Is the New Covenant Church the New Israel? Yes, and no.

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The covenantalist position maintains that there is a future purpose in prophetic Scripture for Israelas a nation (first conversion to Christ and then restoration of their land in peace/safety), but that does NOTinclude a return to the Old Testament Church in the rebuilding of the temple or re-institution of thepriesthood, sacrifices, feasts, and ceremonies, but rather an ingrafting into the New Covenant Church. Israel ispresently a covenant-breaking and Christ-rejecting nation that is God's enemy, but there is coming a glorioustime in the future when the fullness of the Gentile nations will be brought to Christ and all Israel will be saved(Romans 11:25-26). That is the position we have sought to maintain as most agreeable to biblical revelation.

A theological system that takes God's New Covenant people back to a temple, an altar, a priesthood, andsacrifices of the Old Covenant is a system which detracts from the perfection, completion, and sufficiency ofChrist's atonement. It's a system that takes Christ's Church back to its infancy (Galatians 4), to a church justlearning its ABCs, to a "church under age" (Westminster Confession of Faith 19:3).

Where Scripture makes clear that a promise hascome to an end, we have warrant not to expect it to be repeated (e.g. the promise of Messiah coming to diefor His people in Isaiah 53—He came once to die according to Hebrews 9:28), but where Scripture places notime stamp on a promise, neither should we.God's promises are gracious treasures given to God's people, and we must neither presume upon them (as ifwe need not trust in the Lord to receive them) nor cast them away (when the Lord has not done so).We continue today to consider three final Objections offered against the land yet being a promise to berealized in the future to a converted Israel.