Is there a difference between Israel of the flesh and the Israel of God?

Question

“Behold Israel after the flesh: are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar?” ‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭10‬:‭18‬ ‭

And

“And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.” ‭‭Galatians‬ ‭6‬:‭16‬ ‭

Answer 1

Yes, the bible talks about two Israels. The first, which we can also call the ethnic Israel, is a picture and the foreshadow of the second, the Israel of God. All spiritual concepts of the NT have physical images given prior in the OT, allowing us to grasp their meaning. The people of God are no exception.

The nation of Israel was created by God as a rescue plan for the humanity. The bible teaches that the family of Jacob (70 members all together (Genesis 46:27)) down to Egypt and multiplied there. They were meant to be a kingdom of priests for the nations scattered after the tower of Babel event (70 nations all together, (Genesis 10)). Immediately after the calling, the nation proved to be unfit for the task. The golden calf story shows us that Israel needed a major system upgrade to fulfil God's calling. That ecclesia was merely a shadow of the coming one (in LXX the OT Israel [the descendants of Jacob with the mixed multitude that left Egypt and later converts] are called ecclesia on numerous occasions).

Through the prophets we learn a plan, how that was going to happen. Isaiah 49 particularly shows us that the nation would be rebuilt and recentred around one individual, the messianic servant. The identity as an Israelite will be gained through faith in Jesus, regardless if one is a physical descendent of Jacob or not. That is why we were never told which tribes the twelve apostles came from. They represent the new twelve tribes of the spiritual Israel.

Being a Jew, contrary to the belief of the time, was not enough. Nicodemus was told that by Jesus in John 3. Being born of water, which meant being a descendant and/or a part of the people formed into the nation during the exodus (1 Corinthians 10:1-5), wasn't enough. To be a part of the kingdom of God, one needed an upgrade from above.

A person may be a Jew (ethnic Israelite) and an enemy of God and His people (Israel of God):

For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church (ecclesia) of God and tried to destroy it. (Galatians 1:13)

A person may be an uncircumcised gentile and be a seed of Abraham more than an unbelieving, genetic descendant:

28 A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. 29 No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God. (Romans 2)

2 Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh. 3 For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh. (Philippians 3)

This mystery is foreshadowed in many places of the OT.

Jacob as a type of Christ had two wives. Leah had weak eyes (Genesis 29:17). She represents the physical Israel, who did not recognise their Messiah, and was loved less (Genesis 29:31). Rachel that he married after Leah was loved by him (Genesis 29:17). That is one of the verses John hyperlinked Revelation 3:9 to (the others are Isaiah 43:4; 45:14&60:14):

9 Look, I will force those who belong to Satan’s synagogue—those liars who say they are Jews but are not—to come and bow down at your feet. They will acknowledge that you are the ones I love.

Paul also wrote in Romans 1:

7 To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints:

The commandment concerning a concubine in Exodus 21 says:

7 ‘And when a man selleth his daughter for a handmaid, she doth not go out according to the going out of the men-servants; 8 if evil in the eyes of her lord, so that he hath not betrothed her, then he hath let her be ransomed; to a strange people he hath not power to sell her, in his dealing treacherously with her. 9 ‘And if to his son he betroth her, according to the right of daughters he doth to her. 10 ‘If another [woman] he take for him, her food, her covering, and her habitation, he doth not withdraw; 11 and if these three he do not to her, then she hath gone out for nought, without money.

The concubine represents the Israel according to the flesh that displeased God. Hence, He took another one, which is the spiritual Israel. Nevertheless, God is faith fool to his promises and has been preserving the unbelieving Jews for the last two thousand years.

In Romans 11:11-24, Paul talks about gentiles being grafted into the commonwealth of Israel of God through Jesus, the seed of Abraham. The idea comes from the careful reading of the promises given by God in Genesis 12:3 & 22:18.

I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” (Genesis 12:3) וַאֲבָֽרְכָה֙ מְבָ֣רְכֶ֔יךָ וּמְקַלֶּלְךָ֖ אָאֹ֑ר וְנִבְרְכ֣וּ בְךָ֔ כֹּ֖ל מִשְׁפְּחֹ֥ת הָאֲדָמָֽה׃

and through your seed all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.” (Genesis 22:18) וְהִתְבָּרְכ֣וּ בְזַרְעֲךָ֔ כֹּ֖ל גּוֹיֵ֣י הָאָ֑רֶץ עֵ֕קֶב אֲשֶׁ֥ר שָׁמַ֖עְתָּ בְּקֹלִֽי׃

Da'at Zekenim on Genesis 12:3:2 ונברכו בך כל משפחות האדמה, “and all the families of the earth shall count themselves blessed if they can establish family ties with you.” The root of the word ונברכו is the same as that of מבריך, “to graft.” They will consider it an accomplishment to have Abrahamitic blood in their veins.

Those rabbis almost got it right.

