When We Understand the Text...

So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, "Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?"
He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth." Acts 1:6-8

Here is another instance of where Restorationists miss what Scripture, and Jesus, had to say. What was Jesus' answer to the disciples' question? His answer was very clear. They asked Him, "Will you restore the kingdom to Israel now?" He responded, "You will receive power from the Holy Spirit and you will be My witnesses in the world." Jesus said that the revival of Israel would be found in the preaching of the Gospel. Whoever believes in Jesus is true Israel. If you do not believe this is true, let us look at a few more passages of Scripture that prove it.

"I am the true vine..." John 15:1

In the Old Testament, Israel was always typified as the vine. Here, Jesus is saying that He is the true Israel. Jesus fulfilled all that the nation of Israel foreshadowed.

Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham. ... Not the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, "And to seeds," as referring to many, but rather to one. "And to your seed," that is, Christ. ... And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's descendants, heirs according to the promise. Galatians 3:7, 16, 29

This passage could not get any more clearer. If you are of the faith, then you are a promised child of Abraham. Paul even goes on to call Christians "the Israel of God." No, "Israel" in the Bible does not always mean ethnic Israel. Observe these passages:

For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God. Romans 2:28-29

But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all [spiritual] Israel who are descended from [ethnic] Israel; nor are they all children because they are Abraham's descendants, but: "Through Isaac your descendants will be named." That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants. Romans 9:6-8

In Romans 11 where Paul divides national ethnic Israel into two groups—believing Israel and unbelieving Israel, apply the previous two passages to both of those groups. After merging believing Gentiles with believing Jews, Paul then goes on to say this...

And in this way all [true] Israel will be saved... Romans 11:26a

No, the Church has not replaced Israel. The Church is the expansion of Israel, through the Gentile inclusion that was prophesied all throughout the Old Testament. In Amos 9, God promised to restore the tabernacle of David. In Acts 15, James quoted this passage as being fulfilled in the Church. Peter even quoted Old Testament passages referring to ethnic Israel as finding their fulfillment in the Church:

But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY. 1 Peter 2:9-10

Now, pay very careful attention to what Paul has to say in this next passage. It utterly dismantles and destroys the teachings of Dispensationalism, whose foundational tenet holds to a distinction between Israel and the Church.

Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called "Uncircumcision" by the so-called "Circumcision," which is performed in the flesh by human hands-- remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. AND HE CAME AND PREACHED PEACE TO YOU WHO WERE FAR AWAY, AND PEACE TO THOSE WHO WERE NEAR; for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.
For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles-- if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace which was given to me for you; that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief. By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit; to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel, of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God's grace which was given to me according to the working of His power. To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things; so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him. Therefore I ask you not to lose heart at my tribulations on your behalf, for they are your glory. Ephesians 2:11-3:13

Paul makes clear that Jesus broke down the dividing wall between Jews and Gentiles and made a new man out of those who believed in Christ. The early Christians referred to themselves as the "third race." The Church is comprised of believing Jews and believing Gentiles, Old Testament saints and New Testament saints. The ethnic nation of Israel prefigured the spiritual community that would one day display God's eternal nature on the Earth—that is, the Church, the Body of Christ, His Bride. It was never about national ethnic Israel; and it never will be!