The implications of these two shifts (from ethnic to spiritual and localized to worldwide) in the definition of Israel are profound. If Israel is defined by relationship with the Jewish Messiah rather than one’s ethnic or geographical location, national, institutional Israel can now be classed with the Gentiles in terms of God’s original purpose. And Gentiles who follow Jesus are grafted in to Israel’s original mission in Christ (Rom 11:17-24). Hans LaRondelle brought the clearest evidence for these shifts to my attention in a class more than forty years ago.

LaRondelle’s demonstration of the above began in the book of Joel. In the latter part of Joel 2, the author moves from his present situation to the far future (Joel 2:28 – 3:21). “In those days” (Joel 3:1), God would pour out His prophetic Spirit on men and women of every age (Joel 2:28-29). There would be heavenly signs (2:30-31) and God would bring deliverance to the remnant in Jerusalem (2:32). The deliverance would be needed because the nations (same Hebrew word as Gentiles) would proclaim war against Jerusalem and gather in the valley nearby for a final attack (3:9-12). In the context of Joel, God’s people are described in ethnic (Joel 3:16-17) and geographical (Joel 2:32; 3:12, 16, 20-21) terms and the deliverance is at a specific location on earth (Joel 2:32). Here, and in other places in the Old Testament (Psalm 2:1-9; Ezek 39:1-8, 21-29; Dan 11:40-45; Zech 12:1-3; 14:1-3), the end-time battle is between the people of Israel/Judah and the Gentiles, and it occurs in literal Jerusalem and/or the surrounding hills.

It was with stunned surprise that I experienced what happened next. LaRondelle turned to Acts, chapter 4. That chapter tells the story of how Peter and John were imprisoned for healing a man and then preaching in the temple (Acts 3:1-26; 4:1-22). When the apostles were released, their fellow followers of Jesus rejoiced and lifted their voices in prayer, quoting one of these Old Testament battle texts (Psalm 2:1-2). “Why do the nations [Gentiles] rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One” (Acts 4:25-26).

In Psalm 2 the enemies of Israel’s king were Gentiles (Psa 2:1, 8—Hebrew: goyim) and they were attacking from outside Jerusalem (Psa 2:6). The Israel over which the Lord’s anointed rules is understood in literal, geographical terms in Psalm 2:2. While the deliverance the apostles had just experienced also happened in Jerusalem (Acts 4:27), they no longer understand the Israel of Psalm 2 in national or geographical terms. And there is an additional, even more surprising element: “Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed” (Acts 4:27). The “raging Gentiles” now include the leaders of national Israel (“the people of Israel”) who gave Jesus up to be crucified. The leadership of Israel, located in Jerusalem, are now classed with the Gentiles because of their opposition to Jesus. A new boundary has been drawn between Israel and the Gentiles, and that boundary is determined in relationship with Jesus, the Jewish Messiah. Those in relationship with Jesus, anywhere in the world, are part of the new Israel that He has established. Those who reject Jesus, who reject His spiritual definition of Israel, are now classed with the Gentiles of Bible prophecy, regardless of their ethnicity or location. This has profound implications for the interpretation of prophecy.

Before moving on, I want to make one thing clear. Classing institutional Israel with the Gentiles is not a rejection of the Jewish people as such or even the value of Judaism as a religious tradition. Paul is clear on this in Romans 11:1-2 (ESV): “God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew.” Judaism as a religion still bears witness to a glorious history of God’s mighty acts, the sacredness of the Sabbath, God’s gracious purposes in the Law, and the benefits of obedience to the one God. But Israel’s unique mission to the nations has been taken up by Judaism’s spiritual descendants, the church. Many Jews, who have grasped the power of Jesus’ vision for Israel, have joined in that mission over the centuries and, in Paul’s view, will play an increasing role in that mission as things move toward the End (Romans 11:11-16, 25-32).