The Future Restoration of Israel: A Response to Supersessionism

By STANLEY E PORTER

This volume is the most extensive of its kind as a major set of collected essays from a wide range of scholars on the question of the promises of God to Israel. These essays put forward the position that unconditional promises were given to Israel, which have not been fulfilled in the church or any other entity. At the consummation, there will be a continuing role for the Jews, realized through their national and territorial hope of a restored-redeemed Israel. This volume contains an eclectic group of contributors who have reached this position from various approaches to interpretation. The essays exhibit both positive argumentation and engagement with supersessionist literature.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pickwick Publications
• Release date: Jun 2, 2023
• ISBN: 9781532639784

Book preview

The Future Restoration of Israel

A Response to Supersessionism

Edited by

Stanley E. Porter

and

Alan E. Kurschner

The Future Restoration of Israel

A Response to Supersessionism

McMaster Biblical Studies Series, Volume

10

McMaster Divinity College Press

issn

2564-4343

(Print)

issn

2564-4351

(Ebook)

Copyright ©

2023

Wipf and Stock Publishers. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers,

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paperback isbn: 978-1-5326-3976-0

hardcover isbn: 978-1-5326-3977-7

ebook isbn: 978-1-5326-3978-4

Cataloguing-in-Publication data:

Names: Porter, Stanley E., editor | Kurschner, Alan E., editor.

Title: The future restoration of Israel : a response to supersessionism / Stanley E. Porter and Alan E. Kurschner, editors.

Description: Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications,

2023

| McMaster Biblical Studies Series | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers:

isbn 978-1-5326-3976-0 (

paperback

) | isbn 978-1-5326-3977-7 (

hardcover

) | isbn 978-1-5326-3978-4 (

ebook

)

Subjects: LCSH: Judaism--Relations--Christianity. | Theology, Doctrinal--History.

Classification:

BV600.3

P67 2023 (

paperback

) | BV600.3 (

ebook

)

02/09/23

Table of Contents

Title Page

Lists of Contributors

Preface

Abbreviations

Defining Supersessionism: An Introduction —Stanley E. Porter and Alan E. Kurschner

Part One: The Covenants and Israel’s Future

The Servant of the Lord: Covenant Mediator and Light to the Nations —Robert B. Chisholm

The Christian Church: Built on the Foundation of the Abrahamic, Davidic, and New Covenants —Walter C. Kaiser Jr.

The New Covenant and Supersessionism in Jeremiah 31:31–37 —Mark F. Rooker

A Response to the Progressive Covenantalists’ (and Others’) View of the Land Promises for Israel —Michael G. Vanlaningham

Part Two: The Nations and Israel’s Future

Israel’s Future as a Nation and Reconciliation —Darrell L. Bock

Zechariah 14: Its Usage in Revelation 16, 19, and 20 —David J. Fuller

One Nation under God: Does the World Need an Israelite Theocracy? —Mark R. Saucy

Should the 144,000 in Revelation 7:3–8 Be Identified as the Great Multitude in 7:9–17? A Response to Gregory K. Beale —Alan E. Kurschner

The Future Restoration of Israel: Some Theological Considerations —Alan Hultberg

Was Ethnic Israel’s Mission Transferable? —Jim R. Sibley

Part Three: Paul and Israel’s Future

Through Isaac Shall Your Seed Be Named (Romans 9:7b): Israel and the Purpose of God in Romans —William S. Campbell

Romans 9–11 and Especially Romans 11:26 in the Context of Paul’s Argument in Romans —Stanely E. Porter

Ecclesiological Vision for L’Dor Vador: Paul and Jewish Identity in 1 Corinthians 9:19–23 and 7:17–24 —David Rudolph

Paul between Supersessionism and Pluralism: Post-Supersessionism, Romans, and N. T. Wright —J. Brian Tucker

The Seed as Christ in Galatians 3:16 and the Wrong Deductions of Replacement Theology —Michael L. Brown

Another Look at Galatians 6:16: A Grammatical and Syntactical Analysis of Paul’s Enigmatic Benediction —David I. Yoon

Part Four: Jesus and Israel’s Future

The Consideration of a Future for Israel in the Light of the Apparently Bleak Consequences for Negative Responses to Jesus’ Ministry in the Gospel of Matthew —Michael J. Wilkins

The Future of the Jewish People in the Light of Matthew’s Vineyard and Mark’s Fig Tree —Craig A. Evans

Part Five: Supersessionism in the Past

Anti-Semitic Supersessionism: The Sharp Words that Deepened the Divide —Hélène Dallaire

The Impact of Supersessionism on Jewish Evangelism —Mitch Glaser

Index of Modern Authors

Index of Ancient Sources

To Marvin Rosenthal and Jeff Millenson

Lists of Contributors

Darrell L. Bock (PhD, University of Aberdeen), Dallas Theological Seminary, Dallas, TX

Michael L. Brown (PhD, New York University), The King’s University, Southlake, TX

William S. Campbell (PhD, University of Edinburgh), Abraham Geiger College, University of Postdam, Germany

Robert B. Chisholm (ThD, Dallas Theological Seminary), Dallas Theological Seminary, Dallas, TX

Hélène Dallaire (PhD, Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion), Denver Seminary, Littleton, CO

Craig A. Evans (PhD, Claremont Graduate University), Houston Christian University, Houston, TX

David J. Fuller (PhD, McMaster Divinity College), Torch Trinity Graduate University, Seoul, South Korea

Mitch Glaser (PhD, Fuller Theological Seminary), Chosen People Ministries, New York, NY

Alan Hultberg (PhD, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School), Talbot School of Theology, Biola University, La Mirada, CA

Walter C. Kaiser, Jr. (PhD, Brandeis University), Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, South Hamilton, MA

Alan E. Kurschner (PhD, McMaster Divinity College), Center for Learning Biblical Greek, Rice Lake, WI

Stanley E. Porter (PhD, University of Sheffield), McMaster Divinity College, Hamilton, ON

Mark F. Rooker (PhD, Brandeis University), Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Wake Forest, NC

David Rudolph (PhD, Cambridge University), The King’s University, Southlake, TX

Mark R. Saucy (PhD, Fuller Theological Seminary), Talbot School of Theology, Biola University, La Mirada, CA

Jim R. Sibley (PhD, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary), Israel College of the Bible, Netanya, Israel

J. Brian Tucker (PhD, University of Wales, Lampeter), Moody Theological Seminary, Plymouth, MI

Michael G. Vanlaningham (PhD, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School), Harvest Bible Chapel, Elgin, IL

Michael J. Wilkins (PhD, Fuller Theological Seminary), Talbot School of Theology, Biola University, La Mirada, CA

