I’m no dispensationalist, but God’s previous dealings with national Israel and his former covenant with the Hebrew people must be sharply distinguished from his New Covenant dealings with all of his people today and ever since the Resurrection of our Lord, Jesus the Christ. We simply cannot copy/paste the Torah onto any other people group. It was for the Hebrews ransomed from Egypt in Moses’ day. It was for the Israelites, and only by extension for any convert to the Hebrew religion- and thereby one brought into that covenant- since its inception. This was true when it was first delivered, and has been equally true ever since! This matters. A lot. Israel was a uniquely constituted people. Utterly unique. Peculiar. God did things with them he did with no one else. They saw God do things no one else could claim. God’s demands upon them or expectations of them (dietary, civil, behavioral, etc.) were most fitting therefore. To demand of any other people group what God demanded of them in all manner of the Law therefore is impossible. The New Covenant shows us that God’s eyes were always on the entire world even in the Old Covenant, but the Old Covenant was a different evangelism program than the New Covenant church in many ways. Jesus changed everything…by continuing everything he began with Abraham. No one was Israel. No one will ever be Israel. God made Israel. No nation can make itself such. In this talk, I want to cover passages like Deuteronomy 4:5-8, 2 Samuel 7:22-24, Psalm 147:12-20 (selected) to discuss the uniqueness of Israel in her history. A story of God’s amazing faithfulness and love through their sin and rebellion. Understanding this is a blessing to our Christian study as Jesus’ seed (Isaiah 53:10) and the spiritual children of Abraham (Galatians 3:6-9, 29; Romans 4:13-17; Ephesians 3:6, etc.) so it’s always worth investigating. Christians also need to understand these things because we’re dealing with a woefully biblically illiterate culture (who often arrogantly imagine themselves educated) who will accuse even the most solid Christian of “picking and choosing” from the Torah only what suits them (shellfish, garmentry, etc.). They have no context for understanding what this talk today is all about. I hope it helps you to sort out such things in your own theology, and also helps you articulate such things to others. I trust it will do both.
Blessings!
