Israel and “Israel”

A challenging and interesting message is communicated in writing by the apostle Paul at Romans 9:6-9.
Let us place that message before us:

It is not as though God’s word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. Nor
because they are descendants are they all Abraham’s children. On the contrary, “It is through Isaac
that your offspring will be reckoned.” In other words, it is not the natural children who are God’s
children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring. –New
International Version

It seems impossible not to see that we are introduced to two “Israels” in the statement , “not all who are
descended from Irsael are Israel.” The King James renders the text this way: “For they are not all Israel,
which are of Israel.” This transparently means there are individuals who are members of one of the
Israels but not the other and still other individuals who are members of both Israels. Further clarification
unfolds in the statement :”In other words, it is not the natural children who are God’s children.” The
King James translates that phrase “That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the
children of God.” Logically, we deduce that one Israel is the fleshly or natural Israel and the other is not.
But there is more to it. The historical character Abraham is brought into the discussion to assist us in
understanding what is being discussed. The Genesis account relates that Abraham had a son produced
naturally by intercourse with Hagar and had another son produced supernaturally by Sarah, his wife. One
child came after normal congress with Hagar and the other child came after a promise from God that
Sarah would produce a son. Analogously, natural Israel came into existence through normal relationships
between human spouses but the other Israel was produced “supernaturally”, that is, not by the normal
means that a national group comes into existence.

This point is established again in the account found at Galatians 4:21-31 which we now shall read and
examine:

Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says? For it is written
that
Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. His son by the slave
woman was born in the ordinary way; but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a
promise.
These things may be taken figuratively, for the women represent two covenant. One covenant is from
Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves. This is Hagar. Now Hagar stands for Mount
Sinai
in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her
children.
But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. For it is written: “Be glad, O barren woman,
who
bears no children; break forth and cry aloud, you who have no labor pains; because more are the
children
of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband.” Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of
promise. At that time the son born in the ordinary way persecuted the son born by the power of the
Spirit.

-1-

It is the same now. But what does the Scripture say? “Get rid of the slave woman and her son , for the

slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son.” Therefore,
brothers,
we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman. – New International Version

Here the writer, Paul, uses Hagar to represent natural Israel along with its earthly city of Jerusalem. Next,
he uses Sarah to represent a spiritual Jerusalem and, clearly, the other “Israel.” The writer, Paul , who
was a natural Jew considers himself a child of the spiritual Jerusalem and thus is one of those natural
Israelites who a member of those who are spiritual Israelites---remember the statement at Romans 9:6 ‘for
not all Israel are of Israel’? The plain message of both Romans 9 and Galatians 4 is that natural Israel, a
people composed of some 13 tribes, has been replaced in the eyes of the Creator by “spiritual Israel.”,
however, there are natural Israelites like Paul, Peter, Matthew and Jude who are also spiritual Israelites.
Other, non-natural Israelites, that is peoples from among other nationalities and peoples, are aggregated
to compose spiritual Israel.

An earlier signal that natural Israel was losing its unique relationship with Jehovah is found in Jesus’
parable recorded at Matthew 21: 33-45. He says:

“Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around
it, dug
a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went
away on
a journey. When the harvest approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.
The
tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. Then he sent other
servants
to them. More than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. Last of all, he sent his
son
to them. ‘They will respect my son, ‘ he said. But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each
other,
‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ So they took him and threw him
out of
the vineyard and killed him. Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to
those
tenants?’ “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,’ they replied, ‘and he will rent the
 vineyard to
other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.’ Jesus said to them, “ Have
you
never read in the scripture: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; the Lord
has done
this, and it is marvelous in our eyes.’ “Therefore I tell you that the Kingdom of God will be taken
away
from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. He who falls on this stone will be broken
to
pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.” When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard
Jesus’ parables
they knew he was talking about them.----New International Version

The Creator, Jehovah, sent numerous prophets and leaders to his people Israel but they repeatedly
returned to their evil and disrespectful ways. Finally Jehovah sent his only begotten Son, Jesus to them
and they had him killed. In consequence of this rebellious history, the nation of Israel needed to know
that ‘the Kingdom of God was taken from them and “given to a people who will produce its fruit.” That
“people” or “nation” is “spiritual Israel.”

