How many "Israels" are there?

March 7, 2007, John MacArthur gave a speech at the Shepherd's Conference at Grace Community Church. It was entitled "Why Every Self-Respecting Calvinist is a Premillennialist"

As a thoughtful amillennialist, Kim Riddlebarger gave a response to the speech. I have a few general notes to throw into the fray.

MacArthur said "There are over 2,000 references to Israel in Scripture, not one of them means anything but Israel. Not one of them, including Romans 9:6 and Galatians 6:16 which is the only two passages that amillennialists go to trying to convince us that that cancels out the other 2,000. There is no difficulty in interpreting those as simply meaning Jews who were believers..."

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Several years ago I was listening to a Dispensational Premillennial radio program in which two pastors were stating the same thing: "there is only one Israel."

I called into the show and read Romans 9:6 to them. Note that this is the same passage MacArthur says "we" run to as a proof text.

It is not as though God's word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel."

My question was "if the word Israel is used twice in a sentence, with a negation between them, there must be two Israels, right?"

I don't recall that the pastors ever addressed my challenge/question.
A few of the people that called into the show after me said that they'd pray for me :-)

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Back to MacArthur's claims:
If Romans 9:6 "simply means Jews who were believers" then the verse would read "not all Jews who are believers are Jews who are believers."

Of course this is silly. John must not be meaning that "Jews who are believers" is to be substituted on both sides of the equation.

Paul begins chapter 9 with a concern that many of his fellow Jews are not being saved. In verse 4 he sates that "There's is the adoption as sons ... the covenants" and YET they aren't saved. How can that be, if God keeps his promises? (verse 6a asks) It's because "not all of the physical descendants of Abraham/Isaac/Jacob (Israel) are of (spiritual) Israel."

In John 10:16 Jesus says "I have sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. ... and there shall be one flock and one shepherd."

We believing gentiles are being made part of the "one flock" with believing Jews that Jesus spoke of.

In Ephesians chapter 2:11-20, Paul states the same thing:
11 Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles
by birth and called "uncircumcised" by those who call themselves
"the circumcision" (that done in the body by the hands of men)--
12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded
from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the
promise, without hope and without God in the world.
13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought
near through the blood of Christ.
14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has
destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility,
15 by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and
regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out
of the two, thus making peace,
16 and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the
cross, by which he put to death their hostility.
17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to
those who were near.
18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow
citizens with God's people and members of God's household,
20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ
Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.

"We amillennialists" don't have to run to just one or two texts. We don't have to read into the text the meaning we want. We see the text plainly stating that we have been brought near (elsewhere "grafted in") and are no longer foreigners and aliens.

ALL BELIEVERS ARE ISRAELITES