Has the Church Replaced Israel, or Should We seek to Provoke Israel to Jealousy?
Many believe in Replacement Theology, the idea that the Church has taken Israel’s place in God’s plan. But Romans 11:11 says otherwise: “So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather, through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous.”
Rather than replacing Israel, believers are meant to provoke them to desire their own Messiah. Here are 7 ways we can do that, with Old and New Testament support:
1. Love the God of Israel
When Gentiles worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, it stands as a testimony that He is the one true God.
Zechariah 8:23 – “Thus says the Lord of hosts: In those days ten men from the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’”
Romans 3:29 – “Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also.”
2. Live in the Power of the New Covenant
Israel was promised a New Covenant, and we are already enjoying its blessings through Christ.
Jeremiah 31:31 – “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.”
2 Corinthians 3:6 – “Who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”
3. Display the Joy of Salvation
If Israel sees the peace, joy, and transformed lives of believers, they may desire the same relationship with God.
Isaiah 12:3 – “With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.”
Galatians 5:22-23 – “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”
4. Know the Hebrew Scriptures
Gentile believers who understand the Old Testament and its Messianic prophecies challenge Jewish assumptions about Christianity.
Psalm 119:97 – “Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day.”
Luke 24:27 – “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.”
5. Pray for Israel’s Salvation
Paul longed for Israel to be saved, and we should pray for the same.
Psalm 122:6 – “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem! ‘May they be secure who love you!’”
Romans 10:1 – “Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved.”
6. Share the Gospel with Humility
We are grafted into Israel’s promises by grace, not by superiority.
Isaiah 49:6 – “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
Romans 11:18 – “Do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you.”
7. Affirm God’s Unbreakable Promises to Israel
God has not forsaken Israel, and we must reject Replacement Theology.
Genesis 12:3 – “I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Romans 11:29 – “For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”
As believers, we should reflect the blessings, joy, and power of salvation in a way that makes Israel desire what was originally promised to them.