David I. Yoon (PhD, McMaster Divinity College), Emmanuel Bible College, Kitchener, ON

Preface

This volume addresses a topic that seems to be of recurring interest both to scholars and to a variety of interested non-scholars, especially Christians concerned with the place of Israel within God’s economy. As this volume makes clear, there have been a variety of stances regarding the future prospects of Israel with the advent of Jesus Christ, and these positions have been developed in varying ways from the earliest days of the Christian church. The result has been positions that have ranged from the church replacing Israel to Israel retaining a central place in God’s plans. The supersessionist or replacement viewpoint (and this position is subject to a variety of nuances) has been the most enduring within the Christian church and has been held by significant Christian thinkers and theological viewpoints. However, there have also been positions that have argued for a continuing place of national Israel and the Jewish people even in the age of the church. This volume represents the latter viewpoint in so far as it contains essays that, in varying ways, argue that the church has not taken the place of the Jewish people within God’s purposes and that national or ethnic Israel retains an important position, even a central one in God’s future.

The fact that the essays within this volume represent this position that affirms the continued place of Israel within God’s purposes does not mean that the essays are all of a kind. Within this position, there is a range of opinion represented. This diversity of opinion can be seen in the exegesis of various passages, in both the Old and New Testaments, and in the practical outcomes of this position in a variety of walks of contemporary life, whether that is Christian life or the world of global politics.

We invited a large number of contributors to this volume, and we were pleasantly surprised by the response. Due to the problems related to the COVID-19 global pandemic we have not been able to proceed to publication as quickly as we would have wished. We wish to thank them for their patience as we have gone through the publication process. We wish to thank them for their weighing of many serious and important issues that provide a constant reminder that issues of Christian theology have more than just intellectual and academic value but translate into issues that have a possible effect on our daily lives.

As editors of this volume, we wish to thank all our contributors for their shared responsibility in seeing this volume through to completion. We also wish to thank the myriad of people who stand behind all of us and enable us to do the scholarship that is represented in this volume, including our various academic institutions. We also wish to thank our spouses, friends, and others who constantly encourage us to think and think again about issues of such importance. We trust that the essays offered here will also stimulate further thinking in our readers.

Stanley E. Porter

McMaster Divinity College

Alan E. Kurschner

Center for Learning Biblical Greek

Abbreviations

AAMM Asia-Africa Journal of Mission & Ministry

AB Anchor Bible

ABRL Anchor Bible Reference Library

ACCSNT Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture: New Testament

ACNT American Commentary on the New Testament

ACT Ancient Christian Texts

ANF Ante-Nicene Fathers

ASMS American Society of Missiology Series

AUSS Andrews University Seminary Studies

BA Biblical Archeologist

BAR Biblical Archaeology Review

BBR Bulletin for Biblical Research

BCOT Baker Commentary on the Old Testament Wisdom and Psalms

BDB Brown, Francis, S. R. Driver, and Charles A. Briggs. A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament. Oxford: Clarendon, 1907.

BDF Blass, Friedrich, Albert Debrunner, and Robert W. Funk. A Greek Grammar of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1961.

BDR Blass, F., A. Debrunner, and F. Rehkopf. Grammatik des neutestamentlichen Griechisch

BECNT Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament

BHGNT Baylor Handbook on the Greek New Testament

Bib Biblica

BiBh Bible Bhashyam

BibInt Biblical Interpretation

BIS Biblical Interpretation Series

BMSEC Baylor-Mohr Siebeck Studies in Early Christianity

BNTC Black’s New Testament Commentary

BRLA Brill Reference Library of Judaism

BSac Bibliotheca Sacra

BT The Bible Translator

BU Biblische Untersuchungen

BVB Beiträge zum Verstehen der Bibel

BZ Biblische Zeitschrift

BZNW Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft und die Kunde der älteren Kirche

CATR Canadian-American Theological Review

CBQ Catholic Biblical Quarterly

CC The Covenant Companion

CCSS Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture

CCT Chalice Commentaries for Today

CD Church Dogmatics

CNTUOT Beale, G. K., and D. A. Carson, eds. Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2007.

ConBOT Coniectanea Biblica Old Testament Series

ConcC Concordia Commentary

CSEL Corpus scriptorum ecclesiasticorum latinorum

CSHJ Chicago Studies in the History of Judaism

CTJ Calvin Theological Journal

CTM Currents in Theology and Missiology

CTR Criswell Theological Review

Did Didaskalia

ÉBib Études Bibliques

EC Early Christianity

ECBC Eerdmans Classic Biblical Commentaries

ECC Eerdmans Critical Commentary

EDIS Edition Israelogie

EDNT Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament

EKKNT Evangelisch-katholischer Kommentar zum Neuen Testament

ETSM Evangelical Theological Society Monographs

EvangJourn Evangelical Journal

FC Fathers of the Church

FidRef Fides Reformata

FRLANT Forschungen zur Religion und Literatur des Alten und Neuen Testaments

GKC Gesenius’ Hebrew Grammar

GTJ Grace Theological Journal

HALOT The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament

HBT Horizons in Biblical Theology

HCOT Historical Commentary on the Old Testament

HNT Handbuch zum Neuen Testament

HNTC Harper’s New Testament Commentaries

HTANT Historisch-theologische Auslegung: Neues Testament

HTKNT Herders theologischer Kommentar zum Neuen Testament

IBC Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching

ICC The International Critical Commentary

IFG1 Halliday, M. A. K. An Introduction to Functional Grammar. London: Arnold, 1985.

IFG4 Halliday, M. A. K. Halliday’s Introduction to Functional Grammar. 4th ed. Revised by Christian M. I. M. Matthiessen. London: Routledge, 2014.

