Not of Abraham Part II: A Primer on Replacement Theology

The Scripture is quite clear that Jews who deny Christ are not recipients of Abraham's Covenant, but that Gentile Christians are. We are the real descendants of Abraham.

“And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” - God, to Abraham circa 2091 B.C.

Who is the thee of Genesis 12:3? On behalf of whom was God placing an everlasting blessing? Was it Abraham alone? Was it Abraham’s offspring? Was it some of Abraham’s offspring? Was it all of Abraham’s offspring? Who are Abraham’s offspring?

That’s a lot of questions, but let’s clear it up together. Answering these questions as to whom God was speaking when he gave this promise, is essential for us. It is essential especially at this current hour, because the nation-state of Israel - founded in 1948 - is at the center of global conflict. It’s very important we get this answer right. And even more, it’s important we get this answer right from the Bible.

Let’s look at the passage known as the “Abrahamic Blessing.”

Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

God conveys two imperatives (commands), and seven indicatives (things done on account of Abraham’s obedience to these commands).

IMPERATIVES: These include (1) leave your country and father’s house, and (2) go to a place I’ll show you.

INDICATIVES: These include (1) I will make you a great nation. (2) I will bless you. (3) I will make your name great. (4) You will be a blessing. (5) I’ll bless those who bless you and likewise, curse those who curse you, and (6) all the families of the earth will be blessed by this promise.

The argument from Jewish Zionists (those who insist on the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine) and Christian Zionists (mostly those considering themselves “Dispensationalists,” who have adopted a novel doctrine systemized by John Darby and the Plymouth Brethren in the 1820s), is that this promise to Abraham is received by those claiming to be Abraham’s physical lineage.

In Part I of this series from last month, I explained that roughly 80% of the Jews in the world, and about 50% of those in Israel, are Ashkenazi Jews. And according to their own written history, and according to genetic testing, they have no actual relation to Abraham. Rather, they are of largely Grecian descent with some degree of Iranian (in a 90/10 percentage split), and came to Europe by way of Turkey around 300 A.D. According to history, Grecian and Iranian settlers in Turkey had converted to Judaism, but are not actually the physical lineage of Abraham.

The genetic testing, as I revealed in Part I, was done by a Jewish geneticist on behalf of the Israeli government. This came of little surprise, because this has been known among the Ashkenazi Jews for more than a millennia. The other bulk of Jews in Israel are Sephardic Jews (natively of Spain), but their genetics have not been largely tested. It’s believed that some Jews in Israel probably are genetically related to Abraham, and certainly some who remain in North Africa, outside of modern Israel.

NOTE: Some un-careful readers assumed I had postulated the Lost Tribes hypothesis, commonly held among the Christian Identity movement, that Jews had become Europeans. This is quite the opposite. This is not a theory, but a recollection of historic facts and genetic science, demonstrating that the Ashkenazi Jews did not become Europeans, but that Europeans became Ashkenazi Jews.

But for the sake of Part II, I would like us to ignore the fact that a great many who are known as Jews are not the physical lineage of Abraham. Consider that irrelevant to the point. Instead, we’ll discuss whether or not the Abrahamic Promise is retained by the physical lineage of Abraham at all.

ISHMAEL AND ESAU

Abraham was born in the land of Ur in Chaldea (modern Iraq) in 2166 B.C. His blessing was received in 2091 BC, when he was 75 years-old. When Abraham was 86 years-old he had Ishmael with his Egyptian handmaid, Hagar. If you recall the tale, Abraham jumped the gun on God’s promise, thinking he’d do God a favor and have a child with someone of child-bearing years. After all, his wife, Sarah, was very post-menopausal.

Ishmael’s birth came pretty quickly after God ratified his Covenant with Abraham in Genesis 15, which he originally promised in Genesis 12. After Sarah (then, Sarai) drove Hagar into the wilderness, Abraham prophesied over him that he would be a wild man, and be at odds with everyone, but would dwell in the land with his brothers. In Genesis 17, shortly before the birth of Isaac, God blessed Ishmael even further, but with one small caveat.

Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year (Genesis 17: 20-21).

As you can see, God indeed promised a Covenant to Abraham. But was his promise to all of Abraham’s physical descendants? Clearly, it wasn’t. Despite Ishmael coming from Abraham’s loins, the promise did not include him.

But perhaps, God’s Covenant to Abraham only pertained to children who would come from both Abraham and Sarah. So let’s look and see if that’s accurate.

In Genesis 27, Jacob (the grandson of Abraham) stole the blessing from his twin brother, Esau. And in Genesis 35, God repeats a portion of the Abraham blessing to Jacob, “And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins; And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land (Genesis 35:11-12)”

God expands on this with his prophet, Malachi, who said, “Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?… Yet I have loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated, and I have turned his hill country into a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals” (Malachi 1:2-3).

