The New Israel: Christ and His Church

The following is from Stephen G. Dempster, Dominion and Dynasty: A Theology of the Hebrew Bible (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2003), 232-234.

“Jesus is the David, the culmination of Israel’s history, who will bring about an end to the exile. Yet his birth also brings light to the Gentiles; a star is seen rising in the east (Matt 2:2), which means the crushing of the enemy’s head (Num 24:17). Thus, when Jesus begins his ministry, he–as the new Adam and new Israel–succeeds where the old Adam and old Israel failed (Matt 4:1-11). Hence he recapitulates in his life the history of Adam and Israel. He triumphs over the satanic enemy and announces the kingdom of God, a domain that includes geography and which will one day encompass the entire earth. And this is the emphasis at the end of Matthew’s Gospel, in which a suffering Davidic Messiah has been exalted and given authority over not just an Israelite kingdom but the globe. He commands his subjects to go into this domain and disciple all nations (Matt 28:18-20; cf. Dan 7:13-14).

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“Paul’s commentary on this narrative storyline [found in the Gospels and Acts] is that the burgeoning church composed of all nations is a fulfillment of the promise to Abraham, and the entire world is theirs for an inheritance, not just one country (Rom 4:13). Sinai was powerless to save in a positive way, but presses the need for a Savior who can redeem from the curse of the law. Jesus is the obedient Son who is sentenced to hang on a tree for the disobedient (Gal 3:10-14; cf. Deut 21:18-23). The new Israel, comprising all nations and peoples, emerges and continues the final conquest of the serpent (Gal 3:28-29; Rom 16:20).”