JAOS Journal of the American Oriental Society

JBL Journal of Biblical Literature

JEC Journal of Ecumenical Studies

JETS Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society

JJMJS Journal of the Jesus Movement in its Jewish Setting

JLCR Jordan Lectures in Comparative Religion

JPS Jewish Publication Society

JSJSup Journal for the Study of Judaism Supplements

JSNT Journal for the Study of the New Testament

JSNTSup Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement Series

JSPL Journal for the Study of Paul and His Letters

JSSSup Journal of Semitic Studies Supplement

JTI Journal of Theological Interpretation

JTS Journal of Theological Studies

KNT Kommentar zum Neuen Testament

LBS Linguistic Biblical Studies

LNTS Library of New Testament Studies

LPS Library of Pauline Studies

LSJ Liddell, Scott, Jones, Greek-English Lexicon (9th ed., 1996)

LW Lutheran World

LWFD Lutheran World Federation Documentation

MAJT Mid-America Journal of Theology

MC The Modern Churchman

MeyerK Meyers Kritisch-exegetischer Kommentar über das Neue Testament

MSJ The Master’s Seminary Journal

MT Modern Theology

NAC The New American Commentary

NACSBT New American Commentary Studies in Bible and Theology

NANF Neutestamentliche Abhandlungen, Neue Folge

NCB New Century Bible

NCBC New Cambridge Bible Commentary

Neot Neotestamentica

NIBC The New International Biblical Commentary

NICNT New International Commentary on the New Testament

NICOT New International Commentary on the Old Testament

NIDNTT New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology

NIDOTTE New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis

NIGTC New International Greek Testament Commentary

NIVAC New International Version Application Commentary

NovT Novum Testamentum

NovTSup Novum Testamentum Supplements

NSBT New Studies in Biblical Theology

NTAS New Testament after Supersessionism

NTD Das Neue Testament Deutsch

NTL New Testament Library

NTM New Testament Message

NTS New Testament Studies

NTT New Testament Theology

PGC The Pelican Gospel Commentaries

PLO Palestine Liberation Organization

PNTC Pillar New Testament Commentary

PRJ Puritan Reformed Journal

RBL Review of Biblical Literature

REC Reformed Expository Commentary

ResQ Restoration Quarterly

RevExp Review and Expositor

RNT Regensburger Neues Testament

SBG Studies in Biblical Greek

SBEC Studies in Bible and Early Christianity

SBLDS Society of Biblical Literature Dissertation Series

SBJT The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology

SCJR Studies in Christian–Jewish Relations

SCLH Studies in Comparative Legal History

SGBC The Story of God Bible Commentary

SIDIC Service International de Documentation Iudeo-Chretienne

SKKNT Stuttgarter Kleiner Kommentar Neues Testament

SLCS Studies in Language Companion Series

SNTG Studies in New Testament Greek

SNTSMS Society for New Testament Studies Monograph Series

SP Sacra Pagina

SSN Studia Semitica Neerlandica

StBibLit Studies in Biblical Literature (Lang)

STNW Studies of the New Testament and Its World

StP Studia Patristica

SwJT Southwestern Journal of Theology

TCLGT Translations of Christian Literature Series I - Greek Texts

TDNT Theological Dictionary of the New Testament

TDOT Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament

TENTS Texts and Editions for New Testament Study

THNT Theologischer Handkommentar zum Neuen Testament

TLOT Theological Lexicon of the Old Testament

TNTC Tyndale New Testament Commentaries

TTCBS T. & T. Clark Biblical Studies

TWOT Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament

TynBul Tyndale Bulletin

VT Vetus Testamentum

WBC Word Biblical Commentary

WUNT Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen Zum Neuen Testament

ZECNT Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament

ZNW Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft und die Kunde der älteren Kirche

Defining Supersessionism

An Introduction

Stanley E. Porter and Alan E. Kurschner

This volume contains an extensive set of essays on a specific question concerning Israel. Will God restore the nation of Israel? Or is Israel’s role in God’s plan now defunct? This has been a perennial question since the apostolic days (Rom 11 : 1 ), punctuating itself into the millennia of Christian thought and practice. It is a question that will not—and should not, we believe—go away anytime soon. In this introduction we will address several aspects concerning our main question. First, we introduce the purpose for this volume; second, we discuss how supersessionism relates to the question of Israel’s future role in God’s plan; third, we provide an outline of supersessionism in the early church and the centuries that have followed; finally, we provide brief summaries of each essay.

Why This Volume

This volume is a collection of essays on the question of Israel’s future role. The contributors to this volume are diverse in their theological perspectives but share the understanding that God will fulfill his promises to national Israel. The contributors are also diverse in their publishing profiles on this issue, ranging from several old stalwarts who have plowed and planted this terrain in the last several decades to new and emerging, insightful scholars who are beginning to clear more trees off the land by contributing to this larger conversation. This set of scholarly essays intends to advance the exegetical, theological, and historical literature with the aim to challenge supersessionism on the question of Israel’s futurity.

The broad theological rubric of supersessionism includes a host of interrelated questions on the relationship between the old and the new: The relevance of Jewish thought, practice, and their future as a people in light of God’s new work in Jesus Christ and his church (e.g., Torah observance, evangelism, ecclesial structure, worship, current state of Israel, nature of a millennium, to name a few). The focus of this volume is on the specific question of Israel’s restored future analyzing various texts and topics. Some argue that Torah observance is no longer relevant, even as God still has a future redemptive role for Israel; others, on the other hand, will argue that Torah observance is relevant to their case for Israel’s future role at the consummation. Given the number of contributors in this collected volume, inevitably there will be some overlap and even disagreement on various points. The editors, however, deem this a good thing, because it provides latitude of thought without being restrictive to meaningful interaction. As mentioned, this volume is focused on articulating a response to that feature of supersessionism that claims God has no future redemptive plan for national Israel. As a result, this volume is organized around five rubrics: The Covenants and Israel’s Future, The Nations and Israel’s Future, Paul and Israel’s Future, Jesus and Israel’s Future, and Supersessionism in the Past.

What Is Supersessionism?

A large part of engaging debate over the future of Israel involves examining the language of supersessionism, a term that can be misconstrued within theological parlance. We will draw from Matthew A. Tapie’s helpful historical analysis for the language of supersessionism.¹ Defining supersessionism is a key concern for Tapie in promoting theological clarity and fruitful discussion. His starting point is to trace the use of the term to inform whether Thomas Aquinas was a supersessionist. The English term supersessionism is recent in theological parlance; however, its cognates supersede or supersession have been in use for a couple hundred years, particularly relating to ideas of the New Testament fulfilling Judaism and the Mosaic law.² The concept, as we shall see, reaches back to the second century, but finds a definitive statement in Augustine’s Against Faustus the Manichean where Judaism and its law were thought to serve symbolically by prefiguring the coming of Christ.³ Before the Second World War, the term supersessionism was considered self-evident and unproblematic. After the Second World War, however, with the horrifying extermination of millions of Jews, theologians began to realize that the deep-seated theological tradition of what would be called supersessionism was a deep wellspring of contempt (i.e., anti-Judaism and anti-Semitism) that made the holocaust possible.⁴

Supersessionism then eventually took on the sense of identifying a theologically inadequate or problematic Christian understanding of Jews and Judaism.⁵ This post-War sense was especially articulated by the French-Jewish historian Jules Isaac (1877–1963) in his seminal work Jésus et Israël, where he argued for the deep intellectual influences of anti-Semitism and anti-Judaism upon the Christian tradition.⁶ Isaac argued that the Christian teaching of contempt was justified for three reasons: (1) Israel’s dispersion, (2) the deteriorated state of Judaism, and (3) their guilt of deicide.⁷ In his 1964 English translation (Teaching of Contempt) of L’enseignement du mépris (1962), the term supersede is first used in English to mean a problematic conception of how Christ fulfills the Mosaic Law.⁸ Specifically, Isaac’s usage of the term referred to the double sens of fulfilled and obsolete/expired (dépassée/périmé). Since then the term has been increasingly used in theological discourse.

