instruction, and prophecies, and those who reject the Old Testament lose this help. Israelites indeed are to prepare for the coming judgment by obeying the warning and bringing their children into homes where they can learn God's Word. As with life itself, although all life in the universe is from God, not all life that is from His life remains His life in the true sense, but only life directly connected with God, unperverted and tending only to perpetuity, in harmony with His law and flowing in uninterrupted affluence from the Fountain to perpetuate every living creature where there is no death, so outward origin does not decide inward reality.