Replacement Theology| Is the Shadow Better Than the Body? #12

We have shown in the previous articles in our examination of Replacement Theology that Israel’s City, her Temple, her priesthood, her sacrifices and even her land were types and shadows of better things to come. It should be axiomatic then that if those things were shadows and types, that they were, first of all temporary, and second, they were inferior to the “reality.” And the reality is Christ. But, the NT writers tell us that the types and shadows were to pass away with the full arrival of Christ’s New Covenant world.

It is unseemly to say the least for anyone to wish to hold onto the shadows, the temporary, the inferior. It Christ and his body is the “better” reality, for instance, of the New Covenant Temple, then to hold onto the Old Covenant Temple truly is unreasonable. That is somewhat akin to saying that if you own a plain Jane 1965 Mustang six cylinder, three speed, you prefer to hang onto it instead of receiving a new Shelby GT 500 Super Snake! Or, it is like saying that if you are given a new Shelby, you actually want your 1965 Mustang six banger back instead! That would be totally illogical.

And herein lies the answer to our question that we posed earlier in regard to the fact that Jesus said the prediction of the impending destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple: How could Jesus call the impending destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple the “good news of the kingdom” (Matthew 24:14)? He could call it “this gospel (good news) of the kingdom” because the removal of the Old Covenant Temple and City meant that the long anticipated New Covenant and City would be fully realized with the demise of the Old! It would also be good news to his followers, because the rulers of the Old Covenant world would become “the enemies of the Cross” and cause a world-wide persecution against the followers of Jesus. But, with the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, the organized persecution of the saints was shattered. Good news indeed!

Once the Dispensational world realizes and accepts the typological and shadow nature of Israel and her world, Dispensationalism itself falls to the ground. Christ and the gospel world is – as we have shown – what Israel and her world pointed to. We have proven, from Scriptures that even Dispensationalists agree to – that the Old Covenant did in fact predict the establishment of the church and the Gospel as the New Covenant. So, when Christ, the mediator of the New Covenant arrived, the Old Covenant world was supposed to pass away – yes, be replaced – with the everlasting Gospel of Christ. Look again at the list of the types and shadows of the Old Covenant world of Israel.

Replacement is the Destiny of the Temporary and the Weak!

The Old Covenant itself was supposed to be “replaced” by the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31; Hebrews 8).
The Old Covenant land was supposed to be “replaced” by the heavenly “father land” (Hebrews 11).
The Old Covenant City was supposed to be “replaced” by the “heavenly Jerusalem” the city of the Living God” (Hebrews 12:21f).
The Old Covenant physical circumcision supposed to be “replaced” by thecircumcision of the heart. (Romans 2:28f; Philippians 3:1-5, etc.).
The Old Covenant restricted priesthood was supposed to be “replaced” by the nation of priests, “he has made us to be a kingdom of priests” (Revelation 1:5f).
The Old Covenant, ineffective animal sacrifices were supposed to be “replaced” by the perfect, one time for all time, sacrifice of Jesus (Hebrews 10:5f).
The Old Covenant physical Temple supposed to be “replaced” by the True Tabernacle that God pitched, and not man (Hebrews 8:1-2).
The Old Covenant physical people was supposed to be “replaced” by the people yet to be created (Psalms 102; Isaiah 43; Isaiah 65, etc.).

All of this was God’s plan from the very beginning. Thus, to reiterate, Replacement Theology is as Biblical as it can be. Not in the sense that God ripped Israel’s promises from her and gave them to someone else. Not, that truly is a false doctrine. As Paul affirmed in Romans 11, YHVH was faithful to those Old Covenant promises. But, what the Dispensationalists must come to grips with, that is demonstrated in a proper understanding of Romans 11:25-27, is that God’s faithfulness to Old Covenant Israel and His promises to her, included the termination of the Old Covenant world! The end of the shadows, the fulfillment of the types demanded that the limited, exclusivistic nation give way to the long promised people that would include all men, any person! We will not go into further detail on that, since I think we have established it beyond dispute. Be sure to get a copy of my book, Like Father Like Son, On Clouds of Glory, for a fuller discussion of these critical facts.

But, someone may say that while it may be true that the land, the city, the temple, etc. were all types and shadows of the coming better things (which is a fatal admission when properly considered) but, that does not prove that Israel herself was a type or shadow of another people, a new people.

We have shown from Psalms 102 and Isaiah 65-66 that this is not true. God did promise to remove Old Covenant Israel and create a new people. That is simply undeniable. But, in our next installment we will show explicit language that describes Israel herself, not just her distinctive praxis, but Israel herself was a type. The implications of this for the doctrine of Replacement Theology are staggering, so stay tuned!