The account at Revelation 7:1-8 now joins our discussion. It is a salvation report about “Israel”in the
“last days.” It reads:

After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of
the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or the sea or on any tree. Then I saw another
angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the

-2-

four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: “Do not harm the land or the
sea
or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.” Then I heard the number
of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel. From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were
sealed, from the tribe of Reuben 12,000, from the tribe of Gad 12,000, from the tribe of Asher 12,000,
from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000, from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000, from the tribe of Simeon 12,000,
from the tribe of Levi 12,000, from the tribe of Issachar 12,,000, from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000,
from
tribe of Joseph 12,000, from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000. New International Version.

Is this natural Israel? If what we have read in Romans 9:6-9; Galatians 4:21-31 and Matthew 21:33-45 is
true this has to be spiritual Israel. And, if we are careful readers of Revelation 7:1-8 this is confirmed.
How? The answer turns on the fact that the listing of the 12 tribes of Israel at Revelation 7:1-8 differs
from the listing of the tribes in natural Israel. If we turn to Numbers 1 we find this listing of the natural
tribes of Israel : Reuben (verse 20), Simeon (verse 22), Gad (verse 24), Judah (verse 26), Issachar
(verse 28), Zebulun (verse 30), Ephraim (verse 32), Manasseh (verse 34), Benjamin (verse 36), Dan
(verse 38); Asher (verse 40), Naphtali (verse 42) . Of the 13 th tribe, Levi, we are told this in verses 47-
49 :”The families of the tribe of Levi, however, were not counted along with the others. The LORD had
said to Moses: ‘You must not count the tribe of Levi or include the in the census of the other Israelites.”
If we compare the listing at Numbers 1 with the listing in Revelation 7 we find that the list in Revelation
7 does not include the tribe of Dan. It reports a tribe of Joseph when in natural Israel there was no tribe of
Joseph (Joseph’s two sons produced the tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim); and the tribe of Levi was not
counted in natural Israel. The differences in the lists are the signal that “spiritual Israel” is the subject of
Revelation 7:1-8, not natural Israel. Thus all of the scriptures on this subject remain in harmony.

In Retrospect
The natural nation of Israel was given very special blessings and opportunities. After the Israelites exited
the land of Egypt under Moses, we note these comments found at Exodus 19:3-6

Then Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain and said, “This is what
you are to say to the house of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: ‘You yourselves have
seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now if
you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession.
Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These
are the words you are to speak to the Israelites. –New International Version.

This makes it clear that IF natural Israel had established a more faithful record of serving Jehovah, then
the blessing of creating a “kingdom of priests and a holy nation” would have indeed been theirs---and the
listing at Revelation 7:1-8 would have meant natural Israel, not spiritual Israel. But due to a history of
unfaithfulness as Jesus told them at Matthew 21:43 ‘the kingdom of God was taken from them and given
to another nation.’

-3-

It is true that the natural nation of Israel had a tribe with priests (Levi) and a tribe that produced kings
(Judah) but they never had a “kingdom of priests”, that is, “king-priests.” Those composing spiritual
Israel will fulfill that role as is affirmed at Revelation 5: 9, 10. Let us look at different translations of
those verses:

They sang a new hymn: You are worthy to take the scroll and to break its seals, because you were
sacrificed, and with your blood you bought people for God of every race, language, people and nation
and made them a line of kings and priests for God, to rule the world. ----The New Jerusalem Bible

Then they sang a new song: “You deserve to take the book and break its seals, because you have been
slaughtered, and with your blood have bought men from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation, and
have made them a kingdom of priests for our God; and they will rule over the earth. -- The New
Testament by Charles B. Williams.
 And they sang a new song: “Your are qualified to take the scroll and open the seals on it because You
were sacrificed and with Your blood You bought them from every tribe, language, people, and nation
to be God’s own and made them a kingdom and priests of God, and they will rule as kings over the
earth. –The Holy Bible-An American Translation by William F. Beck.

They sang a new canticle: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, Because you were
slain, and with your blood you redeemed for God men of every tribe and tongue and people and
nation,
and you made of them a kingdom and priests for our God: and they shall reign over the earth. –The
New Testament translated by James A. Kleist, S.J. and Joseph L. Lilly, C.M.

The account at Revelation 5: 9, 10 relates in plain language what we were able to deduce from the
preceding texts that we considered and that is that members of spiritual Israel are composed of people
from various races, languages and nations. They are not all natural Israelites.

