A rationale for the future of Israel

It is generally agreed among biblical students that the Scriptures teach a special relationship between God and Israel. While there is much controversy over the meaning of Israel in the New Testament, most will agree that the historical Israel of the Old Testament referred to a community of people bound together physically by descent from Abraham through Jacob and religiously by a covenant relationship with God. That this community of Israel also constituted a nation in the usual sense of this term is clear from Scriptures. When the question is raised as to the rationale of the unique relationship of the nation of Israel with God, there is likewise the general belief that Israel was elected and brought into a covenant relationship with God for service to the rest of the world. The way of this service, however, and thus the place of the nation of Israel in God\u27s history evokes diverse explanations. The vastness of the discussion makes it impossible to list all of the contemporary views concerning Israel. They range all the way from seeing Israel as having no theological meaning today or in the future, to viewing Israel and Judaism as a legitimate way to God alongside Christianity. Our purpose is to briefly examine several of the more dominant positions, with particular emphasis on the position that does see a theological meaning for Israel as a national entity