Which Israel?

I was reading Jeremiah 31-32 this morning, which are chapters in which the prophet tells Israel of a future they would have after their time of chastisement for their sins. In 31:31-34, the New Covenant is proclaimed--a covenant not written on tablets of stone but on the heart. Then come verses 35-36:

³⁵ This is what the Lord says: The One who gives the sun for light by day, the fixed order of moon and stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea and makes its waves roar— the Lord of Hosts is His name: ³⁶ If this fixed order departs from My presence— [this is] the Lord’s declaration— then also Israel’s descendants will cease to be a nation before Me forever. Jeremiah 31:35-36 (HCSB)

This passage begs the question, Which Israel? Is the prophecy about the geographical/political nation Israel. Many believe that it is. But what does the New Testament say about Israel? Note Paul's statement: May peace be on all those who follow this standard, and mercy also be on the Israel of God! Galatians 6:16 (HCSB). It is obvious in Galatians that Paul has Christians on his mind. The Church has become the Israel of God.

An important hermeneutical principle when dealing with the Old Testament is that one must sift each passage through the New Testament. Does the New Testament change or at least tweak an idea found in the Old Testament? When one takes the promise of Jeremiah 31 and sifts it through the New Testament grid, it seems that there is a change. Israel is made up of Jews and Gentiles who have professed Christ as Savior.

Israel then will be a nation forever. But she will be nation of priests before God [1 Peter 2:9]. She is the Church of Jesus Christ!