What About the Restoration Prophecies found in the works of the Prophets?
Bible history reports that the Ten Tribe Nation of Israel was conquered by the Assyrians around 740
BCE. Nearly all those not killed by the Assyrians were taken into exile. However, some managed to
escape southward and took up residence with Israelites composing the Kingdom of Judah. We find
confirmation of that at 1 Chronicles 9:1-4 which reports on the final invasion of the Babylonians against
the Kingdom of Judah , their captivity and eventual return home.. We read: “The people of Judah were
taken captive to Babylon because of their unfaithfulness. Now the first to resettle on their own property in
their own towns were some Israelites, priests, Levites and temple servants. Those from Judah, from
Benjamin,and from Ephraim and Manasseh who lived in Jerusalem were: Uthai son of Ammihud, the son
of Omri, the son of Imri, the son of Bani,,,,” Note that among the returnees were people from the so-
called 10 Lost Tribes of Israel, Ephraim and Manasseh being specifically mentioned.. Reflective of the
fact that descendants from both the former Kingdom of Judah and the former 10 Tribe Kingdom of Israel
were among those who returned from the Babylonian Captivity is the report at Ezra 6:16-18. Note this
information on a special

-4-

occasion observed by the returned exiles “Then the people of Israel—the priests, the Levites and the rest
of the exiles—celebrated the dedication of the house of God with joy. For the dedication of this house of
God they offered a hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred male lambs, and , as a sin offering for
all Israel, twelve male goats, one for each of the tribes of Israel.” (New International Version)

Many of the restoration prophecies found in Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Isaiah etc had their fulfillment when the
Israelites came out of the Babylonians Captivity. (Isaiah 10:20-26: Jeremiah 30:1-24 etc) Blessings
came to the Israelite peoples who came out of that lengthy exile. As prophesied at Isaiah 10:22 only a
few Israelites chose to go back to their homeland. Most of them were descendants of Israelites from the
tribes of Judah and Benjamin as noted earlier.

In consequence of what has been considered, it is unavoidable to interpret positive statements about an
“Israel” in the prophetic “last days” as referring to “spiritual Israel” and not “natural Israel.” Let us cite a
few examples:

This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem: In the last days the mountain
of
the LORD’S temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills,
and all nations will stream to it. Many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain
of the LORD to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his
paths.” The law will go out of Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He will judge between
the
nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and
their
spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war
anymore. --- Isaiah 2: 1-4 New International Version.

If we were not familiar with the fact that Jehovah is now involved with a spiritual Israel and a spiritual
Jerusalem, we would likely be inclined to understand the account as referring to natural Israel. Let us
consider another last day prophecy involving “Israel”:

“I will set a sign among them, and I will send some of those who survive to the nations—to Tarshish,
to
the Libyans and Lydians (famous as archers), to Tubal and Greece, and to the distant islands that have
not heard my fame or seen my glory among the nations. And they will bring all your brothers, from all
the nations to my holy mountain in Jerusalem as an offering to the LORD—on horses, in chariots and
wagons, and on mules and camels,” says the LORD. “They will bring them, as the Israelites bring
their
grain offerings, to the temple of the LORD in ceremonially clean vessels. And I will select some of
them
also to be priests and Levites, says the LORD. As the new heavens and the new earth that I will
make will endure before me,’ declares the LORD, ‘so will your name and descendants endure.’”
Isaiah 66: 19-22 New International Version

With the understanding that we have been able to extract from previous scriptures, we can understand that
Isaiah 66:19-22 coincides with the “end time” world wide preaching work mentioned at Matthew 24:14.
Among those gathered are not only the “great crowd” mentioned at Revelation 7: 9, 10 but the “priests”
mention at Isaiah 66:21 who will serve as “king priests’ as described at Revelation 5:9, 10.

-5-

Conclusion
Natural Israel missed out on a very special blessing. It had the opportunity of filling all 144,000 seats in
heaven serving as kings, priests and judges over the coming “new earth.” That special privilege opened
up to Gentiles who along with many devout Jews will form spiritual Israel. The shift now is from the
geographic Jerusalem to the heavenly Jerusalem. Resolution for earth’s problems will not be made from
earthly Mount Zion but heavenly Mt. Zion. (Hebrews 12: 22-24)

-2-