Tapie notes that because of its increased usage, there has been confusion and ambiguity concerning supersessionism. Some theologians departed from Isaac’s narrow sense and have used it in the general sense of negative Christian views of Judaism or equating the term with the demonization of the State of Israel.⁹ Tapie agrees that supersessionism should not be defined or confused with anti-Judaism, found in the likes of Valentinus and Marcion who did not make claims on Christ’s fulfillment of the law and its abrogation.¹⁰ Nor should supersessionism be defined as anti-Semitism, which refers to hateful attitudes and actions directed toward the Jewish people because of their perceived ethnicity or race.¹¹ Tapie also does not think it is helpful to use it in the sense that Judaism and Christianity are separate and distinct traditions or that they are mutually indifferent.¹² This last notion, as the others, fails to articulate the nature and relationship of Christ’s fulfillment of the law, including the result of reconsideration of the relevance of the Jewish religion. They distract from what R. Kendall Soulen calls the heart and soul of supersessionism and its history in the Christian tradition.¹³ This heart of supersessionism, Tapie insists, should be defined as the Christian claim that with the advent of Christ, Jewish law is fulfilled and obsolete, with the result that God replaces Israel with the Church.¹⁴

Along the same lines as Isaac, Soulen defines supersessionism in the fulfillment-obsolescence sense. But he also distinguishes at least three forms of supersessionism: punitive, economic, and structural. Tapie notes that the last form is more of a consequence of supersessionism than supersessionism itself.¹⁵ Punitive supersessionism teaches that Israel is rejected and their covenant abrogated (i.e., revoked or rescinded) by God as punishment because they rejected Christ; therefore, the church replaces Israel. Economic supersessionism, on the other hand, shares the view that the church has replaced Israel; it does so, not because of Jewish disobedience or sin, but because Christ’s fulfillment of Jewish ceremonial law renders its continued observance obsolete and indeed damnable.¹⁶ In other words, the carnal-Mosaic program prepared for the spiritual-Christ program.¹⁷ Both supersessionist forms use different ways to reach the same conclusion, where God’s purpose and program for Israel has been abrogated and thereby superseded. For our specific purposes in this volume, supersessionism renders any redemptive purpose that God would have for a future Israel meaningless. The heart of supersessionism—that is, economic supersessionism—according to Isaac, Tapie, and Soulen, is not just fulfillment, but the double sense of fulfillment.

While punitive and economic supersessionism are doctrinal, the standard model of supersessionism possesses a structural sense as it refers to the narrative logic of the standard model whereby it renders the Hebrew Scriptures largely indecisive for shaping Christian convictions about how God’s works as Consummator and as Redeemer engage humankind in universal and enduring ways.¹⁸ Soulen explains structural supersessionism through the nature of the standard canonical narrative.¹⁹ The narrative consists of four episodes: God as Consummator, God as Redeemer, the church, and the final consummation. However, this narrative leaves out virtually the entire Hebrew Scriptures except for Gen 1–3. From God as Consummator, the narrative fast forwards—omitting God of Israel—to God as Redeemer.²⁰ Israel is conceived as nothing more than the economy of redemption in prefigurative form.²¹ This narrative was reinforced in practically every historic confession of the faith.²² It functions then as a hermeneutical concomitant of defining supersessionism, whether it relates to the past, present, or future of God’s program with Israel. Soulen notes that overcoming supersessionism is not merely a matter of addressing Christian doctrines seriatim, because God’s narrative of his relations with humankind is more basic. The canonical narrative is an interpretive instrument that provides a framework for reading coherently the Christian Bible as a theological and narrative unity in light of its multiplicity of stories.²³ It is not the biblical canon of collected sacred texts, nor identical to the biblical narratives. It is rather the framework for interpreting the collected texts, that is, how the Bible is unified. The narrative is necessary because the Christian Bible is complex, containing both Testaments. More specifically, it asks the question of how the God of Israel coheres with acting in Jesus Christ. The answer establishes the hermeneutical foundational question to Christian theology.²⁴ In short, the traditional canonical narratives have been God as Consummator and as Redeemer, as both relate to the Scriptures (Old Testament) and Apostolic Witness (New Testament).

How then does the aforementioned definition of supersessionism relate to our purpose in this volume concerning Israel’s future? The fulfillment-obsolete definition relates to the past and present state of Judaism, asking the question of the continuation of Torah for Jews in the Christian era. This is an important question and we do not want to minimize this question and its ramifications. And indeed, a few contributors in this volume cover this question, arguing that it informs our question of Israel’s future. These complex issues cannot be neatly compartmentalized; nevertheless, we can, at least temporally, bracket the supersessionist fulfillment-obsolescence question as it relates to the law, while we articulate God’s future purposes for Israel in this set of essays. Without then blurring or confusing the latter sense of fulfillment-obsolescence supersessionism, the aspect of supersessionism used in the title of this volume will refer to the theological view that denies any future divine promises and blessings to national Israel. Many supersessionists, to be sure, argue that God will bring about a revival among individual Jews at the consummation. However, they would maintain that any national hope and promises for a restored nation of Israel have been superseded and rendered obsolete. The contributors of this volume will argue the contrary: that God has promised a future national hope for Israel. The consummation will not be some mere monochromatic reality. Israel will be the national source of salvation, when they are vindicated and their King worshipped among the nations. Then all who survive of the nations that have come against Jerusalem shall go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the festival of booths. If any of the families of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, there will be no rain upon them (Zech 14:16–17, NRSV).

The account in Acts 15 is a locus to discern a canonical narrative. We witness diversity within unity, a common fellowship consisting of both Jewish and Gentile branches. This implies that God will keep his promises to national Israel. Indeed, the new covenant was made, not with Gentiles, but with the house of Israel (Jer 31:33). In the heart of Jeremiah’s context of the promise of a new covenant of forgiveness and faith, God reaffirms his unconditional promise to the nation of Israel (Jer 31:35–37, NRSV):

35

Thus says the Lord,

who gives the sun for light by day

and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night,

who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—

the Lord of hosts is his name:

36

If this fixed order were ever to cease

from my presence, says the Lord,

then also the offspring of Israel would cease

to be a nation before me forever.

