Introduction
† The modern political State of Israel was created in 1948, but the Bible never speaks of a future rebirth of a physical nation after the Old Covenant world passed away in AD 70. The Israel of Scripture was a covenant people, not a modern geopolitical state. When the Old Covenant ended, the Biblical Israel ended with it. What remains today is the fulfilled Kingdom of God, made up of believing Jews and Gentiles together in Christ. The Bible never points forward to a twenty first century national Israel because the true covenant Israel completed its purpose in the first century.

The Israel Of Scripture Was A Covenant People, Not A Modern Nation
† Paul defined true Israel spiritually, not ethnically or geopolitically.

Romans 9:6
But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel.

† This means physical descent never guaranteed covenant identity. Biblical Israel was the people under the Sinai covenant, the nation God formed for His redemptive purpose. That covenant ended. Therefore the Israel defined by that covenant ended.

Galatians 4:24-26
This is allegorically speaking, for these women are two covenants, one proceeding from Mount Sinai bearing children who are to be slaves, she is Hagar. Now this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free, she is our mother.

† Paul drew a clear line. The earthly Jerusalem, Old Covenant Israel, was in slavery and headed for judgment. The Jerusalem above is the New Covenant people. Scripture never promises a future restoration of that old city after its covenant curse.

Biblical Israel Ended In AD 70 When The Covenant Ended
† Jesus declared that the entire Old Covenant system, including the city, temple, and priesthood, would fall within His generation.

Matthew 24:34
Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.

Luke 21:22
Because these are days of vengeance, so that all things which are written will be fulfilled.

† The destruction of Jerusalem fulfilled every prophecy concerning the Old Covenant nation. When the covenant ended, the nation defined by that covenant ended with it. The Bible never hints that the covenant nation would be revived thousands of years later.

Hebrews 8:13
When He said, A new covenant, He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.

† It disappeared in AD 70. The Biblical Israel tied to that covenant disappeared as well.

Babylon Was Old Covenant Jerusalem And Would Never Appear Again
† Revelation makes the same point by describing Babylon as the great covenant city whose guilt was the blood of the prophets, which only Jerusalem carried.

Revelation 18:21-23
Then a strong angel picked up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, So will Babylon, the great city, be thrown down with violence, and will never be found again

† Jesus already said Jerusalem carried that guilt.

Matthew 23:35
So that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth.

† Revelation confirms it.

Revelation 18:24
And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints and of all who have been slain on the earth.

† Revelation 11:8 identifies the great city as the place where the Lord was crucified. That is Jerusalem.

† After the Law was fulfilled and wicked Old Covenant Jerusalem was destroyed in 70AD, Babylon would never be found again. The Old Covenant nation would never return. There would never again be a covenant Jerusalem tied to Sinai, temple sacrifices, or genealogical identity.

The Rise Of The New Jerusalem
† Revelation immediately shows the New Covenant Jerusalem rising after the fall of the old.

Revelation 21:2
And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.

† This is the restored covenant people. This is the bride.

Revelation 21:9-10
Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb. And he showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.

† The new city is the church. The bride is the city. This proves the covenant shift. The New Covenant Jerusalem rises from the ashes of the Old Covenant world, both literally and spiritually, with a new name and a new identity.

Galatians 4:26
But the Jerusalem above is free, she is our mother.

† This was already true before AD 70, and Revelation 21 establishes it fully after the destruction of the old city.

The True Israel After AD 70 Is The Body Of Christ
† Once the Old Covenant nation ended, the only Israel that remains is the spiritual Israel made of Jew and Gentile believers united in Christ.

Galatians 3:28-29
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's descendants, heirs according to promise.

Philippians 3:3
For we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh.

† The Bible never teaches a return to a flesh based Israel after the cross. Every promise is fulfilled in Christ, and every inheritance is in Him.

Modern National Israel Is Not A Covenant People
† The state created in 1948 is not the nation God formed at Sinai. It has no temple, no priesthood, no covenant, no genealogical proof, and no prophetic mandate. The Bible never prophesies a twenty first century Jewish nation playing a role in God's redemptive plan.

† Biblical Israel was a covenant identity. Modern Israel is a political identity. Those are not the same and never can be.

The New Testament Never Points Forward To A Future Israel Or Restored Land
† The apostles never told anyone to look for a rebuilt temple, a future Jewish nation, or a return to the land. Every New Testament prophecy points to the end of the Old Covenant world in their generation, not ours.

Second Corinthians 1:20
For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes.

† Every promise God made to Israel was fulfilled in Christ, not in a modern nation state.

Joshua 21:43-45
So the Lord gave Israel all the land which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they possessed it and lived in it. Not one of the good promises which the Lord had made to the house of Israel failed, all came to pass.

† The land promise was fulfilled long before Jesus was born. Scripture gives no future land prophecy for 1948 or beyond.

Hebrews 11:16
But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one.

† The New Covenant points to a heavenly country, not a Middle Eastern one. The modern state cannot be the focus of prophecy because the apostles never taught any such thing. The promises were fulfilled in Christ and in the New Covenant people, not in a modern political nation.

Historical References
† Justin Martyr wrote that believers in Christ were the true Israel of God.
† Irenaeus declared that all covenant promises were fulfilled in Christ and His church.
† Eusebius recorded the destruction of Jerusalem as the final judgment on the Old Covenant nation.
† Tertullian taught that the Jews lost their covenant status after rejecting the Messiah.
† Josephus described in detail the end of the nation that had broken its covenant.
† None of them ever taught that Israel would return as a political nation thousands of years later.

How It Applies To Us Today
† We're not waiting for a political Israel. We're not reading our newspapers into prophecy. We're not expecting a physical temple or a restored Levitical system. Those things belonged to the Old Covenant world, and that world has passed.
† The only Israel that matters today is the fulfilled Israel of God, the people of the New Covenant. Believers in Christ are Abraham's descendants, heirs of the promise, living in the everlasting Kingdom that has no borders, no ethnic divisions, and no earthly politics attached to it.
† The Biblical Israel served its purpose. Christ fulfilled every promise through them. And the Kingdom He brought in AD 70 is global, spiritual, complete, and everlasting.

† This is the fulfilled perspective we proclaim at Fulfilled Prophecies †
© Fulfilled Prophecies - Dan Maines.

Source Index
† Isaiah 65-66; Matthew 21:43; Matthew 23:35-38; Matthew 24:34; Luke 21:20-22
† Romans 2:28-29; Romans 9:6-8; Galatians 3:26-29; Galatians 4:24-31; Philippians 3:3
† Revelation 11:8; Revelation 18:21-24; Revelation 21-22
† Joshua 21:43-45; Second Corinthians 1:20; Hebrews 11:16
† Justin Martyr, Dialogue With Trypho; Irenaeus, Against Heresies; Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History; Tertullian, An Answer To The Jews; Josephus, Wars of the Jews