I interrupt our series on the New Perspective on Paul to jump down a rabbit trail that caught my attention while studying what Sanders has illuminated about first century Judaism. (Note: for Sander's page references see the last heading in the previous blog.)
While reading Sanders book, Paul and Palestinian Judaism, and studying the New Perspective on Judaism which examines Jewish literature between 200 bce and ce 200, I discovered something of interest as a near side note.
When Paul states in Romans that 1) all Israel will one day be saved, but that 2) not all Israel are Israel, he wasn’t saying anything new, rather he was echoing what was common in Judaism of his day. It is most prevalent among the Dead Sea Scrolls and also among the Apocryphal literature but can also be seen among the Rabbinic literature as well – this common belief that “all Israel will be saved” but that “not all Israel are Israel”!
There is this pervasive thought among a certain sector of Christianity today that one day (i.e. in the eschaton – end) all Israel – by which is meant all those who are born of the blood line of Abraham, all those who are of national and ethnic decent etc – will accept Jesus on some type of compulsion. This belief is most common in the Left Behind epidemic in which many believe that the reference to ‘all Israel’ actually includes all ethnic Israelites from the past as well as those present and future. One friend actually suggested that since Jesus led the captives from Paradise to glory after his crucifixion (i.e. the thief on the cross, and presumably all previous Israelites – remember wicked Ahab! Yup, in glory) that Paradise – which then was emptied – is now filling up with unbelieving Jews until the eschaton (the end) when they will be led to glory again!
These theories are a gross misunderstanding of first century Jewish beliefs, of the nature of grace, election, covenant and law, of Paul and ultimately of the scriptures holistically and of the plan and purpose of redemption in particular!
Cleaning up some misunderstandings:
In the Dead Sea Scrolls the Essence community believed that they were the only “true Israelites” since they alone were the only ones to truly understand the covenants and laws of God. It was possible – through a rigorous process – to join the Essence community and become a part of “true Israel”, but for all the other ‘so-called’ Israelites outside of the community, because they would not join the ‘true Israelites’, they had forfeited their identity as ‘Israel’ as far is the Qumran community was concerned.
And in the Apocryphal (before Christ) and the Rabbinical (after Christ) literature the belief was similar: Salvation was based on Israel’s call and election in God (i.e. grace), but the law was given to separate those ‘in’ Israel from those ‘outside’ of Israel. So obedience to the law was necessary for an Israelite to remain in the covenantal relationship with God (i.e. to be saved!); those who obeyed the law and atoned for their sins in the prescribed ways will be saved, while those Israelites who rejected the law and refused to repent and atone for their sins would in a sense declare their rejection of the covenant and election of God. In other words, such a rebellious Israelite would – by rejection of the law – forfeit their status as an ‘Israelite’ and become no different then a pagan Gentile. And so even in the Apocryphal and Rabbinical literature ‘all Israel will be saved’ but ‘not all Israel are Israel’, i.e. only those faithful to the covenant by obedience to the law would remain as ‘true Israel’. Those Israelites who rejected the covenant by disobeying the law were no longer considered ‘true Israel’, but rather apostates!
So not even Jewish religion taught salvation to all ethnic Israelites, but only to those who remained faithful to the covenant, such a one was considered a ‘true Israelite’. So even within the Jewish religion there was an "Israel within Israel"!
Paul on the ‘true Israel’
Paul captures this common belief in Judaism and yet redefines it in terms of being ‘in Christ’; “It is not as though God’s word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children” (Romans 9:6-7). Then Paul goes on to say that “Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved” (Romans 11:25b-26a).
Two things become clear here; 1) someone is not a descendant of Abraham just because they are an Israelite (ethnicity is irrelevant when discussing soteriology!) – through Paul’s elaborate argument he shows that a true Israelite is one who is of the promise which is obtained by faith, not faith plus (i.e. faith plus works or faith plus ethnicity). And 2) it is not until the full number of Gentiles comes in that “all Israel will be saved” – i.e. believing Israelites plus Gentiles equals “all Israel”. That is why Paul stresses elsewhere that there is neither “Jew nor Greek” (i.e. Gentile – Galatians 3:28) “for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (ibid, 3:29). And thus together we all ‘in Christ’ make up the “Israel of God” (6:16).
