Recently on YouTube I explored the philosophy known as Zionism briefly. Much can be said & much has been written on the subject. My fundamental point is that the Promised Land typologically points to the rest which God gives those who believe in Christ. The rest which the people of Israel experienced under Joshua was temporary & fleeting. However, the rest Christ Jesus provides is eternal.
When it comes to type-antitype, there is escalation from the type to the antitype. Hence there is an escalation from the Land to the world: Christ, as the true Israel, inherits the world. There is escalation from a single nation to the nations: Christ, the true Israel, inherits the nations (Psalm 2.8). There is escalation from the rest in the Promise Land (Zion) to the eternal rest in heaven (Mt. Zion).
One other important aspect of the discussion concerning Israel is that many take for granted that Israel are the chosen people of God. It is assumed that Israel are God’s chosen people. However, a multiplicity of videos are readily found on YouTube which show Jewish individuals – men, women, and children – spitting upon Christians and demanding they leave their country. This is hardly behavior of God’s chosen people. One cannot claim to be chosen of God yet lack fruits of regeneration. To claim that Israel is God’s chosen people yet they have no evidence or marks of that lofty position is erroneous. Election results in changed behavior in the elect.
What is owed to Israel by the Christian? The gospel. A clear presentation of Jesus of Nazareth as their Messiah who loved them and gave Himself for them. Any Jewish person, no matter where they live, can and will find this rest in Christ if they will repent and believe in Him (Matthew 11.28).
Here is a final key point: Even if Israel’s war with the surrounding nations ended tomorrow, Hamas beat their swords into plowshares and the other nations around Israel determined to no longer learn war, they would still not have rest. Not really. Only by coming to Jesus as Messiah will they find rest. Not even the great leader Joshua gave them the true rest, the Sabbath rest of God (Hebrews 4.8). Christ alone can give to Israel what they need most, which is not land, but what the land pointed to as a type, viz. eternal rest.
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