37

Thus says the Lord:

If the heavens above can be measured,

and the foundations of the earth below can be explored,

then I will reject all the offspring of Israel

because of all they have done,

says the Lord.

Paul had this new covenant text in mind when he exclaimed, I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! (Rom 11:1). Paul links this with the promise of Israel’s restoration through God’s covenant: And so all Israel will be saved; as it is written, ‘Out of Zion will come the Deliverer; he will banish ungodliness from Jacob.’ ‘And this is my covenant with them, when I take away their sins’ (Rom 11:26–27). For Paul, God’s promises to Israel have not been superseded by Gentiles; rather his grace has been extended to Gentiles. Extension does not imply nullification or supersession, for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable (Rom 11:29). Paul’s imagery in his exposition articulates diversity within unity. One people of God realized within many nations, now and forever more—not a nationless state of affairs.

Supersessionism in the Early Church

Early on, Christian thinkers began to misconstrue and confuse extension of God’s grace with supersession. This supersessionist canonical narrative emerged quickly in the second century. The following early writers are representative, serving to outline the supersessionist narrative. The Epistle of Barnabas (4.7–9) is one of the earliest examples, marked by an allegorical interpretation where the literal promises to Israel were transferred to the spiritual church. The author justified punitive supersessionism as demonstrated in his statement of Moses throwing down the tablets. This marked Israel’s abrogation within God’s redemptive program. This construal of punitive supersessionism is shared by other key figures in the second century such as Justin Martyr in his Dialogus cum Tryphone (16.2), where, because of Israel’s rejection, they have lost hope in any future glory. The church has become the new spiritual Israel. For Irenaeus of Lyons, in Adversus Haereses (3.21.1), the grace of God has been removed from the Jews. The third-century Tertullian in Adversus Judaeos (2–3) is consistent with his second-century predecessors in their view of punitive supersessionism. Any special promises to Israel were thoroughly null and void. For Hippolytus of Rome, their loss of hope would last forever.²⁵ Cyprian of Carthage thought the Jews should be banished from his diocese.²⁶ Origen (Princ. 2.4.22; Comm. Matt. 14.22) stresses the dichotomy between the corporeal and the spiritual, applying it to Israel and the church, where the Old Testament promises to Israel were spiritually applied to the church.

The Constantinian era did not fare much better. J. Parkes notes, The Jew as he is encountered in the pages of fourth-century writers is not a human being at all. He is a ‘monster,’ a theological abstraction, of superhuman cunning and malice, and more than superhuman blindness.²⁷ Eusebius, who also believed the church replaced Israel, celebrated the union between the church and state in Constantine’s empire, where it was a crime to convert to Judaism.²⁸ This politically hostile environment for Jews would find support in the theological environment. Ambrose of Milan promoted violence against the Jewish synagogue.²⁹ Jerome’s contempt for the material world was taken out on the Jews.³⁰ Chrysostom the golden-mouthed preacher avowed, They are worse even than heathen circuses . . . I hate the Jews for they have the law and they insult it.³¹ Indeed, the utterances of popular preachers are often much more influential than ivory-tower theologians. Chrysostom’s rhetoric would have far-reaching influence for centuries in Christian Europe. Finally, Augustine of Hippo, who did not possess the rhetoric of his predecessors, was nevertheless supersessionist and argued that the Jews lost favor with God permanently because of their rejection of Christ. He notably spiritualized the promises to Israel in the Old Testament and applied them to the church.³² The early church established the supersessionist narrative that would continue into the Medieval Period, the Reformation, and the last few centuries up to contemporary times, while yet witnessing some pockets of tolerance and reflection on the Jews and a future Israel.³³

A few comments on the supersessionist narrative, for example, in commentaries on the book of Revelation provide helpful examples. While denying a future role for Israel in the kingdom, pre-Constantine interpreters typically approached Revelation with a chiliast orientation, believing in a future earthly one-thousand-year reign that would begin when Christ returned to destroy Rome’s political structures.³⁴ Christ did not soon return, but Rome was destroyed in a way they did not expect. God, as it was construed, ushered in the millennium by Christianizing the empire and converting the emperor Constantine in the early part of the fourth century. Chiliast interpretation, then, fell on hard times, as did its heretical interpreters.³⁵ Why look beyond to a golden age when we have it now in front of us in all its glory embodied in the Roman Christian empire? His kingdom come, his will is done.

In the Latin West, these new circumstances provided the matrix for a different emphasis in commentaries on Revelation. The new age of the Christian empire was interpreted as the millennium, a symbolic one that included all of the church age (i.e., amillennialism). The first significant post-Constantine commentary on Revelation was written by Tyconius in the late 300s, who argued for this realized, yet symbolic, non-chiliast millennium, where humanity falls into either the city of the devil or the city of God. Tyconius anticipated Augustine of Hippo’s (d. 430) millennial schema that would follow and develop Tyconius’s interpretation in Augustine’s The City of God. Augustine would not write a commentary on Revelation but his non-chiliast and supersessionist eschatology would deeply influence subsequent Western interpretation, viewing the millennium symbolically as the present church age. Revelation interpreters who carried on the Tyconius-Augustine-Jerome tradition into the Middle Ages up to 1200 included Caesarius of Arles, Primasius of Hadrumetum in North Africa, Apringius of Beja, Cassiodorus, Bede, Ambrosius Autpertus, Beatus of Liebana, Alcuin, Haimo of Auxerre, among others. The Greek Eastern church had a weaker Revelation commentary tradition, but interpreters include Oecumenius, Andrew of Cappadocian Caesarea, and Arethas of Cappadocian Caesarea. The latter interpreters were largely—though not in every detail—influenced by Origen’s spiritualizing and allegorizing interpretation.³⁶ No doubt this would also influence much of their supersessionism. The supersessionist framework would carry into the Reformation period and become more developed and crystallized, particularly within the covenantal tradition of Calvin.

