The Lord GOD says this: “Because Moab and Seir say, ‘Behold, the house of Judah is like all the nations,’ therefore, behold, I am going to deprive the flank of Moab of its cities, of its cities which are on its frontiers, the glory of the land, Beth-jeshimoth, Baal-meon, and Kiriathaim; and I will give it as a possession along with the sons of Ammon to the people of the east, so that the sons of Ammon will not be remembered among the nations. “So I will execute judgments on Moab, and they will know that I am the LORD.” (Ezekiel 25:8-11)
These verses demonstrate the danger of thinking that Judah, and by extension, the
Jewish people, are “like all the nations,” that God has no more concern for
them than He has for any other people group. The Church is not a “replacement”
for ethnic Israel but the fulfillment of the New Covenant promised to “the
house of Israel and the house of Judah” (Jeremiah 31:31). At the same time, it
is an error to think, as Dispensationalists do, that God has a separate plan for
the nation Israel apart from the Church, which was founded by Israel’s Messiah.
God’s plan is for the Jews to repent and be “grafted” back into the olive tree
of blessing, since they are “the natural branches” (Romans 11:24) and are
“beloved on account of the fathers” (Rom. 11:28). “The gifts and calling of God
are irrevocable” (Rom. 11:29). God’s reputation is at stake. He will not be
seen as a failure in His purpose for Israel. Jesus’s words to the Samaritan
woman are weighty: “Salvation is from the Jews” (John 4:22).
