The Four Israels
In past posts, I have shown how St. Augustine and St. Justin Martyr teach of two Israels, one according to the flesh and another according to the spirit. The former are the nation principally described in sacred scripture, while the other are those who have recieved the spiritual promises of scripture through the Spirit, the Church.
The purpose of the continuation of the Jews is twofold. First, they continue to serve as a witness at the present time. By being a living continuation of the biblical people of Israel, they contintinue to point to the reality present in the Church. Thus, St. Bernard of Clairvaux refers to them as “living letters of the law.” Second, they will ultimately be redeemed in accord with the promises made to them in scripture (in both the Old and New Testaments).
All of this closely parallels the four senses of scripture. In fact, I think we can easily build on the tradition here (and I think better synthesize it as a result) to suggest four Israels in according with the four senses of scripture. This does not need to be understood in opposition to the two Israels. Just as scripture can be distinguished generally between literal and spiritual, or subdivided into four senses, so too can Israel.
Jerusalem is a frequent example of the four sense of scripture. St. John Cassian explains it well:
These four previously mentioned figures coalesce, if we desire, in one subject, so that one and the same Jerusalem can be taken in four senses: historically as the city of the Jews; allegorically as Church of Christ, anagogically as the heavenly city of God “which is the mother of us all,” tropologically, as the soul of man, which is frequently subject to praise or blame from the Lord under this title. (Conferences 14.8)
Since Jerusalem is the biblical capital of Israel, the same sort of reasoning can easily be expanded out to Israel as a whole. Thus, I propose four Israels:
Historical Israel. This is Israel according to the flesh, continued today in the Jewish people. They are the people group beginning with Jacob whose history is recounted in sacred scripture.
Spiritual Israel. This is the Church of Christ. The rites and life of historical Israel mystically symbolize the blessings given to spiritual Israel. The saints of the Old Testament were already part of it by being united with Christ in expectation, and all true Christians are part of it as well. This is the Israel of God described in Galatians 6:16, and the Israel of Romans 9:6 which not all of historical Israel is part of.
Personal Israel. Israel represents the life of each individual Christian. We are brought out of slavery, through the waters, adopted as God’s sons, and brought into the promised land. If we sin, we are cast out into exile, but if we repent, God will bring us back. Paul uses the story of Israel this way in 1 Corinthians 10.
Eschatological Israel. The scriptures speak of the ultimate conversion of historical Israel, bringing together the fullness of Jews and Gentiles to worship the God of Israel. This was universally hoped for by the Fathers and Doctors and is reiterated by the Catechism. Nonetheless, some think “all Israel” refers to historical Israel, while others to spiritual Israel. This approach synthesizes the tradition, as “all Israel” refers to the ultimate redemption of both historical and spiritual Israel, all Israel finally brought together from Jew and Gentile.
All of this ought to remind us that the four senses of scripture are not merely a fanciful idea for exegesis. They are hermeneutics to understand the theology of history. Scripture gives the primary story of history, but all of history is under the scope of providence and so all of history ought to be understood according to the four senses.