Read 2 Kings 17 here (text coming …) or at Bible Gateway.
The Hebrew paragraphs:
17:1-6 {p} Hoshea, king of Israel/ Shalmaneser king of Assyria made Israel vassal, then took them captive
17:7-23 {p} Israel carried away captive by Assyria, for they rejected God, and He removed them from His sight
17:24-41 {p} The king of Assyria settled foreigners in the cities of Israel, who mixed idolatry with the worship of God
2 Kin 17:7-41 Chiastic structure:
And YHVH rejected all the seed of Israel, and He afflicted them, and He gave them into the hand of plunderers, until He had cast them from His presence. 2 Kin 17:20
Supersessionism, also known as replacement theology, is the belief that the Church has replaced Israel as God’s chosen people, superseding the covenant YHVH made with Israel in the Hebrew Bible. It suggests that the New Covenant through Jesus Christ renders the Old Covenant with Israel obsolete, transferring God’s promises originally made to Israel, to the Church, while viewing Jews as rejected or no longer central to God’s plan.
Historically, this theology emerged in early Christianity (as in the writings of Justin Martyr, 2nd century) and became dominant in medieval Christian thought, often leading to antisemitic attitudes by interpreting biblical judgments (like 2 Kings 17:20) as permanent divine rejection of Jews.
But the errors of this theology are easily dismantled by acknowledging a few simple facts.
Truth does not contradict itself. If the Bible is a book of the true sayings and doings of God and His people, then God, who is Truth (Joh 14:6, Joh 16:13) does not contradict Himself in His sayings or doings. If two true statements seem to contradict, then it just means that we have not understood them yet. We need to keep searching in our understanding until the truth comes into agreement.
For YHVH will not cast off His people, nor will He forsake His inheritance. Psa 94:14
This statement does not harmonize at first glance with 2 Kin 17:20. What 2 Kin 17:20 must mean, then, is that Israel’s rejection from their land at the hands of Assyria was a temporary judgment and not a permanent injunction.
“For a small moment I abandoned you, but with great mercies I will gather you. In an overflow of anger I hid My face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you, says YHVH your Redeemer.” Isa 54:7-8
Thus says YHVH, who gives the sun for light by day, the statutes of the moon and the stars for light by night, who stirs the sea and its waves roar—YHVH of hosts is His name: “If these statutes depart from before Me,” declares YHVH, “then the seed of Israel will cease from being a nation before Me all the days.” Thus says YHVH: “If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth below can be searched out, then I will reject all the seed of Israel for all that they have done,” declares YHVH. Jer 31:35-37
Israel’s temporary abandonment serves a purpose in God’s plan of salvation for the whole world, in which they are included.
I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. […] I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their trespass, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles. Now if their trespass is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness! […] For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? Rom 11:1-2, 11-12, 15
If there are questions, this is a good resource:
Who are the children of Israel? – Christine Miller
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