“So when they had come together, they asked him, ‘Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?'”
Acts 1:6
The Jewish apostles asked their Jewish Messiah about restoring their Jewish kingdom. They remembered key promises like this one God made to King David:
“Go and tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord: Would you build me a house to dwell in? …Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.'”
2 Samuel 7:5,11-13
How do you understand the Davidic covenant? The three views above have a different understanding of how this promise has been or will be fulfilled.
The Dispensational view is that with the resurrection of Jesus and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit the “Church Age” began, which is a “parenthesis in history,” in which God has paused His work with Israel but will resume that work after the church is raptured and the tribulation begins. This position blurs somewhat with the fulfillment view by seeing some spiritual fulfillment of the kingdom in the church but the emphasis of most Old Testament promises to ethnic Israel is that they were for ethnic Israel and will be fulfilled in history in the land of Israel.
The Fulfillment view sees the primary meaning of promises like this one to David being realized in the church. It does not go as far as the replacement view, seeing no more future for Israel, but still sees specific promises about ethnic Israel that will take place in history. According to this thinking the main purpose of the Millennium (Revelation 20) is to fulfill promises God made to the Jewish nation about peace, complete borders, long life in the land (but apparently still death as in Isaiah 65:20). And, importantly, the hope for the Jewish people does not lie outside of the church but rather inside the grace provided in Christ that unites all believers – regardless of ethnic background – into one body and one bride.
The Replacement view sees the church as both the spiritual and physical completion of Israel. Everything God intended for Israel has been realized in the church and even promises that remain in the future (like peace, unity and global glory) will be fulfilled for Jewish people (and all people) only in and through the church. This understanding often goes with an a-millennial reading of Revelation 20, believing we are living in a spiritual “1,000 year” reign of Christ now.
Knowing there are different understandings of the relationship between Israel and the Church (and therefore also between the Old and New Testaments) helps explain why there are different views of how the end times will play out. If you expect (as the Dispensationalists do) the church age to conclude when the last Gentile is called to faith in Jesus, the rapture of the church before the tribulation is the natural culmination of that period of time, preparing for the Millennium as the final purification of Israel as the Lord calls the nation back to Himself through mighty acts of global judgment.
On the other hand, if you see the church as the primary (or total) fulfillment of God’s plan for Israel and work in Israel, then the Great Tribulation must have a different purpose – to purify the whole world by making the division between those who believe in Jesus and those who do not dramatically obvious.
All of this is relevant for our study of the book of Acts, because one way or another we need to understand the nature of the church in relation to Israel. The end of Acts chapter 1 and the replacement of Judas with Matthias clearly means more than that the apostles liked the number 12 better than the number 11. There is a continuation of God’s work in Israel now in the church or at least a new beginning in the church deliberately patterned after God’s work in Israel – 12 apostles as there were 12 patriarchs and 12 tribes. Here is how Peter explains it:
““Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus… So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.”
Acts 1:16,21-22
Just as the Scripture had to be fulfilled about the betrayal and death of the Messiah, so a 12th witness had to be appointed to join the 11 apostles and complete, if you will, the founding fathers of the “new people of God.” This new “holy nation” will follow a new and holy way in fulfillment of many prophecies but especially Isaiah’s vision of a new exodus and a renewed nation. One example:
“And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it. It shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray. No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”
Isaiah 35:8-10
Here we find a helpful (if not totally satisfying) resolution. Following a Christ-centered interpretation of the Bible, we know that the only hope for Israel is Jesus, their Messiah. Similarly, the only hope for Gentiles is Jesus, our Savior. Only Jesus opened the door onto the way of holiness. Only Jesus provided the ransom that allows anyone to come into the joys of heaven. So whether God has more in store for ethnic Israel or not, if we keep our focus on Jesus and call others to do the same, we will be on the right track.
This short post obviously only scratches the surface of a theological discussion that goes back at least 200 years, and arguably all the way to the first century with the Judaizers (who wanted all Gentile believers to get circumcised and eat kosher). For more insight, read this article about Romans 9-11, or this one on the writings of D.A. Carson.