Supersessionism took an ugly theological turn, however, in the early nineteenth century. It was thought that the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament possessed acute discontinuity. So much so that there was no relation between the God of Israel and the God of Jesus. The implication was that Israel had no covenantal relationship with the God of Jesus. By the 1930s supersessionism was conditioned well into the fabric of German Christianity. It was certainly not the only factor that led to the German worldview at that time, but the practical results of it led to Jewish expulsion, seizure of their property, and eventually extermination of millions in the concentration camps. One wonders whether, if the German churches had possessed a robust anti-supersessionist posture, Hitler and his ideology would be a mere footnote today. Karl Thieme, a Protestant convert to Catholicism, was a major voice during the Nazi regime, who tried to prevent Catholicism melding with Nazism during the rise of the Third Reich. He recognized that supersessionism and its view of the Jews as a carnal people was the theological root of anti-Semitism. The Christian narrative was that Israel served its fleshly purpose and was thus obsolete, but now the true spiritual Israel is the Church.³⁷ The narrative of supersessionism began to change post-World War II. Theologians began to rethink the so-called abrogation of the promises given to Israel out of being faithful to God’s truth; others changed their posture toward theological reparations.³⁸ Israel became a nation again. It is one thing for a people group to survive through constant trials, but another for a dispersed people group of two millennia to reconstitute into a modern nation. This was unprecedented. It gives poignant meaning to Paul’s proclamation of God’s providence over human history. From one man he made every nation of the human race to inhabit the entire earth, determining their set times and the fixed limits of the places where they would live (Acts 17:26).

Final Comments

Christians from the very beginning have affirmed that Jesus is the predicted One of the Hebrew Scriptures, the Messiah who was a Jew, a member of Israel. By virtue of this, Christians necessarily have taken some posture toward the Jewish people. Soulen notes, "The question, then, has never been whether Christians should speak and act with reference to the Jewish people; rather, how should they do so . . ."³⁹ The posturing expressed in most of church history has been supersessionist, that is, that the special role God had with the Jewish people is a thing of the past. It served its purpose. It is a fool’s errand to think that God promised to restore them as a redeemed nation at the consummation. Israel then was no longer considered a unique people. But Soulen asks, If the God of Israel ordains a salvation in the midst of history that renders the existence of the Jewish people irrelevant, what can be the power of this salvation to mend the wounds of human history as a whole?⁴⁰

Contents of This Volume

The chapters in the volume are broadly divided according to five rubrics. The following are summaries of each essay.

The Covenants and Israel’s Future

Robert B. Chisholm, The Servant of the Lord: Covenant Mediator and Light to the Nations. This essay concentrates on the servant songs in Isa 42:1–9, 49:1–13, and 52:13—53:12. Isaiah 42:1–9 anticipates a servant who saves the nations and mediates a covenant as the light to the nations. Isaiah 49:1–13 describes the servant who mediates a covenant with exiled Israel. Passages in Isa 40–66 address this covenant with Israel (see 55:3; 59:21; 61:8; cf. Rom 11:26–27). The servant suffers for the many (53:11), which refers, at least in part, to the many nations mentioned in 52:15. The many are redeemed along with my/his people (53:8), exiled Israel. The nations and exiled Israel are inextricably connected in God’s redemptive plan, as Paul argues in Rom 9–11 and expresses in Acts 26:23, where he declares that the Messiah brought light to his own people and the Gentiles.

Walter C. Kaiser Jr., The Christian Church: Built on the Foundation of the Abrahamic, Davidic, and New Covenants. This essay covers the three theological anchoring covenants of the Old Testament: Abraham (Gen 15:1–6), David (2 Sam 7:1–29), and the new covenant (Jer 31:31–34). These covenants create a foundation for new covenant saints to construe the promises to Israel. They should be a remedy for those interpreters that re-interpret these promises in the New Testament, providing support to the mission of the church to the Jew first and then the Gentiles. Israel’s promises have not been canceled for its resistance to the grace of God. Her future is grounded in the irrevocable gifts of the Living God.

Mark F. Rooker, The New Covenant and Supersessionism in Jeremiah 31:31–37. This essay responds to the claim of supersessionism that Christians replaced Jews as God’s chosen people in the new covenant (berith khadhashah) era and that God was finished with them. The author first examines Jer 31:31–37 in the context of the book of Jeremiah. Next, an examination of the history of interpretation of the passage is made, especially the question of whether the concept of the New Covenant relates to ethnic Israel or a redefined Israel as a Jewish-Gentile church. Other considerations include how the passage connects to other Old Testament passages that address the future new covenant. Jeremiah 31:31–34 and its relation to Heb 8:8–12 is also analyzed, including the connection of Luke 22:20, 2 Cor 3:6, and Rom 11:27 to Jer 31:31–37. It is contended that Jer 31:31–37 should not be construed with the supersessionist framework but rather signals an already/not yet interpretation.

Michael G. Vanlaningham, A Response to the Progressive Covenantalists’ (and Others’) View of the Land Promises for Israel. The last twenty years have seen a growing interest in Progressive Covenantalism. This essay contends that this theological system has a serious weakness in its view of the people and nation of Israel in God’s future program. Progressive Covenantalists believe the land promises prefigure a universal kingdom that includes all of God’s people and that the promises are fulfilled by Jesus Christ and those who are in him. As a result, it is unnecessary for there to be a distinct future for national Israel dwelling in the land as promised in the Old Testament. This chapter challenges this understanding of Progressive Covenantalism and proposes an alternative understanding of Israel’s future and God’s faithfulness to his covenants with his people.

The Nations and Israel’s Future

Darrell L. Bock, Israel’s Future as a Nation and Reconciliation. This essay makes a case for the future of national Israel as a nation. It does not merely consider whether ethnic Jews will be included in God’s future program, or whether there will be a future for a large group of Jews. Rather, the case is made for a future national Israel. Further, the essay argues that this future realization will not result in the national exaltation of Israel over Gentiles as has been conceived by some interpreters. God instead is seen as being faithful to promises made to Israel and to bringing the divided world together as they share the blessings together.

David J. Fuller, Zechariah 14: Its Usage in Revelation 16, 19, and 20. This essay addresses Zech 14 as a key text for Israel’s future. It is generally understood to describe the coming of the day of the Lord with the inception of Christ’s reign on earth, including Israel’s repentance and the renewal of the sacrificial system. However, not only do supersessionist interpreters find the main referent of this chapter within the church age, but it is difficult to integrate exactly the details of this passage with New Testament eschatology. It is the goal of this study to employ discourse analysis to bring clarity to the understanding that Zech 14 is making about the future of national Israel.

Mark R. Saucy, One Nation under God: Does the World Need an Israelite Theocracy? This essay explores a biblical-theological and anthropological understanding of the role of national identity in human life and why redemption of this dimension in a restored national Israel is necessary for a consistent biblical soteriology. It argues that human political life is included in the fabric of Eden’s mandate and is first showcased to the world in Israel’s theocracy. Israel’s prophets preached that the restoration of humanity will involve all aspects of human life in the conversion and subjugation of nations before God’s King and his people. This fulfillment in Jesus Christ is not taking place during the present inter-advent age as supersessionism contends, but at the Parousia. The spiritual, cultural, political, and national aspects of salvation cannot fully deliver in this age.

