God made important promises to the “father of the faithful,” Abraham. Did God fulfill all these promises? Or did He change the recipient of His promises, replacing Israel with the Church?
God’s promises are a major theme of the Bible. His promises to Abraham are very important in the Old and New Testaments.
The promises to Abraham included both spiritual and national blessings
God told Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3: “Now the LORD had said to Abram: ‘Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
This included both the promise of a spiritual blessing for “all the families of the earth,” which was fulfilled through our Savior Jesus Christ, and promises of national blessings for Abrahamic nations. These promises of physical blessings were passed down from Abraham to his son Isaac to his son Jacob. God changed Jacob’s name to Israel, and so Jacob’s 12 sons became the fathers of the 12 tribes of Israel and the inheritors of the promises.
But the promises were greater than anything the 12 tribes of Israel experienced during biblical times. This has led some to question if God failed to do what He said.
Others have concluded that the promises no longer apply to Israel and that God has replaced them with the Church. This “Replacement Theology” is described in the article “Replacement Theology: Has the Church Replaced Israel?” in the 12 Tribes of Israel section of the Life, Hope & Truth website:
“Recognizing that God is now working through His Church, many believe that the Church has replaced Israel. Commonly referred to as Replacement Theology, this way of thinking perceives the prophecies of the Bible directed toward Israel as now being for the Church. As such, some believe that understanding who the physical descendants of the ancient Israelites are no longer has any relevance.”
But did God really replace Israel? The article goes on to explain:
“Rather than supporting Replacement Theology and saying that the New Testament Church replaced Israel, the Bible speaks of gentiles being ‘grafted in’ to Israel … (Romans 11:17-20).
“As we noted earlier, a gentile—a non-Jew—who becomes part of the Church is now considered a ‘Jew’ (Romans 2:28-29). Speaking of both Jews and gentiles who comprised the New Testament Church, Paul said that Abraham was ‘the father of us all’ (Romans 4:16) and ‘those who are of faith are sons of Abraham’ (Galatians 3:7).
“Jesus spoke of this Himself in Matthew 21:42-44, where He told the Pharisees that ‘the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it.’ Jesus said that the Kingdom was to be open to gentiles as well as Jews—to all those who responded to the message of the Kingdom.
“In summary, God is calling peoples of all nationalities into His Church. When we become part of this Body of believers, the Bible describes us as being the ‘sons of Abraham.’ Even so, the Bible does not teach Replacement Theology. God remains faithful and the promises He made to Abraham and this patriarch’s physical descendants continue.”
Physical promises are being fulfilled
Other articles in the “12 Tribes of Israel” section trace the history of the people of the northern 10 tribes of Israel who were taken captive by the Assyrian Empire. For the most part, these tribes did not return to the Holy Land but ended up migrating to the north and west into Europe and the British Isles.
Understanding this history helps us understand that God does keep his promises, just as He said. He has not abandoned or replaced Israel.
God does make promises to His Church and He made spiritual promises to all humanity, but these do not replace His promises to Israel.
All this is explained more fully in the 12 tribes of Israel section of the LifeHopeandTruth.com site.
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