One Nation Under God

There are different interpretations of the biblical materials.

Jews of today often identify themselves with the Israel of ancient days. With the establishment of the Jewish state of Israel, it is not unexpected that Jews should see this as a fulfillment of the Old Testament covenants and promises. Some evangelical and fundamentalist Protestants make little or no distinction between Old Testament prophecy and contemporary events. In their beliefs about the end of the world they fit the modern state of Israel and see it as a fulfillment of the status of the Jews as “the chosen people of God.” We do not find such interpretations in the Eastern Orthodox tradition, generally. Rather, the Christian Church is understood now to be “the people of God.” and “God’s chosen people,” a fulfillment of the old covenant.

The sense of confusion which some people express is quite justified. I am sure most Christians have had thoughts about this question. The reason that there is much confusion about the terms is that from time immemorial, they have been used differently and show an historical development. “The Chosen People Israel” goes back to early Old Testament stories. God “chose” a tribe of people through Abraham, to be “His people.” Thus, we read in the Old Testament: “I will establish my covenant between me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you. And I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God” (Genesis 17:7-8). This covenant was renewed many times over, such as through the giving of the Commandments on Mt. Sinai through Moses, and the rebuilding of the Temple after the Babylonian captivity.

In subsequent Jewish history, the significance of this calling was debated and often was strongly contended through various religious parties. Some saw Israel as the “people of God,” in a very narrow way, binding it very closely with the land of Palestine, itself. Others thought of Israel in more spiritual and broader terms. Others rejected any of this worldly interpretation of Israel and foresaw an Israel projected into the end-times.

Christ has obtained a ministry which is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better since it is enacted on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless there would have been no occasion for a second. For he finds fault with them when he says: “The days will come says the Lord when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah; not like the covenant that I made with their fathers…” In speaking of the new covenant he treats the first as obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away (Hebrews 8:6-8, 13).

So we shouldn’t be surprised to read in 1 Peter 2:9-10, that the Once you Christians are now identified as the people of God. “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people. were no people, but now you are God’s people.”

The uses of these terms continued for a while, in Christianity to be mixed, so that sometimes the “chosen people” referred to Jews, sometimes to Christians. But the movement became more and more toward the exclusive use of these words within the Christian community to the Christians themselves. It was Justin Martyr, a Christian writer who died in 165 A.D. who expressed this Christian understanding clearly for the first time, when he said: “We… are the true spiritual Israel” (Dialogue with Trypho the Jew, 11, 5). Subsequently, it became general Christian belief that Isarel has a greatness and meaning which transcends history, and that it always pointed to a fulfillment in Christ, the Church and the ultimate Kingdom of God. Israel, as a tribal covenant with God, became understood to be an early stepping stone in a developing cosmic drama, in which Christ and the Christians were at the center…

Whatever the case, Israel did mean “the people of God,” in a special way. We see a changing understanding of Israel in the New Testament, as well. At first, the hope was that the Jews as a whole would believe in the Messiahship of Jesus and that Israel would fulfill its role as the people of God. This was so because the covenant of God through the Savior Jesus Christ is understood in the New Testament to be an extension of the old covenant, but also, quite new. Thus, Jesus, at the Last Supper, says, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood” (Luke 22:20).