Alan E. Kurschner, Should the 144,000 in Revelation 7:3–8 Be Identified as the Great Multitude in 7:9–17? A Response to Gregory K. Beale. This essay responds to Gregory K. Beale’s supersessionist interpretation that identifies the 144,000 sealed out of every tribe of the people of Israel with the great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages. It concentrates on Beale’s major argument that situates the sealing of the 144,000 (Rev 7:3–8) before the scroll begins to be opened (6:1). This chapter instead contends that the narrative logic depicts the action of the sealing in 7:3–8 concurrent with the action of the appearance of the great multitude in 7:9–17. This understanding strongly implies that these are two distinct groups and not two different perspectives of the same group. John’s message, then, conveys an Israelite focus of God’s purposes alongside the Gentile nations.

Alan Hultberg, The Future Restoration of Israel: Some Theological Considerations. This essay contends there are at least three significant theological reasons for a national fulfillment of God’s kingdom promises: (1) God makes his name known among the nations through the restoration of the nation of Israel (Ezek 39:27; Ps 102:13–15; Isa 2:2–4, 51:4); (2) God is redeeming individual human relationships and geo-political structures (Isa 2:4 [= Mic 4:3]; Zech 14:16–21; Ps 2:8–9); (3) God’s faithfulness to his word fails if he does not fulfill his promises (Rom 9:6, 11:28–29). The Jews then will be restored to God and return to their land. The nations, including the recalcitrant nations, will be subject to the reign of Messiah. The New Testament establishes an inaugurated fulfillment for the age to come, but other aspects require the nation of Israel on a geo-political plane, which have been anticipated in the New Testament (Matt 19:28; Acts 1:3, 3:19–21; Rom 11:12, 15).

Jim R. Sibley, Was Ethnic Israel’s Mission Transferable? In the debate concerning supersessionism, the aspect of ethnic Israel’s mission has been neglected, as biblical, theological, and historical features are typically the focus. It is thought that ethnic Israel failed to fulfill its mission and consequently lost its role in God’s redemptive purposes, having its mission transferred to the church. For more than a century, this view has been the assumption. This essay attempts to answer the following questions: Is service the sole purpose of Israel’s election? Was Israel’s mission evangelistic? Is Israel to be understood as a foil or a mirror? Is Israel’s mission the same as that of Jesus? To achieve the conclusion that the mission of ethnic Israel has been neither supplanted nor replaced, this essay analyzes God’s purposes and the mission of Israel in the Old Testament.

Paul and Israel’s Future

William S. Campbell, ‘Through Isaac Shall Your Seed Be Named’ (Romans 9:7b): Israel and the Purpose of God in Romans. This essay explores Rom 9:1–18 and God’s purpose for Israel. Israel was constituted by the promise of God to Isaac and Jacob, securing Israel’s role and status with God’s continuing purpose through history. There is actual continuity through the promise from Abraham to Christ. The coming of Christ does not complete God’s purpose for Israel but is linked inseparably to the consummation of the kingdom inaugurated by Christ. The essay also argues that Rom 9:6 can be construed in the diatribe style as a rhetorical question (9:14, 29) rather than as an assertion that not all Israel belongs to Israel.

Stanley E. Porter, Romans 9–11 and Especially Romans 11:26 in the Context of Paul’s Argument in Romans. This essay examines the four major views regarding interpretation of Rom 11:26, that all Israel will be saved: the ecclesiastical view, the eschatological view, the remnant view, and the two-covenants view. These are the views with which interpreters of this passage are the most familiar. Rather than adopting any of these four, this essay recognizes strengths and weaknesses of each but instead argues for a fifth position. This position, which recognizes two covenants, not one, has similarities to the remnant view and elements of the eschatological view, but it focuses upon extending God’s grace from Israel to the Gentiles as part of God’s electing plan. This argument appears to fit best within the argument of Rom 9–11.

David Rudolph, "Ecclesiological Vision for L’Dor Vador: Paul and Jewish Identity in 1 Corinthians 9:19–23 and 7:17–24. Paul’s vision for Jewish continuity shaped his eschatological vision for Israel’s restoration. This essay responds to the understanding that 1 Cor 9:19–23 supports the notion that Jewish identity is superseded in Christ, arguing instead that this text should be constructed as a discourse of the Jewish Paul who remained within Judaism. This argument rests on viewing 1 Cor 9:19–23 in the context of Paul’s recapitulation in 1 Cor 10:32–11:1, especially on the statement, Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. As Jesus became all things to all people by eating with common Jews, Pharisees, and sinners, Paul became all things to all people by eating with common Jews, strict Jews (those under the law), and Gentile sinners. Paul’s principle in 1 Cor 7:17–20 that Jesus-believing Jews like Paul (the circumcised) are to stay true to their calling should be understood with the restrictive clause in 1 Cor 9:21 (not without the law of God").

J. Brian Tucker, Paul between Supersessionism and Pluralism: Post-Supersessionism, Romans, and N. T. Wright. Post-supersessionist interpreters of Paul are frequently accused of two misconceptions. Progressive scholars believe that this understanding is a form of soft supersessionism. Traditional Paulinists, on the other hand, think it is an implied form of pluralism because Israel’s covenantal identity continues. There is a third way, which maintains both a pre-consummation and consummation identity. This essay concentrates on key hermeneutical moves and texts that will help to understand Paul neither as a supersessionist nor as a pluralist.

Michael L. Brown, The ‘Seed’ as Christ in Galatians 3:16 and the Wrong Deductions of Replacement Theology. Some interpreters have construed Paul’s words in Gal 3:16 concerning divine promises to Abraham’s seed as fulfilled not in Israel but rather in Christ, the ultimate seed of Abraham. Consequently, the national promises to Abraham’s physical descendants, including the Land, have been nullified. Jewish scholarship, in addition, argues that Paul did not know Hebrew, because he interpreted the Hebrew word for seed as singular rather the collective plural. This article argues that Paul’s argument is intended to be not exegetical but rather homiletical. It also argues that Paul was not intending the displacement of the promises to Israel; rather he was highlighting the realization of God’s promises to Israel through Jesus. These points are demonstrated in the context of Rom 9–11 and other passages.

David I. Yoon, Another Look at Galatians 6:16: A Grammatical and Syntactical Analysis of Paul’s Enigmatic Benediction. The phrase the Israel of God in Gal 6:16 is key within the debate on the question whether the church has superseded or replaced Israel. It is often understood that the genitival phrase the Israel of God, including contextual features, refers to the church. This chapter approaches this function of the genitive according to a systemic linguistic approach to the meaning of Israel of God. It is contended that the meaning is restrictive and narrows the referent to Israel and not to the church. Two key issues addressed then are the function of καί in the phrase καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν Ἰσραὴλ τοῦ θεοῦ, and whether Paul is referring to two groups or the same group. The second, and more significant issue, is the meaning of the phrase Ἰσραὴλ τοῦ θεοῦ, and whether it refers to national Israel or metaphorical Israel, e.g., a new Israel.