Esau was a son of Isaac - the heir of Abraham’s Covenant - and Esau came from the same womb as Jacob and in fact, was the first born of the twins. Despite Esau coming from Abraham and Sarah’s direct lineage, the promise did not include him.

PAUL EXPLAINS THE NARROW FOCUS OF THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT

Paul further explained that the Abrahamic Covenant did not extend to all of his physical lineage.

They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.

But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.” And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls— she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

It is true, Paul said, that the Israelites had the blessings of adoption, glory, covenants, the law, worship, and prophecies.

However, Paul had to address the fact that not all of Abraham’s physical descendants have received the Covenant of Abraham. After all, it was quite obvious in the context of Jewish-Christian relations in Paul’s day that many Jews had indeed rejected Christ, and hated Christians. So, Paul had to explain that God keeps his promises, but God’s promises were not all-encompassing of all Jews.

Paul writes to the Romans that “not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham.

Let me repeat this. “…NOT ALL WHO ARE DESCENDED FROM ISRAEL BELONG TO ISRAEL, AND NOT ALL ARE CHILDREN OF ABRAHAM.”

How could this make sense? How could someone who descended from Jacob not be descendants of Jacob or sons of Abraham? This is the same conundrum poised by Nicodemus, wondering “how can a man be born again when he is already born?” Both Paul and Jesus spoke of spiritual birth with the metaphoric language of physical birth. Just as a man is born again spiritually, one must not be a physical descendant of Abraham, but a spiritual one.

With this in mind - that only some physical descendants of Abraham are heirs of his Covenant - let’s reevaluate the Abrahamic Covenant given in Genesis 12.

REEVALUATING THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT

Remember what we learned above…

IMPERATIVES: These include (1) leave your country and father’s house, and (2) go to a place I’ll show you.

INDICATIVES: These include (1) I will make you a great nation. (2) I will bless you. (3) I will make your name great. (4) You will be a blessing. (5) I’ll bless those who bless you and likewise, curse those who curse you, and (6) all the families of the earth will be blessed by this promise.

How will God make Abraham a great nation? How will Abraham be blessed, and bless others? Why will God bless and curse on his behalf? How will all the nations be blessed by this promise?

It is through Christ that God will make a great nation of Abraham’s heirs. This is what Peter was referring to when he said in 1 Peter 2:9, “You are a chosen nation, a royal priesthood, a people for God’s own possession.” Obviously as you would expect, Peter was writing to Christians.

In Genesis 22:17, God elaborated further to Abraham after his attempted sacrifice of Isaac, “I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore.”

This foreshadow of Christ’s death, which was done to “bring many sons to glory” (Hebrews 10:12), is accomplished through Christians. Those claiming Judaism account for 15.7 million people on Earth today, or roughly .2% of world population (and shrinking and will reach 11 million by 2050). Those claiming Christ account for 2.38 billion people, or 31.6% of the Earth’s population (and growing, and will surpass 3 billion by 2050). This promise is fulfilled in Christ.

How will God make Abraham’s name great? Clearly, it is by those same people, who testify of the Son of Abraham and the Branch of David, Jesus Christ.

How will Abraham be blessed and bless others? Jesus is the seed of Eve, who was prophesied before him. The lineage of Abraham is only important for one reason; from it, came the Savior of all nations.

Why will God bless and curse on Abraham’s behalf? It is because of Jesus, because all those who are wed to Christ are the blessed of God, and all those yoked to the Law are cursed (Paul emphasized this curse upon the Jews in Galatians 3:13-14).

How will God bless all nations through Abraham? The only member of his lineage that eternally matters is not only called the Son of Abraham, but the Son of Man, and he came to bless all nations. The mystery of the gospel, is that the Gentiles who believe in Jesus become partakers of Abraham’s promise (Ephesians 3:3-6)

THE REPLACEMENT OF “REPLACEMENT THEOLOGY”

On this thread, wherever this article is posted in social media, will have Zionists chime in, “God keeps his promises!” Or perhaps, “God doesn’t lie!” Obviously, everything I’ve written above proves this is true. But it just so happens that unless this promise is only conferred to believers in Christ, this promise would go unfilled. It is fulfilled in Abraham’s seed. And Abraham’s seed - the Seed of Promise - is found only in Christ.

“Replacement Theology” is a misnomer, and designed as an insult. But let me bring your attention to Romans 11.

If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, do not consider yourself to be superior to those other branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but tremble. For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.

Jews who do not believe in Christ have been “broken off.” Gentiles who do believe have been “grafted in.” And two trees grafted together, biologically creates one tree. In other words, they have indeed been broken off by God Almighty (he says in the chapter previous that God hardened their hearts and blinded their eyes). And, they’ve been replaced by those grafted in, the Gentiles.

In other words, believing Gentiles are in the Tree of Abraham. Unbelieving Jews are not.