So Paul has captured the common Jewish belief that “all Israel will be saved” on the one hand and that “not all Israel are Israel” on the other and has redefined ‘Israel’ as those who are ‘in Christ’ – i.e. believing Jews and Gentiles.
This ridiculous notion that one day all ethnic Israel (based I suppose on the arbitrariness of God) will one day be saved, that the state of Israel will (I’m going to use a term nobody like because I don’t know how else to accurately express it) ‘forcibly’ be saved while the rest of the human race must come to believe ‘the hard way’ (i.e. without being forced into it) is absolutely foreign to the scriptures, to the Old Testament, to the New Testament to the belief of Judaism in between the Testaments and during the time of Christ and as in Paul. It is an abuse of the scriptures by way of ‘proof-texting’ as a result of placing our stock in current events then scouring the scriptures for some ‘proof’ that ‘such a such’ must be unfolding bible prophecy!
So will all Israel be saved? We must answer with a resounding YES; but then we must remind ourselves that not all Israel are Israel, but only those who are 'in Christ' or - to word it another way - those who have a 'covenantal' relationship with God.
No one is saved based on some type of arbitrary ethnic superiority! The scriptures do not teach this false dichtonomy. If you are 'in Christ' then you are a member of the Israel of God!
Just a thought
Derek
While reading Sanders book, Paul and Palestinian Judaism, and studying the New Perspective on Judaism which examines Jewish literature between 200 bce and ce 200, I discovered something of interest as a near side note.
When Paul states in Romans that 1) all Israel will one day be saved, but that 2) not all Israel are Israel, he wasn’t saying anything new, rather he was echoing what was common in Judaism of his day. It is most prevalent among the Dead Sea Scrolls and also among the Apocryphal literature but can also be seen among the Rabbinic literature as well – this common belief that “all Israel will be saved” but that “not all Israel are Israel”!
There is this pervasive thought among a certain sector of Christianity today that one day (i.e. in the eschaton – end) all Israel – by which is meant all those who are born of the blood line of Abraham, all those who are of national and ethnic decent etc – will accept Jesus on some type of compulsion. This belief is most common in the Left Behind epidemic in which many believe that the reference to ‘all Israel’ actually includes all ethnic Israelites from the past as well as those present and future. One friend actually suggested that since Jesus led the captives from Paradise to glory after his crucifixion (i.e. the thief on the cross, and presumably all previous Israelites – remember wicked Ahab! Yup, in glory) that Paradise – which then was emptied – is now filling up with unbelieving Jews until the eschaton (the end) when they will be led to glory again!
These theories are a gross misunderstanding of first century Jewish beliefs, of the nature of grace, election, covenant and law, of Paul and ultimately of the scriptures holistically and of the plan and purpose of redemption in particular!
Cleaning up some misunderstandings:
In the Dead Sea Scrolls the Essence community believed that they were the only “true Israelites” since they alone were the only ones to truly understand the covenants and laws of God. It was possible – through a rigorous process – to join the Essence community and become a part of “true Israel”, but for all the other ‘so-called’ Israelites outside of the community, because they would not join the ‘true Israelites’, they had forfeited their identity as ‘Israel’ as far is the Qumran community was concerned.
And in the Apocryphal (before Christ) and the Rabbinical (after Christ) literature the belief was similar: Salvation was based on Israel’s call and election in God (i.e. grace), but the law was given to separate those ‘in’ Israel from those ‘outside’ of Israel. So obedience to the law was necessary for an Israelite to remain in the covenantal relationship with God (i.e. to be saved!); those who obeyed the law and atoned for their sins in the prescribed ways will be saved, while those Israelites who rejected the law and refused to repent and atone for their sins would in a sense declare their rejection of the covenant and election of God. In other words, such a rebellious Israelite would – by rejection of the law – forfeit their status as an ‘Israelite’ and become no different then a pagan Gentile. And so even in the Apocryphal and Rabbinical literature ‘all Israel will be saved’ but ‘not all Israel are Israel’, i.e. only those faithful to the covenant by obedience to the law would remain as ‘true Israel’. Those Israelites who rejected the covenant by disobeying the law were no longer considered ‘true Israel’, but rather apostates!
