Who Is Israel? God’s People Under the Old and New Covenants

When you hear the word Israel, what comes to mind? For many, it is the modern state in the Middle East. For others, it is the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But the Bible presents a far more profound answer. To understand who Israel really is, we must carefully follow the story of God’s covenants.

From Sinai to Calvary, from Moses to the apostles, the identity of the people of God has always been tied to covenant relationship. In the Old Testament, Israel was God’s chosen nation by circumcision and obedience. But the prophets warned of covenant breaking, pointed toward a new covenant, and announced a coming Redeemer. With the arrival of Jesus Christ, the definition of Israel is restructured around Him, the true Seed of Abraham, and those who belong to Him by faith.

This post will walk deeply through the covenant identity of Israel, expose the failures of Zionism and dispensationalism, and reveal how Christ fulfills every promise.

Israel Under the Old Covenant

📜 Exodus 19:5–6

📜 Deuteronomy 7:6

Here, God’s election of Israel is clear. They were called to be His holy nation, a kingdom of priests. Yet notice the condition: if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant.

From the beginning, Israel’s chosenness was covenantal and conditional. Their inheritance, protection, and land were tied directly to their faithfulness to Yahweh. Circumcision marked them outwardly, but even the Law itself anticipated something deeper, a circumcision of the heart (📜 Deuteronomy 10:16).

📝 God’s chosen people were always called to covenant faithfulness, not just ancestry. Their identity was never guaranteed by bloodline alone.

The Prophets Pointed to Something Greater

📜 Jeremiah 31:31–32

Israel’s history is filled with rebellion and covenant-breaking. The prophets did not soften this truth, they amplified it. Jeremiah and Ezekiel both declared that God would establish a new covenant, not like the old, because the old had been broken.

This covenant would not be written on stone tablets but on human hearts. It would not be sealed by animal blood but by the blood of the Lamb of God. It would not be confined to one nation but extended to all nations through Christ.

📝 The “new covenant” is the fulfillment of what the old covenant anticipated. It is not an add-on for Gentiles; it is the very completion of Israel’s story in Christ.

Jesus Redefines the People of God

📜 Matthew 21:43

Speaking to unbelieving leaders, Jesus announced a radical shift: the kingdom would be taken and given to another people. The inheritance of Israel would be transferred. But who is this new nation?

📜 1 Peter 2:9

Peter answers plainly: those who believe in Christ, Jew or Gentile, are now God’s chosen nation. The language once reserved for Israel in Exodus is now applied to the church.

📝 The Old Covenant community was defined by circumcision in the flesh. The New Covenant community is defined by circumcision of the heart, through faith in Christ.

Paul’s Apostolic Clarifications

📜 Romans 2:28–29

Paul dismantles the idea of mere physical descent. A true Jew is not one outwardly but inwardly, defined by the Spirit’s work in the heart.

📜 Galatians 3:16

📜 Galatians 3:29

Here lies the key: Christ Himself is the Seed of Abraham, and all who belong to Him by faith are Abraham’s children. The true heirs of the promises are not the unbelieving physical descendants of Jacob, but those who belong to Christ.

📝 Paul does not erase Israel. He reveals its true fulfillment, in Christ and His people.

Romans 11 and the Olive Tree

Romans 11 is often wielded as a defense of modern Zionism. But read carefully:

• Branches were broken off because of unbelief.

• Gentiles were grafted in by faith.

• Jews can be grafted back in, but only by faith in Christ.

📜 Romans 11:15

Paul acknowledges that Israel as a nation was cast away, not permanently, but conditionally. They can be received again through faith, but there is no second path of salvation. There is only the one olive tree, rooted in Christ.

📝 “All Israel shall be saved” (📜 Romans 11:26) does not mean the entire modern nation. It means the fullness of God’s elect people, Jew and Gentile together, saved by Christ.

Why Zionism and Dispensationalism Fail

Let's look at how modern systems distort Scripture to defend a political ideology.

1. Genesis 12:3 Misapplied

   Zionists claim, “Those who bless Israel will be blessed.” Yet Paul says the Seed is Christ (📜 Galatians 3:16). Blessing Abraham’s seed means blessing Christ and those who are His, not supporting an unbelieving nation-state.

   
   

2. Two Peoples, Two Plans

   Dispensationalism claims God has one plan for Israel and another for the church. But the apostles know only one people of God, one body, one olive tree.

   
   

3. The Land Promise

   The land was conditional (📜 Deuteronomy 4:27; 📜 Leviticus 26:40–42). Expulsion came when Israel disobeyed. To claim unconditional entitlement to land today apart from Christ is to bypass the covenant entirely.

📝 Zionism reads the Old Testament against the New. But the apostles teach us to read the Old through the New.

Pastoral Implications

This is not just theology. It reshapes how we live.

• We must not confuse political allegiance with covenant faithfulness.

• We must love Jews, Arabs, and all nations by pointing them to Christ, not by reinforcing unbelief.

• We must anchor our hope not in an earthly nation, but in the heavenly kingdom that Christ will reveal at His return.

  
  

To call the church “Israel” is not arrogance, it is fidelity to Christ’s fulfillment of the promises.

Final Thought

The question, Who is Israel?, is answered not by politics, ethnicity, or geography, but by Christ. He is the true Seed of Abraham. All who are His are Abraham’s children, heirs of the promises, and God’s chosen nation. To cling to Zionism or dispensationalism is to deny the gospel’s very heart: that Christ is the fulfillment of the covenant and the center of God’s people.

Ask Yourself:

• Am I defining Israel the way the apostles define it, through Christ, or the way tradition and politics have taught me?

• How does belonging to God’s true holy nation call me to live differently in obedience and witness?

• Have I allowed old covenant shadows or modern ideologies to cloud my view of Christ’s completed work?

Join the Discussion:

What changes in your understanding of prophecy, covenant, and identity when you see Israel fulfilled in Christ and His people?

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