Jesus and Israel’s Future

Michael J. Wilkins, The Consideration of a Future for Israel in the Light of the Apparently Bleak Consequences for Negative Responses to Jesus’ Ministry in the Gospel of Matthew. This essay explores Matthew’s special focus on Israel in the arrival of Jesus, who fulfills God’s covenants with Abraham and David. Matthew, however, indicates that many in Israel respond negatively to his ministry, claiming his preaching and deeds are blasphemous and inspired by Satan and deserving of death (Matt 9:34; 12:14). These negative responses, as the narrative continues, will result in consequences for the people and leaders of Israel (13:10–17; 23:13–39). Jesus prophesies that the kingdom of God will be taken away from them (21:43). And when Pilate washes his hands before the crowd, the people answer, His blood is on us and on our children! (27:25). Some suggest that these consequences indicate that Israel has been rejected as God’s people, replaced by a new entity. Others argue that Israel continues as God’s chosen people, along with the church. A mediating position explores both views, suggesting that although Israel has been relieved of her role as steward of God’s kingdom, Matthew understands a future for national Israel in the salvation-history of God’s plan.

Craig A. Evans, The Future of the Jewish People in the Light of Matthew’s Vineyard and Mark’s Fig Tree. Most interpreters understand that the salvation of Israel, its elect status, and its function as a conduit for the blessings of the Gentiles were presupposed by Jesus’ preaching and activities. There are two passages in the Gospels, however, that are sometimes cited to understand it otherwise: Matthew’s version of the parable of the vineyard with the prediction that it will be given to another people, and the story in Mark of Jesus cursing the fruitless fig tree. Some commentators think these two stories militate against a future restoration of Israel. This essay questions these interpretations.

Supersessionism in the Past

Hélène Dallaire, Anti-Semitic Supersessionism: The Sharp Words that Deepened the Divide. This essay describes the progression of supersessionism beginning with the first-century messianic community exclusively made up of Jewish believers that eventuated into a Gentile church that became dominant. Consequently, the Gentiles began to discriminate against the Jews by preventing them from worshipping with the rest of the body of Christ. The homilies and writings of Justin Martyr (100–165 CE), Tertullian (155–240 CE), Origen (185–254 CE), Constantine (280–337 CE), Gregory of Nyssa (335–394 CE), John Chrysostom (344–407 CE), Augustine (354–430 CE), Martin Luther (1483–1546 CE), and many others contributed to anti-Semitism in the church and thus supersessionism. During the last century, however, with the modern messianic movement, a growing number of Jewish believers are connecting with their first-century religious roots.

Mitch Glaser, The Impact of Supersessionism on Jewish Evangelism. This essay focuses on how supersessionists understand Israel and their influence on the image of the Jewish people among today’s evangelicals. It contends that some new supersessionists have fostered a harmful picture of the Jewish people and Israel. Consequently, this has created negative views towards Israelis and the Jewish people, undermining the undertaking of Jewish missions. This essay focuses on a deleterious strain of contemporary supersessionism that has impacted both Jewish missions and the ways Jewish people are viewed among evangelicals.

We trust that the essays contained within this volume will provide a constructive contribution to the continuing debate over supersessionism, by revisiting important biblical passages, assessing various arguments new and old, and offering some provocative ways forward.

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37

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Part One

The Covenants and Israel’s Future

The Servant of the Lord

Covenant Mediator and Light to the Nations

Robert B. Chisholm

In this essay I attempt to show that the servant depicted in Isaiah’s so-called servant songs carries out a redemptive mission with a twofold target. He mediates a covenant between the L ord and exiled Israel and restores the exiles to their homeland. He also extends the L ord ’s salvation to all the earth and mediates a covenant with the nations. While both Israel and the nations benefit from the servant’s ministry, they maintain distinct identities. The prophet makes no attempt to collapse one into the other.

The New Testament identifies Jesus the Messiah as the servant of the servant songs. As depicted in the songs, Jesus’ redemptive work includes both Israel and the nations, whom Paul carefully distinguishes in Rom 9–11. In fact, Paul tells King Agrippa that the Messiah is a light to his own people [the Jews] and to the Gentiles (Acts 26:23, NIV).⁴¹ Jews and Gentiles share in the salvation that comes through Jesus, but Paul, like Isaiah, does not blur their distinctive identities, nor does he collapse one into the other. Modern interpreters would do well to follow suit.

The Identity of the Lord’s Servant in Isaiah 40–55

My thesis, as summarized above, assumes there are distinct servants of the Lord within Isa 40–55. The exiled nation Jacob/Israel is called the Lord’s servant in several texts, but there is another servant, called Israel once (49:3), who is the Lord’s agent in delivering the exiled nation. Since some reject this distinction, an analysis of the pertinent passages is in order.

The term עבד (servant) appears twenty-one times in chs. 40–55. We can set aside two of these as outside the scope of our study: (1) In Isa 44:26, the phrase his servant refers here to the representative prophet of the Lord who declares the good news of Zion’s and Judah’s restoration. The parallelism with his messengers (note the plural) indicates the referent is not restricted to a specific prophet. The Lord refers to those prophets through whom he announces his intentions before bringing their predictions to fulfillment. He contrasts them to the pagan diviners, whose omens he frustrates (v. 25); (2) in Isa 54:17, the phrase servants of the Lord refers to a group whom the Lord vindicates. This group becomes prominent in chs. 56–66, where it is identified generally as the tribes of Israel (63:17), but then more specifically as the righteous within the covenant community (65:8–9, 13–15; 66:14). Within this community there is even room for foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, love his name, and are faithful to his covenant. They too can be called his servants (56:6).

Exiled Israel as the Lord’s Servant

In eleven instances, occurring in nine verses, the servant is clearly exiled Israel:

•Isaiah 41:8–9: The Lord addresses my servant Israel, Jacob whom I have chosen (NIV). Collective exiled Israel is in view, for the servant is also identified as the offspring of Abraham, whom the Lord promises to protect and restore (vv. 9–20).

•Isaiah 42:19: The Lord’s servant is blind and deaf and has failed to fulfill the role of messenger. The servant is subsequently identified as a people that has been plundered and looted (v. 22) and then more specifically as Jacob/Israel (v. 24). They confess they sinned