Video Transcript
So, Can we apply scripture that’s written about Israel to ourselves?
We’ve had many conversations with people who begin to understand God’s heart for Israel and they start reading the Bible without this replacement theology lens. But one of the things that happens is they start to hear teachers or Christians talking about verses where God is speaking directly to Israel or the Jewish people and applying those scriptures to themselves. A famous one is Jeremiah 29:11 – “‘For I know the plans I have for you’, says the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you… to give you a future and a hope.'” Jeremiah is writing this to the Jewish people that have been exiled. God had a plan, and ultimately He was going to fulfill that plan and bring them back to the land of Israel.
Can we make that scripture about us? Well, the answer is yes, but it’s important how we get to that point. Many see the Old Testament as just simply symbolic, and therefore, Israel is just a symbol that foreshadowed the church, and you can just plug the word church where you see Israel and you’re part of the church. So just plug your own name there and you’re done. But that’s not the way. As many have said, you can’t determine the right interpretation before you determine the correct interpretation. The correct interpretation of Jeremiah 29:11 is God’s comforting His people, the Jewish people, assuring them He has a good plan for them and He’s not going to leave or abandon them.
Well, we know that God doesn’t change. That’s what Malachi says. God’s character never changes. So if God’s character never changes, and that is how He treats the people He’s in covenant with, then scripture says in Romans 11, I’ve been grafted into that covenant. Romans 8 says, I’ve been adopted into this family. So if that’s how the unchanging God interacts with the people He’s in covenant with, then that’s how He acts towards me.
Notice I didn’t just mindlessly insert myself into the scripture void of all context, but understanding the context, I understand God’s character. I understand how He interacts with those He’s in covenant with. This verse gives me hope, not because I think it’s written about me – it’s written about God and the people that He loves, and that’s how He treats those He’s in covenant with. That scripture was fulfilled and He did bring the people back to the land. And that means that our God is also a promise-keeper. So I can take that verse as well, not saying that verse is about me, but that verse is about my God who is faithful to the people that He’s in covenant with.