Jacob crossing his hands to bless and adopt Manasseh and Ephraim as his own sons is the foreshadow of the adoption of gentiles through the Messiah and his cross:

16 the Messenger who is redeeming me from all evil doth bless the youths, and my name is called upon them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and they increase (דָּגָה from the same root as דָּג (fish)) into a multitude in the midst of the land.’ 17 And Joseph seeth that his father setteth his right hand on the head of Ephraim, and it is wrong in his eyes, and he supporteth the hand of his father to turn it aside from off the head of Ephraim to the head of Manasseh; 18 and Joseph saith unto his father, ‘Not so, my father, for this [is] the first-born; set thy right hand on his head.’ 19 And his father refuseth, and saith, ‘I have known, my son, I have known; he also becometh a people, and he also is great, and yet, his young brother is greater than he, and his seed is the fulness of the nations/gentiles (as in Romans 11:25);’

Answer 2

In the New Testament the word “Israel” occurs 68 times and the word “Israelite” 9 times, making a total of 77 times. These may be classified as follows. Those marked with “ * ” refer to a non-literal, non-national (ie spiritual) “Israel”.

• Many instances of “Israel” (eg, Matt 27:9, Luke 1:16, Acts 5:21, etc) refer to the literal or national people of Israel collectively, but not a state of Israel (such is a modern idea).
• Two (Matt 27:42, Mark 15:32) refer derisively to a “king of Israel”, despite these same people declaring (correctly in a strictly civil sense) that their only king was Caesar (John 19:15).
• *Two (John 1:49, 12:13) refer to Jesus as the King of Israel, clearly, in these cases it was not a literal kingdom but a spiritual kingdom.
• *Gal 6:16 refers to “Israel of God” – a clear distinction that Paul makes with literal Israel, as per the previous verse: the “Israel of God” consists of those who do not distinguish between circumcision and non-circumcision.
• *Rom 9:6 is a clear instance where Paul makes an obvious distinction between literal Israel and spiritual Israel (“not all from Israel are Israel”) – a point he is at pains to expand upon in Rom 9-11.
• *Eph 2:12, 13 is also another case where Gentiles are described as outside the citizenship of (literal) Israel, but Gentiles can become spiritual Jews by the grace of Christ alone as v13 makes clear.
• *Heb 8:8-10. While this reference is debatable, it is my opinion that it predicts a time when spiritual Israel (including those literal Jews who have accepted Jesus as Messiah) will be partakers of the new covenant introduced by Christ Himself at the cross. This has already occurred and was predicted (as then still future) by Jeremiah and celebrated as a fulfilment in this passage of Hebrews as indicated by v13.
• *The three references in Rev 2:14, 7:4, 21:12, I suggest, are also to spiritual Israel, rather than literal Israel.

Thus, there are numerous instances in the New Testament where “Israel” is not used of the literal “Israel of the flesh” (1 Cor 10:18).

However, context is king! In the Old Testament, the nation of Israel was God’s chosen instrument (Deut 14:2) for witnessing about God’s saving grace. It was in this sense that Israel became the “chosen nation” (Ex 19:5). Specifically:

• Israel was to be a kingdom of priests to teach all nations (Ex 19:5, 6, Isa 61:6).
• Israel was to be a light to the world (Isa 42:6, 49:6, 60:3).
• Israel was to be a blessing to all nations via both their spiritual example and teaching, and the promised Messiah (Gen 12:2-3; 18:18; 22:18, Ps 67:1-2, Isa 2:2-4, 55:5, 61:9-11, 66:19-20, Jer 3:17)

Note that while Israel was chosen as the instrument to tell and show the world of God’s saving grace, salvation was always available to all people. Indeed, the Old Testament contains many examples of foreigners becoming part of Israel, indicating that the Israelite Covenant was open to all and was never exclusive. For example:

• Abraham’s own household must have consisted of perhaps 2000 people just to be able to raise an army of 318 men to liberate Lot, Gen 14:14. Indeed, Abraham’s chief servant (from Damascus) was clearly a believer and very devout as shown in Gen 24.
• The unfortunate story in Gen 38 about Judah and Tamar shows that a foreigner became the mother of the tribe of Judah.
• When Jacob entered Egypt, his family numbered 75 people (Acts 7:14, Ex 1:5). Some of these were not direct descendants of Abraham such as the wives of the 12 patriarchs, notably Joseph’s own wife. 215 years and four generations later at the exodus, Israel’s army had over 600,000 men, excluding women and children, (Ex 12:37, Num 1:46, etc) suggesting a total population of several million people, requiring many additions. This included a significant mixed multitude (Ex 12:38) showing that Israel obviously consisted of many non-biological Jews had joined. (Note that it is biologically impossible for Israelite numbers to have grown from 75 to several million biologically without many outside additions.)
• Moses married a Midianite (Ex 2:16-21) also known as a Cushite. Miriam and Aaron were severely reprimanded and punished for displaying racism (Num 12:1, 2)
• Caleb, who represented and led the tribe of Judah was a Kennizite (Num 32:12).
• Rahab was a Canaanite (Josh 2:1, 2, Matt 1:5)
• Ruth was Moabite (Ruth 1:4 16, 17, Matt 1:5) – these last two make King David descended from foreigners (Ruth 4:13-16).
• Uriah was a Hittite (2 Sam 11:3)
• King David’s elite personal regiment consisted of Gittites, that is, Philistines (2 Sam 15:18-22, 1 Chron 18:17)
• Isa 14:1 - When the LORD has compassion on Jacob and again chooses Israel, and settles them on their own land, then strangers will join them and attach themselves to the house of Jacob.
• Isa 56:6, 7 - And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD to minister to Him, to love the name of the LORD, and to be His servants— all who keep the Sabbath without profaning it and who hold fast to My covenant—I will bring them to My holy mountain and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on My altar, for My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations.” See also V3.
• The Rechabites were Kenites (Jer 35:1-19)
• Many other foreigners lived in Israel (1 Chron 22:2, 17, 2 Chron 30:25)
• In Esther’s time “many of the people of the land became Jews” (Esther 8:17, 9:27)
• Even in NT times, many Jewish synagogues were attended by godly gentiles converted to Judaism (Acts 13:16, 26, 16:14, 17:17)
• Many Jewish proselytes came to worship in Jerusalem (John 20:20, Acts 2:9-11)
• Jesus quotes Isa 56:7, “My house shall be a house of prayer for all nations”, Mark 11:17.
• Further, biological Israelites could opt out of the covenant and be cut-off (Ex 30:33, 38, 31:14, Lev 7:20, 21, 25, 27).

