In the year following the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas, over 10,000 antisemitic incidents were recorded in the U.S.—an increase of 140% over the previous year—and the most ever since the Anti-Defamation League began tracking antisemitic acts in 1979. On college campuses, in workplaces, among “influencers” and politicians, even in some circles of the church, antisemitism is raising its ugly head.
The Israeli people have been the target of hate, oppression, murder and genocide throughout history. Hitler’s attempted annihilation of the Jews during World War II took an estimated 6 million Jewish lives. Satan has been inciting nations and people to hate Israel ever since the tiny Jewish nation became the conduit for God’s redemptive plan for mankind.
Israel is central to the story of the Bible. God birthed an ethnic people group through the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to introduce the Savior to the world, whose Name is Jesus, Yeshua—a Jewish Messiah, sent on a rescue mission to save all who would receive Him.
The Bible makes it clear that this Savior—Jesus Christ—was born in Israel, died in Israel, rose from the dead in Israel, and is coming again to Israel!
But Satan has always tried to dilute, disrupt, or destroy the redemptive plan of God. And he is still at work today. Revelation 12:13 says: “Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child.” In this passage, the “dragon” is Satan, the “woman” is Israel, and the “male Child” is the One whom Israel “gave birth to”—Jesus Christ. And thus, ever since the great rebellion in Heaven when Satan was expelled and cast to the earth, he has been on a mission to attack God’s plan, God’s purposes, and God’s people. We must be on guard against his evil methods.
What is Replacement Theology?
Originally called “supersessionism,” replacement theology contends that the church has superseded—or replaced—Israel in terms of the blessings and promises intended for the Jewish people in Scripture. This false doctrine suggests that God used Israel to bring the Messiah onto the world scene, but after the Jewish people took part in Jesus’ crucifixion, and many—though not all—denied Jesus as Messiah, God pivoted and transferred the promises and blessings intended for them onto the church.
The misguided question goes like this: “If the majority of Jews today do not accept Jesus as Messiah, then how could they still be considered God’s chosen people?”
To be clear, there is no shortcut to Heaven. Romans 10:9-13 states, “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. … For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For ‘whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’” Jews and Gentiles alike must accept the free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ to spend eternity with the Lord.
But Israel’s status as God’s chosen people is not dependent upon their universal belief in Jesus as Messiah. Since the covenant that God initiated with Abraham in Genesis 12 and 15 was put into effect thousands of years before Messiah was revealed, it is not suddenly conditional upon belief in Him now.
God’s unconditional covenant—that He would establish a people and a place through whom Messiah would come for the sake of the whole world—is the basis for why we should support and bless the Jewish people while we continue to pray for their salvation.
Why Replacement Theology is not Biblical
Proponents of replacement theology, or “fulfillment theology” as some prefer to call it, will often point to the Apostle Paul’s words in Romans 9:6:“For they are not all Israel who are of Israel.” The word Israel in Hebrew means “governed by God.” Not everyone born in Israel is governed by God, because you can only be governed by God when you surrender to His lordship through Jesus Christ. Being an Israeli does not automatically translate to belonging to God, which comes only through repentance and faith in Jesus.
But two chapters later in Romans, Paul writes, “I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew” (Romans 11:1-2).
Proponents of replacement theology also like to point to 1 Peter 2:9, which tells us that all believers are a “chosen people, a royal priesthood … ” and thus the church has now taken on that “chosen status” previously reserved for Israel. However, that verse simply means that we have become the beneficiaries of the wonderful blessings of God, ingrafted into the vine.
Paul asserts in Romans 11:17-18: “And you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.”
Salvation is readily available to all: “For God does not show favoritism” (Romans 2:11). Yet Scripture is clear that Israel has a unique place in world history. Deuteronomy 7:6 states, “For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth.”
How Replacement Theology can lead to antisemitism
We’re seeing pastors today who refuse to support Israel because they’ve been influenced by replacement theology’s faulty interpretation of Scripture, and there are terrible repercussions for giving place to this damaging theology.
When the church entertains the idea that God has somehow replaced His covenant with the Jewish people—it provides fuel for the fire of those who would do Israel harm.
Attacks against the Jewish people continue. In the last few months alone:
A Jewish man was pushed through a window of a bagel shop in Chicago after being accused of “killing people in Gaza” and “committing genocide.”
The largest synagogue in Mississippi was set on fire in an act of arson motivated by the “building’s Jewish ties.”
The home of a German state commissioner for countering antisemitism was set on fire, with a Hamas symbol painted close by.
Fifteen people were killed and dozens injured after two gunmen opened fire on a crowd of over 1,000 people attending a Hanukkah event at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia.
Make no mistake—this is a spiritual battle. Satan incites antisemitism, and antisemitism is satanic. And no one bears more responsibility in the fight against antisemitism than the church.
God chose Israel for a sacred purpose. Because of this, we bless Israel, we honor the Jewish people, and we pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6).
