In the course of Peter’s speech following the healing of the crippled man at the temple gate called “Beautiful” in Jerusalem (Acts 3:1-26), he makes this statement, speaking of Jesus as a prophet:
Acts 3:23 ‘And it will be that every soul that does not heed that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’
To shed light on this verse, we can turn to something Peter wrote in his first letter:
1 Pet 2:9 But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
1 Pet 2:10 for you once were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY.
If you consider the context of Peter’s entire letter, including its beginning, it’s clear that he is writing to believers in Jesus – which would have been Gentiles as well as Jews by that point in his life. Thus Peter was speaking in this letter as well as in Acts 3 of spiritual Israel, not physical Israel – that is, a spiritual nation, not a fleshly nation. That’s why “every soul that does not heed that prophet” would be eliminated from that nation -the spiritual nation, the holy nation.
Consider also how this that Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans, which also consisted of Jews and Gentiles, fits with Peter’s point:
Rom 2:28 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh.
Rom 2:29 But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God.
Jesus’ resurrection from the dead and ascension into heaven triggered the transition from ancient Israel being a physical nation in God’s eyes to being a spiritual nation. And that was, of course, the thrust of the entire New Testament. Believing Jews, along with believing Gentiles, were to become more and more spiritual with each passing day…so that they would be ready and able to recognize the second coming of Messiah. Fleshly Israel was being left farther and farther behind as this process progressed toward its conclusion. Fleshly Israel would see the Lord “coming in His Father’s glory,” while to physical Israel, that coming would be like “a thief in the night.”
For modern people to think that God would be working through a physical Israel in the 21st century, when He left it behind in the 1st century, is nonsensical.
In modern times, it is as wrong-headed to be a Zionist as it is to be anti-semitic. Jews are no better or worse than Gentiles. Every modern nation – including Israel and the USA – is being judged by God on its own behavior. No nation or people get special rights. God favors neither Jews nor Christians; He loves people and favors righteousness.
The Duty of a Man 