We shouldn’t overlook the admonition to not feel ourselves superior to the unbelieving Jews (which leads to things like genocide). God can also break us off the tree, he warns. It should be noted that believing what this passage says cannot equate to violating this admonition not to hate them. If so, Paul himself was violating his own admonition. Clearly, we can preach this passage like any other; unbelieving Jews have been cut off from Abraham; but even then, we must not despise them.

THE TRUE ISRAEL OF GOD

Romans 9 is enough to demonstrate that not all Jews are recipients of Abraham’s Covenant. But does that mean the gentile Christian Church then - by necessity - takes their place?

Thus Abraham "believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness." So you see that it is men of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "In you shall all the nations be blessed." So then, those who are men of faith are blessed with Abraham who had faith” (Galatians 3: 6-9)

To whom does the Abrahamic Covenant belong? It belongs to believers who are either Jew or Gentile. In fact, to God, this Jewish-Gentile distinction no longer exists (Galatians 3:28).

Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ (Galatians 3:16).

Believers - Jew or Gentile - are united with Christ. And Christ, is the Seed of Promise given to Abraham. We become Sons of Abraham by adoption with Christ. This is why Gentile Christians are told they’re “joint-heirs” with Christ. Under Mosaic Law, adopted children had to be joint-heirs with the first born (this prevented men from marrying widows just for the bedroom action).

And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise (Galatians 3:29).

Paul also preached this to the Gentile Romans.

For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all…(Romans 4:16).

It seems beyond clear that Gentile believers in Jesus are united with Christ, and therefore, united with Abraham and he is our father according to the Promise (the Covenant). And it is beyond clear that Jews who have rejected Christ only have Abraham as a father the same way as Ishmael or Esau. In other words, Jews who reject Christ are no more a son of Abraham than the Muslim descendants of Ishmael.

WHAT ABOUT JEWISH SPECIALISM?

Has God not blessed the Jews? Do they not have disproportionate power in this world, being .2% of the world’s population and yet maintain levels of wealth, influence, and power that rivals all of the world’s nations? Indeed, this seems true.

Just as God promised to make a mighty nation of Ishmael, and even the mighty Edomites (who God forbade Israel from hating in Deuteronomy 23:7) who descended from Esau, it does appear God has retained a sense of material blessing upon the Jews. But then again, this is true to this day for the descendants of Ishmael.

The descendants of Ishmael and Esau include much of the Muslim world, including wealthy nations with some of the richest cities on Earth, including Abu Dhabi and Dubai. They make up a whopping 1.8 billion people on this planet. God has blessed them, despite of their wickedness. The same can be true for all those who came from Abraham’s loins.

And just as God instructed the Israelites not to hate the Edomites on account of their kinship with Abraham, neither should we hate the Jews. We should, as the evangelicals say, be resigned to hate their sin.

Just as I was writing this, I engaged with someone on X. The topic was Replacement Theology.

Of course, this is incredibly and deeply untrue. I can find no hint of this belief among the church fathers. And, I would like to draw your attention to Augustine.

In his Writings Against the Manichaeans, Augustine compares the Jews to Cain. Both are carnal, Augustine says. Both, have been cursed and dispersed. But both have God’s hand ready to strike down those that touch them.

To be carnally minded is death; but [Cain], in ignorance of this, mourns for the loss of his earthly possession, and is in terror of bodily death. But what does God reply? “Not so,” He says; “but whosoever shall kill Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” That is, It is not as you say, not by bodily death shall the ungodly race of carnal Jews perish. For whoever destroys them in this way shall suffer sevenfold vengeance, that is, shall bring upon himself the sevenfold penalty under which the Jews lie for the crucifixion of Christ.

I firmly believe this should be our posture, because it’s the historic posture of the early church in regard to the Jews. They are blessed by God, but not because they are God’s people; but because they used to be. They are protected by God not because they are Abraham’s heirs, but because they lost that inheritance. He pities them, and so should we. This, I believe, is keeping with Paul’s caution in Romans 11 that we not hate them.

The very concept of “anti-semitism” is rooted in the notion of Jewish Specialism; the idea that they are special, so it is our duty to see that they prosper, or defend them when they are attacked. I deny this. Rather, it is my Christian duty to not be the one doing the attacking, and not mistreat them. We owe them no special privilege. We must not hate the Jews because they happen to be Jewish, but then again, we should not hate anyone because of who their fathers were (for there are no Jews and Greeks in God’s eyes). There’s nothing special about this; it’s the Christian ethic for how we are treat others.

In PART III, Lord Willing, I’ll break down the difference between the ethics and values of Talmudic Judaism, and those of Mosaic Judaism and Christianity.

If you appreciate my work, please consider an $8 a month or $80 a month subscription to access exclusive content. This is one of the things I do to provide for my small farm and family, so I very much appreciate it. If you don’t want a subscription, please consider a one-time gift of your choosing by clicking the coffee link below.