So not even Jewish religion taught salvation to all ethnic Israelites, but only to those who remained faithful to the covenant, such a one was considered a ‘true Israelite’. So even within the Jewish religion there was an "Israel within Israel"!
Paul on the ‘true Israel’
Paul captures this common belief in Judaism and yet redefines it in terms of being ‘in Christ’; “It is not as though God’s word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children” (Romans 9:6-7). Then Paul goes on to say that “Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved” (Romans 11:25b-26a).
Two things become clear here; 1) someone is not a descendant of Abraham just because they are an Israelite (ethnicity is irrelevant when discussing soteriology!) – through Paul’s elaborate argument he shows that a true Israelite is one who is of the promise which is obtained by faith, not faith plus (i.e. faith plus works or faith plus ethnicity). And 2) it is not until the full number of Gentiles comes in that “all Israel will be saved” – i.e. believing Israelites plus Gentiles equals “all Israel”. That is why Paul stresses elsewhere that there is neither “Jew nor Greek” (i.e. Gentile – Galatians 3:28) “for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (ibid, 3:29). And thus together we all ‘in Christ’ make up the “Israel of God” (6:16).
So Paul has captured the common Jewish belief that “all Israel will be saved” on the one hand and that “not all Israel are Israel” on the other and has redefined ‘Israel’ as those who are ‘in Christ’ – i.e. believing Jews and Gentiles.
This ridiculous notion that one day all ethnic Israel (based I suppose on the arbitrariness of God) will one day be saved, that the state of Israel will (I’m going to use a term nobody like because I don’t know how else to accurately express it) ‘forcibly’ be saved while the rest of the human race must come to believe ‘the hard way’ (i.e. without being forced into it) is absolutely foreign to the scriptures, to the Old Testament, to the New Testament to the belief of Judaism in between the Testaments and during the time of Christ and as in Paul. It is an abuse of the scriptures by way of ‘proof-texting’ as a result of placing our stock in current events then scouring the scriptures for some ‘proof’ that ‘such a such’ must be unfolding bible prophecy!
So will all Israel be saved? We must answer with a resounding YES; but then we must remind ourselves that not all Israel are Israel, but only those who are 'in Christ' or - to word it another way - those who have a 'covenantal' relationship with God.
No one is saved based on some type of arbitrary ethnic superiority! The scriptures do not teach this false dichtonomy. If you are 'in Christ' then you are a member of the Israel of God!
Just a thought
Derek
Posts
Derek,
ReplyDeleteA good, thorough, and interesting blog. Having looked over many of your entries, while reading between the lines, I have noticed a common thread. Many of the issues you discuss, such as Christians being ignorant of the origin of Scripture and the corresponding history, misinterpreting modern events for prophecy, and using flawed/uninformed interpretations to suit their own purposes, find their roots in Martin Luther’s (non-Biblical) teaching of Sola Scriptura and the culture of Fundamentalist, Bible Christianity which it facilitates. It may be beneficial for you to delve into, explore, investigate, and re-examine the theological/historical validity of Luther’s concept. I think doing so might cultivate some very useful perspectives.
Jim Gomes
Do you have any resources you'd recommend?
ReplyDeleteI prefer books over websites and would like the ISBN 13 number for ease of finding and purchasing.
Get back to me, I'd be interested in investing the "theological/historical validity of Luther's concept". Always willing to cultivate "useful perspectives".
At the end of the day though, I don't care if Luther believed and taught infallibly in purple flying elephants, my interest in Luther is minimal. And I do not follow him as a leader or accept much of what he taught.