Israel Matters: Why Christians Must Think Differently about the People and the Land
Overview
Widely respected theologian Gerald McDermott has spent two decades investigating the meaning of Israel and Judaism. What he has learned has required him to rethink many of his previous assumptions.
Israel Matters addresses the perennially important issue of the relationship between Christianity and the people and land of Israel, offering a unique and compelling “third way” between typical approaches and correcting common misunderstandings along the way. This book challenges the widespread Christian assumption that since Jesus came to earth, Jews are no longer special to God as a people, and the land of Israel is no longer theologically significant. It traces the author's journey from thinking those things to discovering that the New Testament authors believed the opposite of both. It also shows that contrary to what many Christians believe, the church is not the new Israel, and both the people and the land of Israel are important to God and the future of redemption.
McDermott offers an accessible but robust defense of a “New Christian Zionism” for pastors and laypeople interested in Israel and Christian-Jewish relations. His approach will also spark a conversation among theologians and biblical scholars.
Key Features
- Explains how Christians have thought about Israel for most of the last two thousand years
- Explores the New Testament view of the people and land of Israel
- Addresses common questions, objections, and stumbling blocks
Contents
- Getting the Big Story Wrong
- Does the New Testament Teach That the Church Is the New Israel?
- Those Who Got It Right: A History of Christian Zionism Starting in the Second Century
- Looking More Closely at the Old Testament: Salvation for the World through Israel
- Looking More Closely at the New Testament: A Future for Both the People and the Land of Israel
- Political Objections: What about the Palestinians?
- Theological Objections: Is the First Covenant Obsolete?
- If All This Is True, Then What?
- Six Proposals
- Appendix: Covenant and Land in the Old Testament
Top Highlights
“I will never forget the day that I stumbled upon Paul’s insistence that Jews who rejected Jesus were still beloved by God and that God kept his covenant with them as a people. He told the church in Rome that ‘they are enemies of the gospel for your sake,’ but they ‘are still beloved of God because of their forefathers’ and ‘because the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable’ (Rom. 11:28–29 AT).” (Page xiii)
“One of the first was that the New Testament never calls the Church the New Israel.” (Page xii)
“The principal charge concerned, as it still does today, UN Resolution 242. I discovered that this resolution, passed just after the 1967 war, ordered withdrawal from ‘territories,’ not all ‘the territories,’ and stipulated that withdrawal should take place only after Israel’s neighbors recognized its right to exist and agreed with it on firm boundaries. Those who wrote the resolution knew that Israel would need to stay in some territories to protect itself. They probably suspected that its neighbors might neither recognize it nor agree on borders. They were right.” (Page xv)
“Paul’s reference to (plural) covenants. Then I saw that Jesus spoke of the ‘blood of the covenant’ (Matt. 26:28; Mark 14:24), suggesting there was one fundamental (Abrahamic) covenant and that the other covenants, such as the Mosaic and Davidic covenants, were aspects of that one basic covenant with Abraham.” (Page xiii)
“Jewish-gentile differences? Does that distinction also remain in the Church, where all are one in Christ Jesus? And if the Jew-gentile distinction is not obliterated by their unity in Christ, what about Israel’s distinction from the nations?” (Page xii)
Praise for the Print Edition
It is a pleasure to commend this discussion of the relationship between the church and the people and land of Israel. McDermott’s voice is a crucial one as he shows how this theme is neither new nor tied to one particular Christian tradition. The question of Israel’s role in God’s purposes is relevant and appropriately nuanced, and this book, dealing with a topic that often is treated too simplistically by both sides in the debate, will be of great value to the church.
—Darrell L. Bock, executive director for cultural engagement, Howard G. Hendricks Center for Christian Leadership and Cultural Engagement, senior research professor of New Testament studies, Dallas Theological Seminary
Because so much discussion of Israel is polarized between uncritical fundamentalism and liberal demonization of the Jewish State, Gerald McDermott’s book is more important than ever. In addition to dispelling the myth that Christian Zionism is a new political construct, McDermott offers a balanced interpretation of Christian theological tradition regarding Judaism and a close reading of the Bible that both strengthens Christian belief and makes room for the Jewish people in their covenantal homeland. Israel Matters is a must-read for all people of faith as well as for every person interested in understanding both the place of Judaism today and the Middle East and in pursuing peace in that troubled region.
—Rabbi Dr. Eugene Korn, academic director, Center for Jewish-Christian Understanding and Cooperation, Israel
Not content to take on supersessionism, McDermott reworks covenantal theology to argue that there remains a covenant with Israel, which includes the land, and that this insight has implications for Christian doctrine as a whole. At the same time, he eschews a starry-eyed vision of the current State of Israel, preferring instead to acknowledge its mistakes while also recognizing its importance in history. In Israel Matters, McDermott has placed Christian Zionism on firm biblical and theological footing. I heartily recommend it.
—Dale Coulter, School of Divinity, Regent University
Product Details
- Title: Israel Matters: Why Christians Must Think Differently about the People and the Land
- Author: Gerald R. McDermott
- Publisher: Baker
- Publication Date: 2017
- Pages: 176
- Resource Type: Monographs
- Topic: Theology
Sample Pages from the Print Edition
Reviews
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Joseph Luna
2/12/2019
Number one, there are no promises about to the land to Israel in the NT; number two, nowhere in the NT do we read that Israel continues to be called “chosen”, and, number three, modern Israel has no connection to God because they continue to reject the Lord of Glory (1Cor. 2:8) Therefore, I must believe that only a people of faith (in Christ) chosen before the foundation of the world as Eph. 1:4 states, are the only ones who have the right to be called "chosen." Ephesians 2:11-22 makes it abundantly clear that Jesus broke down the barrier of the dividing wall between Jews and Gentiles (v:14), so why are we trying to rebuild it right back up when Christ through His blood made both people one (v:14)? There is no basis in the scriptures and there is no valid reason to believe that an ungodly nation such as modern “Israel” stills awaits some sort of promise that was fulfilled by their own Messiah at the cross. Jesus redeemed the whole world at the cross through His blood, including old covenant Israel. As for the Jews, the ball has been on their court for a little over 2,000 years which includes the political nation that formed in 1948 which we call “Israel.” So unless they respond to the gospel, they will remain lost and will die in their sins. By the way, the new covenant congregation is God’s final plan for all people of all nations which included old covenant Israel. This is the reason why Jesus, from the very beginning of His ministry, began to call disciples out of Israel in order to include them in the kingdom of God. The term “called out” means church in English (Ekklesia). In my opinion, the new covenant congregation would be a better term than using the noun “church” because clarifies the fact that the church was a continuation of old Israel as a people of faith who were called to inherit all the promises of God through faith in Jesus Christ. The truth of the matter is that without faith it is impossible to please God and he who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him (Heb. 11:6; Rom. 8:9). This is not Replacement Theology folks, so please do not accuse me of saying that the church replaces Israel. No, the church was the final leg of God's plan for Israel which included all the nations of the world. The old congregation (the church in the wilderness, Acts 7:38) are united to the new covenant congregation through Christ our Lord. Ephesians 4:4–6 (NASB95) 4 "There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all."
