Has the Church replaced Israel?

Only until a little more than a year ago, I had never heard of the term, 'replacement theology' or bothered much about the topic of Israel. I had little to none understanding of the various Jewish feasts or anything Jewish for that matter. All I knew was that the topic of Israel was a sensitive one, and growing in an environment that was hostile (and still is) towards Israel, nobody talked much about it.

Don't get me wrong, I never considered myself anti-Semitic at all at any time in my life. I knew we were supposed to 'pray for the peace of Jerusalem' but that was as far as my theology towards Israel went. I enjoyed blowing the shofar, and the few video clips I had saw about Israel and Jewish feast did intrigue me, but it never had any impact in my life, or my faith, for that matter. In fact, something about 'Israel' and 'Jewish' sometimes seemed taboo or offensive somehow (I now realize that there is a spirit behind anti-semitism in just the way the world has hated the Jews and Israel from the very beginning). It was simply because I grew up in churches that never taught much about Israel, or how we should treat them. 

When I heard then about 'replacement theology', for the first time I realized how big this mess has become, that me, and many who I knew around me, succumbed to this theology; that the church has replaced Israel, that all the promises in the bible that were related to Israel is now for us (the gentile church), and no longer for Israel; that God was done with Israel. We believed that Israel was no different that the other nations and that He had now a new people, the gentile believers, the church, the New Man under the New Covenant. At the same time, ironically, whenever we read the curses and negative stuff regarding Israel, we put Israel back in the picture and believe that God is indeed punishing Israel. We take the good for ourselves and throw away the bad. Weird huh?

Here's the truth. God is not done with Israel and she plays an important role in the second coming of our Lord Jesus. Jesus Himself, (Yeshua) was Jewish and so were all the apostles including Paul.While certain practices (such as Mosaic legislation and temple worship) was replaced, the fact remains that the covenants with the nation of Israel and the plans for the land did not change. There are no 'two peoples' of God, but only one; as mentioned by Paul in Romans 11 who claimed, "Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew." Ephesians 2:15 (NLT) states that 'He made peace between the Jews and Gentiles by creating in Himself one new people from two groups." Gentile believers get to be grafted in into the Jewish tree, making that 'one new man'. God has a huge heart for His chosen people in these last days to come to Salvation and recognize that their savior has come. Would we partner with Him for the salvation of many Jewish souls in these last days to receive their King Jesus who will reign from Jerusalem in the Millennial?

Japheth Chew