The True Israel Of Yahuwah

The Bible abounds with promises that the people of Israel will be saved. They are called “the people of Yahuwah” and “His holy nation.” Many times the promise is given that, even though they are scattered throughout the whole world, they would be gathered again, returned to their own land, and dwell there forever (Jeremiah 30:3).

Today, all over the world, there are millions of Jews who still believe that Yahuwah's promises will be fulfilled through them. They claim to be both the "Israel of Yahuwah" and the "Israel according to the flesh." And many Christian churches second this notion. They are under the delusion that the promises Yahuwah made thousands of years ago can only be fulfilled by literal Israel today. As we go through this study we will see how our Father in heaven views it through His word.

The Jewish Nation Not True Israel

1. In the Hebrew culture, every name had a deeper meaning. What does the name 'Israel' mean?

“Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with Elohim and with men, and hast prevailed.” Genesis 32:28.

Answer: Jacob had deceived his father to obtain the blessing that was due Esau. Upon discovering the deception of Jacob, Esau said, “Is not he rightly named Jacob? for he hath supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright; and, behold, now he hath taken away my blessing.” Genesis 27:36. The name Jacob meant “deceiver,” and he lived up to the name. The new name that he received from the angel, Israel, meant “overcomer.” The angel said that Jacob had “. . . power with Elohim and with men, and hast prevailed.” Verse 28. Jacob had overcome his sins, he was now a new creature, able to serve Yahuwah. Therefore, the name Israel was given to a man who overcame sin in his life.

2. How many of Israel will to be saved?

“And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away wickedness from Jacob.” Romans 11:26.

Answer: All Israel.

The promises of Scripture have led many to suppose that the time would come when the literal descendants of Abraham -the members of the Jewish race- would return to Palestine, regain their nationhood, accept Yahushua as their Saviour, and become Yahuwah’s dispensers of light and truth to the nations.

Because of this interpretation the present Zionist movement, sponsored by Jews in many lands, which aims to restore the Jewish nation in Palestine, has been heralded by many religionist as a sign that these predictions are about to be fulfilled.

But neither the Zionist movement nor the establishment of the modern nation of “Israel” in Palestine has any connection with these Biblical prophecies concerning the restoration of Israel. Neither of these can have any part in establishing Yahuwah’s kingdom upon earth. They have not even been mentioned in Scripture. They have no standing whatsoever in Yahuwah’s scheme of things. Why? Because the literal Jewish race does not constitute Israel.

3. What does it mean that all Israel shall be saved?

Answer: The immediate context of Romans 11:26 is verse 25. When "the fullness of the Gentiles be come in," then "all Israel will be saved." Or, to be exact, "And so all Israel will be saved." In other words, the coming in of the fullness or total number of the Gentiles results in "all Israel" being saved. Paul's idea seems to be that when all Gentiles (totally, throughout history) have come in, that is, have been grafted into the Vine, they, uniting with all Jews who have become believers, will form the total number of the saved.

4. Who are being identified as the true Israel of Yahuwah?

“For in the Anointed Yahushua neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of Yahuwah.” Galatians 6:15,16.

5. How does Apostle Paul identify the true “Israel of Yahuwah” and the “Israel according to the flesh”?

“For I could wish that myself were accursed from the Anointed for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh: Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of Yahuwah, and the promises. . . Not as though the word of Yahuwah hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of Yahuwah: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.” Romans 9:3,4, 6-8.

Answer: An Israelite in Yahuwah’s sense of the term is one who accepts His plan of salvation through Yahushua, the Anointed, and who follows Yahuwah fully. A true Israelite may have been born of Jewish parents, or he may have had Gentile parents. It is not his natural or first birth that makes him an Israelite. It is the new or second birth. Israelites are twice-born men and women, who have accepted the grace of Yahuwah, and who recognize Yahushua as their Redeemer from sin and death. To simplify it, Apostle Paul is saying that being a literal Jew is not a passport into the family of Yahuwah. Yahuwah’s family consists of the children of promise. The true Israel of Yahuwah are true Christians.

Where The Jews Failed

6. In Yahushua's day, the majority of the Jews claimed to be the children of Abraham and heirs to the promises of Yahuwah based on lineage. But what was Yahushua’s response to their claims?

John 8:39-47 "They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Yahushua saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham. But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of Yahuwah: this did not Abraham. Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even Yahuwah. Yahushua said unto them, If Yahuwah were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from Yahuwah; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? He that is of Yahuwah heareth Yahuwah's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of Yahuwah."

Answer: Yahushua told them: "Ye are of your father the devil."

7. Where does Yahuwah write His law with reference to spiritual Israel?

“Behold, the days come, saith Yahuwah, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith Yahuwah: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith Yahuwah, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their Eloah, and they shall be my people.” Jeremiah 31:31-33.

8. What was a symbol Yahuwah used about the Jewish nation?

“Yahuwah called thy name, A green olive tree, fair, and of goodly fruit: with the noise of a great tumult he hath kindled fire upon it, and the branches of it are broken.” Jeremiah 11:16.

Answer: The Jewish nation - or literal Israel - is likened to a cultivated olive tree.

9. How can Gentiles become spiritual Israelites?

“And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in. Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: For if Yahuwah spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. Behold therefore the goodness and severity of Yahuwah: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for Yahuwah is able to graff them in again. For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive tree? For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away wickedness from Jacob” Roman 11:17-26.

Answer: Jeremiah and Paul likened the Jewish nation to a cultivated olive tree and Paul likens the Gentiles to a wild olive tree. The branches that were broken off were the Jews who rejected Yahushua. They were a part of the nation of Israel, but because of unbelief no longer belonged to Yahuwah. But Yahushua, the stock and root of the house of Israel, remained. New branches could be grafted into Yahuwah’s nation. Here the Gentiles were to have their chance. They could take the place of those who had fallen out. They were warned not to boast for they could fall from grace too, if they stopped trusting in Yahushua. To remain a part of the cultivated olive tree they were to continue in faith. One’s natural birth does not count. Paul concludes by saying, “And so all Israel will be saved.” This is so true, for Israel is made up of those whose sins Yahushua has taken away.

His Spirit Visits The Gentiles

10. The Gentiles are given a wonderful promise, what is it?

“Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of Yahuwah; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Yahushua, the Anointed, himself being the chief corner stone.” Ephesians 2:19, 20.

Answer: Gentiles cannot be saved unless they become Israelites through the new birth. Once without Yahuwah and with no hope, through the blood of Yahushua they are brought into the household of Yahuwah. They are then part of Yahuwah’s family. They have become one in Yahushua.

11. Who is a true Jew?

“For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of Yahuwah.” Romans 2:28, 29.

12. Through whom do we receive the promise of Yahuwah?

“And if ye be the Anointed's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Galatians 3:29.

13. When will the promises to spiritual Israelites be fulfilled?

“These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore Yahuwah is not ashamed to be called their Eloah: for he hath prepared for them a city.” Hebrews 11:13-16.

Answer: In Heaven.

NOTE: “Yahuwah gave to Abraham a view of this immortal inheritance, and with this hope he was content. "By faith he sojourned in the Land of Promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: for he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is Yahuwah." Hebrews 11:9, 10.