Thus, it is abundantly clear that membership of Israel was always open to all and voluntary.

CONCLUSION

While the distinction between literal or biological Jews and spiritual Jews is somewhat blurred in the Bible, several verse draw a sharp distinction to make a point about the membership/citizenship of the kingdom of God/heaven or spiritual Israel such as:

• Rom 9:6 - It is not as though God’s word has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.
• Rom 9:8 - So it is not the children of the flesh who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as offspring.
• Rom 11:11-32 discusses gentiles being "grafted in" to the spiritual kingdom of Israel. Paul goes on to talk about natural branches vs those that are grafted in.

Answer 3

There are different types or kinds of Israel. These can be brought under two main categories.

“For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.” (Rom 2:28-29, KJV)

Two broad categories of Jews or Israel are mentioned by Paul from the scripture above:

• Outward Jews. These are Jews with physical circumcision accouding to Abraham. These were circumcised by men. Here, we hav so many kinds of Jews such as Proselyte Jews who were gentiles but became new born into the Jewish nation by water baptism after which they undergo physical circumcision. Here, we also have those who are direct discendants of Abraham through Isaac. We also have Children of gentile women such as Ruth and Rahab who married Jews and gave birth to children who also had physical circumcsion. All these make up the Israel after the flesh

• Inward Jews. These are Jews with inward circumcision according to Abraham. These are Jews or Israelites not circumcised by any man; Jesus Christ circumcised them by the spirit of God. They went through divine operation.

Col.2:11 puts it this way saying that they "...are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands,...". This scripture went further to decribe their circumcision as "...the circumcision of Christ:...". To show that it was not a circumcision made by any human, Col.2:12 says it is "...the operation of God..."

Who make up the Inward Jews?

These are made up of Gentiles who have had inward circumcision as well as Outward Jews who have had inward circumcision. These make up the church of the living God.

“Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;” (Eph 2:15, KJV)

God created to himself 'one new man' via his own operation.

Those who have had inward circumcision are the Israel of God This is the church of God. Heb.12:22.

If we look at the context of Gal.6:16,

“For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.” (Gal 6:15-16, KJV)

Paul says, "..as many as walk..." Who are these? They are the new creature in Christ Jesus. There is a rule they are to walk or live their lives in accordance to - the rule of the new creature.

In Christ Jesus ....circumcision, that is, physical circumcision or being an outward Jews produces no effect. Likewise, uncircumcision, that is, obedience to the law via conscience by the gentiles produces no effect. Hence, the lifestyle of the inwardly circumcised and their mindset is conspicuously different from that of the outward Jews and that of the gentiles. This is the bedrock of Gal.3:28:

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Gal 3:28, KJV)

The identity of Israel after the flesh is undressed as well as the identity of the Gentile. By virtue of inward circumcision done by God himself, a person puts on Christ.

Those who put on Christ by the operation of God are the Israel of God. Every God-circumcised individual is an Israelite of God.

And...every man-circumcised indivdual but not circumcised by God is an Israelite after the flesh.

Answer 4

Gentiles are never refered to as Israel, or Jews, in the Bible. They are "brought near" (Eph:2:13) but what they are grafted into is Christ, not Israel. Though Galations 3 does call Gentiles who believe "sons" or "children" of Abraham by faith, it must be remembered that Abraham was not Jewish, and that "all nations of the earth" would be blessed in faithful Abraham. The distinctions between Israel in the flesh, and "true Israel" in Romans, is distinguishing between believing and unbelieving Jews. In other words, concluding merely ethnic Jews under sin, and calling believing ethnic Jews, "true Israel". In Galations the same distinction is maintained, when referring to "the Israel of God". Here, Paul is making a difference between the Judaizers who where afflicting the Galations--and against who the entire epistle was written--and those Jews who are followers of Jesus Christ, and are, therefore, the "Israel of God."