The Everlasting Covenant

Scripture Use of the Terms

A few texts of Scripture are sufficient to show that the terms “Jew” and “Israelite” are used interchangeably, each being applicable to the same person. For instance, in Esther 2:5 we read that “in Shushan the palace there was a certain Jew, whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Kish, a Benjamite.” But in Romans 11. I we have the Apostle Paul’s statement, “I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin;” and the same Apostle said, “I am a man which am a Jew of Tarsus.” ¹ Here we have one man of the tribe of Benjamin, a Jew, and another man of the same tribe, an Israelite, and at the same time a Jew. EVCO 496.1

Again, Ahaz was one of the kings of Judah, and reigned in Jerusalem. (See 2 Kings 16:1, 2; Isaiah 1. I.) He was a descendant of David, and one of the ancestors of Jesus according to the flesh. (2 Kings 16:2; Matthew 1:9.) Yet in 2 Chronicles 28:19, in an account of the invasion of “the south of Judah” by the Philistines, we are told that “the Lord brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of Israel; for he made Judah naked, and transgressed sore against the Lord.” EVCO 496.2

When the Apostle Paul had returned to Jerusalem from one of his missionary tours, “the Jews which were of Asia, when they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the people, and laid hands on him, crying “out, Men of Israel, help!” ¹ EVCO 496.3