One of the most consequential confusions in modern Christianity is the identity of Israel. Millions have been taught through dispensationalist frameworks that Israel primarily means a geopolitical territory. But this is not where the word begins in Scripture.
Genesis 32:28 tells us plainly. After a night of wrestling with God, He spoke to Jacob: Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed. Israel is a person – a man chosen by God to father a covenant people. The name is first and fundamentally a personal identity, not a place.
As Jacob’s twelve sons multiplied, Israel became the collective name for the covenant people – defined by their relationship with God, not by geography. Romans 9:6-8 makes the New Covenant application explicit: Not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel. Galatians 3:28-29 goes further: You are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.
Understanding this does not diminish Jewish history. It restores what Darby’s system stole: the unified, Christ-centered people of God – one covenant, one King. Ave Christus Rex.