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Debunking Replacement Theology: Greater Israel

Posted in #PaulthePoke, Replacement Theology with tags , , , , , , , , , , , on April 16, 2026 by paulthepoke

Welcome to part 2 of the series, Debunking Replacement Theology.

The nation of Israel and the church, the body of Jesus Christ, are two separate entities. God has not changed His mind. The church has not replaced Israel. God has a unique plan for both.

Genesis 15:18-21 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land, From the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates: the Kenite and the Kenizzite and the Kadmonite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Rephaim and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Girgashite and the Jebusite.”

Map showing 'Greater Israel' as proposed by Theodor Herzl, highlighting regions including Israel, Palestine, parts of Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and neighboring countries.

This is the original land grant promised to the future nation Israel. These are the land boundaries of Israel’s future. This configuration has never been realized. This calls for the geography of Israel to stretch from the Nile River in Egypt to the Euphrates River in Iraq. One could argue if this includes the Arabian Peninsula or not.

Now this sounds impossible in today’s world and geo-political climate. Can you imagine the uproar if this was proposed at the United Nations?

But, there will be a land for peace deal when Jesus returns. It will look something like above assuming current geography.

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The key issue for Abram is the same issue we have today. Do we believe God? Do we take what God says seriously? Does God really mean it? In Abram’s case, did he believe the promises of things to come?

There are Jews in Israel’s government today who believe in this promised land grant.

Today in the 21st century, do we believe the good news of Jesus Christ? His death, burial, and resurrection are the issues for our eternal salvation.

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Genesis 15:6 Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.

So…will God make Israel great again? Over twenty times in the book of Genesis alone, God stated His covenant with the offspring of Abram is an eternal and everlasting promise. He made the claim to Abram (later Abraham), Isaac, Jacob (later Israel) and his descendants.

Map of the Middle East showing countries including Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Iran, with highlighted regions in light blue.

Will God keep His promise to Israel in regards to the land grant? In the book Toward an Old Testament Theology, Walter Kaiser commented, “sixty nine times the writer of Deutoronomy repeated the pledge that Israel would one day ‘possess’ and ‘inherit’ the land promised to her.” (p. 124-5).

Is God going to bless the world through Israel? Do you believe the record?

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What Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli right really mean when they invoke ‘Greater Israel’ -David Levy, The Guardian

Israel’s war aims were to maximally degrade the capacity of the Iranian state, achieving not so much regime change as state implosion. Despite the ceasefire, Netanyahu has emphasized that this is “not the end of the campaign” and that Israel’s “finger is on the trigger” to resume combat. A seasoned strategist, he has spent the second Trump administration seizing the opportunity of geopolitical fluidity to reach for his end goal: a Greater Israel.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/apr/13/benjamin-netanyahu-middle-east-greater-israel

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What is Greater Israel? From biblical origins to modern-day Zionism, the vision of Greater Israel continues to shape Israeli rhetoric and regional tensions

Since the current Israeli government came to power in 2022, references to “Greater Israel” have become more common. 

Last year, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich was filmed advocating for the expansion of Israeli borders to include Damascus, the capital of Syria.

He suggested that Israel would gradually grow to encompass not only all Palestinian territories but also parts of Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

https://www.middleeasteye.net/explainers/what-greater-israel

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What is Greater Israel, and how popular is it among Israelis? Recent US and Israeli comments on ‘Greater Israel’ trigger regional concerns over sovereignty and territorial expansion.

American right-wing podcaster Tucker Carlson with US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee started the current furore. Carlson, an influential figure who has been vocally critical of Israel over the past year, repeatedly asked Huckabee whether he supported Israel controlling all the land between the Nile River in Egypt and the Euphrates River in Iraq.

Huckabee, a Christian Zionist, would not disavow the belief that the Bible promised that land to Israel – even though it now encompasses all or part of Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Syria.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/2/26/what-is-greater-israel-and-how-popular-is-it-among-israelis

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This series is an excerpt from the book, Rapture the Bride Redeemed. https://www.amazon.com/Paul-Lehr/e/B09W8FB77N

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Debunking Replacement Theology

Posted in #PaulthePoke, Replacement Theology with tags , , , , , on April 9, 2026 by paulthepoke

Welcome to the introduction of a new series, Debunking Replacement Theology.

