History question: Who first described the Church as “the new Israel”?

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BartholomewB

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It’s not in the Bible. The closest I’ve found in the NT is Romans 9:6, “For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel.” I suppose it must have been one of the Church Fathers. Justin Martyr, perhaps? Anyone?

Please note, I’m not concerned with discussing the meaning and implications of the expression, or whether it’s right or wrong. I’m just trying to discover a historical fact which I ought to know but I don’t.

Thanks!
 
“Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule—to the Israel of God.” Galatians 6:16
Saint Paul himself. It’s in the Bible.
 
LostSheep7 said:
“Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule—to the Israel of God.” Galatians 6:16
Saint Paul himself. It’s in the Bible.
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Sorry, no. You have misunderstood my question. I should have expressed my meaning more clearly. The expression I’m looking for is “the new Israel,” in those words.
 
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Hebrews 12:18… describe Old Israel, Hebrews 12:22… describes the Church as the new heavenly Israel.

Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God…
18 You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; 19 to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, 20 because they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.”c 21 The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”d

22 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, 23 to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

25 See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? 26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.”e 27 The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain.

28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, 29 for our “God is a consuming fire.”
 
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OriginalGabrielof12 said:
Hebrews 12:18… describe Old Israel, Hebrews 12:22… describes the Church as the new heavenly Israel.
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Thank you for trying but sorry, no, that’s not the answer. The expression I’m looking for is “the new Israel,” in those words. Hebrews 12:22 says “the heavenly Jerusalem.” Not “new,” not “Israel.” The phrase “the new Israel” doesn’t occur in Hebrews, or anywhere at all in the NT.
 
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Just doing a quick search on the exact phrase “new Israel”, the earliest thing I found was from a prayer of Theodoret, Bishop of Cyrus in the 5th century (a prayer, which is interestingly quite appropriate for our time, I think):
‘Spare Your people, O Lord and give not Your heritage to reproach.’ Feed us O Lord that we become not as we were in the beginning when You did not rule over us nor was Your name invoked to help us. ‘We have become a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and derision to them that are round about us,’ because wicked doctrines have come into Your inheritance. They have polluted Your holy temple in that the daughters of strangers have rejoiced over our troubles. A little while ago we were of one mind and one tongue and now are divided into many tongues. But, O Lord our God, give us Your peace which we have lost by setting Your commandments at naught. O Lord we know none other than You. We call You by Your name. ‘Make both one and break down the middle wall of the partition,’ namely the iniquity that has sprung up. Gather us one by one, Your new Israel, building up Jerusalem and gathering together the outcasts of Israel. Let us be made once more one flock and all be fed by You; for You are the good Shepherd 'Who gives His life for the sheep ’ ‘Awake, why do You sleep O Lord, arise, cast us not off forever.’ Rebuke the winds and the sea; give Your Church calm and safety from the waves.
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Thank you, @Genesis315! Your search was more fruitful than mine! On another website a poster mentioned the expression in connection with Augustine, but I think he was only paraphrasing rather than quoting word for word. I certainly haven’t found anything earlier that your quote from Theodoret.
 
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Sorry, maybe you did not understand the scripture I gave you. Tell you what, don’t take it from me, here is a site and Father Whiteford who has the same conclusion and view point I have. see bottom of post for Fr.'s commentary. The Word Trinity is not recorded in the bible, but it is divinely revealed. New Israel may not be recorded explicitly as you would have it. But the New Israel is prophetic, and divinely revealed.

FYI when I researched the topic of the “New Israel”, you will find in both old and new testaments referencing “ZION”, which is the true word you may be interested in.

St. Paul’s teaching in Romans 11 is clear that those Jews who rejected Christ are like branches cut off from the olive tree, which represents the people of God—and that gentile converts are like wild olive branches that have been grafted on to that same tree. The Church is the Israel of God (Galatians 6:16), the Israelites formed the Church of the Old Testament, but the New Testament Church is in continuity with the old. However, Romans 11 is equally clear that there is still a future in God’s providence for those who are the physical descendants of the Old Testament Israel, who rejected Christ and so have been cut off from the Church, but who will one day be saved. And so we do speak of the Church as the new Israel, but this does not mean there is no sense in which we can still speak of the Israel according to the flesh.

We do not accept the notion of some Protestants who teach that there is still a separate covenant for the Jews, and that they may be saved by the Old Covenant, while Christians are saved by the New. Nor do we believe that the descendants of those who rejected Christ have some special claim on the Holy Land that entitles them to steal land from Arab speaking Christians, many of whom are no doubt descended from those Jews that embraced Christ. Christians are children of Abraham in the truest sense, and as such are the true heirs of God’s promise to him:

Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham…So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham(Gal. 3:7-9).

Because we do not equate the modern state of Israel with the Israel of the Old Testament, some Protestants attempt to argue that this constitutes anti-Semitism, but we reject this claim. Furthermore, I would argue that this abuse of the label of anti-Semitism in an attempt to defend even the most indefensible actions of the state of Israel only cheapens the term, and has the effect of providing greater credibility for real anti-Semitic voices.
As for the term “New Jerusalem,” we find this phrase in Revelation 21:2:
We find something similar in Hebrews 12:22 (But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem), as well as Galatians 4:26 (But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all). In context, both of these passages are contrasting the heavenly Jerusalem with the Old Covenant and those refusing to embrace the New Covenant.

 
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Thank you for taking so much trouble, but my question had nothing to do with the theology of the “new Israel”. It is purely a question of language. In a conversation with friends yesterday, it emerged that we all thought we had seen the term “new Israel” in the Epistles, and when we went to check, we found we were all wrong. We know that the idea of the “new Israel” has its basis in the Epistles. What we are looking for is the earliest occurrence of the term itself.

Thank you again for your painstaking research.
 
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Your welcome, “no worries”, my research was conducted years ago and found that Zion or “New Israel” was looked for in the Old (Testament) Covenant. Zion is now found and celebrated in the New (Testament) Eternal Covenant that encompasses both the new and old Israel.

Yet your point to redirect is well taken

peace be with you
 
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