Day 19: Have Gentiles replaced Jews?

Now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace. – Ephesians 2:13–15 ESV

Debbie Kellogg with CyrusFoundation.org shares:

God is challenging His church to discover if they have any replacement theology,¹ a type of anti-Semitism, in their lives or family lines. Most of the time, we don’t even recognize it might be there because we have grown up believing and living with it. Anti-Semitism goes along with the curse in Genesis 12 that we studied on Day 3. Treating Jews lightly, despising or disregarding them, can be anti-Semitism. If we treat God’s covenant people that way, He says He will bitterly curse us. Ask God to reveal if you have any anti-Semitism in your life or your family of origin. Even if you don’t see any, I encourage you to repent if there is something that you don’t know about because it can affect your life. God is preparing His bride to be spotless, and it can’t have any spot of anti-Semitism. We can stand in the gap and repent for our family lines, as well as for ourselves.

I encourage you to pray the following prayer from your heart, asking God to reveal anything else you may need to add.

Lord, I ask you to forgive me and my family line for any replacement theology, anti-Semitism, and making fun of the people you call your covenant people or treating them like they aren’t important. I confess any times we have said or thought that the church has replaced them. Lord, I repent and ask your forgiveness for myself and my family line. I ask you to forgive us and release us from any curse and its effects on us. I break any curse from over us and cleanse us from its impact. Thank you for your cleansing, forgiveness and freedom that you give us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Meditate on and study the following verses:

Ephesians 2:11–15 (ESV): “Remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh… were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. Now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace.”

• What do you learn about Israel and Jews?
• What do you learn about Gentiles?
• What did Christ Jesus do that changed everything? List each thing.
• Jesus did away with the ‘enmity caused by the Torah,’ not the Torah itself.
• How did He create one new man?
• You who were once far off are Gentiles. What does this say? Have we replaced the Jews or become one with them?
• Even in the early church there was hostility between Jews and Gentile Christians. The first church was originally exclusively Jewish, as we saw earlier.
• Consider what brought us near. Jesus paid a high price to break down the wall between Jews and Gentiles. How do you think He must feel when Gentiles think they have taken the Jews’ place instead of accepting what He did to make us one with them, bringing shalom, peace?

Genesis 12:3 (CJB): “I will bless those who bless you, but I will curse anyone who curses you; and by you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”

• We looked at this verse earlier, but let’s look at it again. I always thought the words for curse in this verse were the same until I talked with an Israeli friend who showed me the meanings. We often think of cursing someone as either using curse words against them or openly saying mean things to them.
• The first Hebrew word for “curse” in this verse means to bitterly curse. This is a very strong curse. The second Hebrew word for “curse” means to take lightly, despise or disregard. This means that those who disregard, despise or just don’t care about Abraham’s family will be bitterly cursed by God. Wow. What do you think about this verse in light of the Hebrew meaning?
• How have you treated Jews? Most modern-day Christians would not openly curse Jews, but have you ever disregarded or despised them? Have you ever put them down?
• I don’t want God to bitterly curse me because of how I’ve treated His children. If you have ever taken Jews lightly, despised or disregarded them, I encourage you to confess that to God and then choose to change how you treat them. If you aren’t sure if you have cursed them in any of those ways, ask God to show you.

A prayer to pray

Father, open the eyes of the Jews who remain in exile to the growth of anti-Semitic and anti-Israel hatred and then urge them to return to Israel as soon as possible (Jeremiah 16:16). Show Jews in exile that now may be the last moment when they can still return with their wealth (Isaiah 60:9). Do not allow the increase of anti-Semitism throughout the West to be hidden or ignored by Your people still living there among the Gentile nations (Jeremiah 16:16). Abba, when Jews, including Messianic, say “Next year in Jerusalem” at the end of the Passover, speak to their hearts and challenge them to do that which they have just declared (Matthew 5:37). Cause Jewish children to ask them why they say this and do not do it (Matthew 11:25; 21:16). Send a wave of homesickness on the many Israelis who are living outside of Israel (Jeremiah 51:6–10).²

Prayer points for today

• Ask God to reveal if you or your family line may have any anti-Semitism. If so, confess it and repent.
• Ask God to expose anti-Semitism and replacement theology in the church. Many may not know they have it. Replacement theology is when Gentiles believe they and the church have replaced Jews.
• Pray God brings a unity between Christians and Jews, beginning with the believers being grateful they have been brought into God’s family, rather than replacing them.

An action to take

Share what you are learning (or already knew) about anti-Semitism and replacement theology with friends and family, but do it in a loving, gentle way. Share how God spoke to you about the topics. You might share the meanings of the words “curse” that we looked at today.

1. Replacement theology is the belief that Christians and the church have replaced Jews and Israel.
2. This prayer was written by Rev. Joe Campbell with Return Ministries. This is from a prayer update that he sends weekly. You can receive this weekly prayer update by sending your request to rev.joe.campbell@rogers.com.