The nation of Israel and the church, the body of Jesus Christ, are two separate entities. God has not changed His mind. The church has not replaced Israel. God has a unique plan for both.

There seems to be a lot of disorder between the concepts of the nation Israel and the body of Christ, the church. If one gets this concept wrong there will be confusion in understanding prophecy as well the Bible. Understanding of the Scriptures will take different paths pending one’s view of the church and Israel. Some people take the view Israel and the church are different. Others believe that Israel messed up so bad, God gave up on Israel and replaced the nation with the church, the body of Christ, or spiritual Israel.

A simple, clean definition of Replacement Theology is provided by Matt Slick of https://carm.org/questions-replacement-theology.

Replacement theology is the teaching that the Christian church has replaced national Israel regarding the plan, purpose, and promises of God.

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This line of thinking is also called Supersessionism. These folks believe the church is the fulfillment of Judaism. If Jews do not believe in Jesus, they are out. In other words, non-believing Israel has been superseded by the church. No kingdom for you…

The practical results include Israel no longer being God’s chosen people and nation. The geographical land promised and designated in the Middle East would belong to the church instead of a group of people living in what is modern day Israel and surrounding countries. The covenants in the Old Testament to Abraham and Moses would be null and void.

Carrie Prejean Boller with Tucker Carlson podcast- “Replacement theology is that the church has replaced Israel, and that we are the new Israel. We are the spiritual semites, which has been taught for 2000 years. Original church fathers would be rolling in their graves if they knew that we taught 1948 Israel is some sort of fulfillment of prophecy.”

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Replacement Theology makes God a liar. God’s view on this topic as well as any other has not changed. He cannot change. God is immutable. This aspect of His character is defined in the Old Testament.

Malachi 3:6 “For I, the LORD, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed.

This same concept is noted in the New Testament.

James 1:17 Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.

The fact that God does not change should be reassurance that what He says is true. God keeps His word and His promises.

Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

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Both Israel and the church have different origins and beginnings.

The promise of God’s nation started in the plain of Shinar in what is modern day Iraq. Abram was minding his own business in Ur. Then God revealed Himself to this man. God made several promises to Abram.

Genesis 12:1e To the land which I will show you;

The first promise was to give Abram some land.

Genesis 12:2a And I will make you a great nation,

The second item was the promise to be a great nation. That nation would become Israel.

Genesis 12:2b-3 “And I will bless you, and make your name great; and so you shall be a blessing; and I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”

The Hebrew word for “bless” is barakah.

And the last promise to Abram was blessing. Five times a form of the term “bless” is used. Abram and anyone in the world from that point forward who associates with him or his offspring positively, blessing from God!

Israel is not specifically mentioned in the passage above, true. However, Abram’s offspring would become a nation named Israel. Abram is also in the lineage of Jesus Christ and He, Jesus, would be and is the ultimate blessing from God.

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Genesis 15:12 Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, terror and great darkness fell upon him.

It was not enough to tell Abram. God made a contract or covenant with him for all time. Genesis 15 provides the details of the covenant. A direct son was promised to Abram. The number to come from his body would number the stars in the heavens. Animals and birds with specifications were part of the covenant.

God put Abram to sleep and sealed the deal Himself. The contract is on God to be completed. Abram did not have to do anything, he was out cold. Frankly, he would not have been able to do anything because of his mental status. It was dark and Abram was scared to death. There is nothing any fallen man can do. The responsibility belongs to God.

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Amos 9:13-15 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when the plowman will overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes, the sower of seed. The mountains will drip with sweet wine, with which all the hills will flow. I will restore My people Israel from captivity; they will rebuild and inhabit the ruined cities. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit. I will firmly plant them in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land that I have given them,” says the LORD your God.

Well, modern day Israel was replanted and recognized as a nation in 1948. This event was the Super Sign. Israel, as flawed as they may be, is back and they are not going anywhere says the LORD your God.

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This series is an excerpt from the book, Rapture the Bride Redeemed. https://www.amazon.com/Paul-Lehr/e/B09W8FB77N

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