Mark@Mark_Wilson_25
Why Should Christians Love the Jewish People?
"For the Lord will not reject His people, for He has been pleased to make you His own." (1 Samuel 12:22)
Few subjects generate more disagreement among Christians today than Israel and the Jewish people.
Some insist the Church has completely replaced Israel. Others believe the Jewish people no longer have any unique place in God's plan. Still others wonder why Israel should matter at all after the coming of Christ.
But perhaps we're asking the wrong question.
The greater question is this:
What does the way God treats Israel reveal about God Himself?
The answer is breathtaking.
It reveals that our God is a covenant-keeping God.
And that is why Christians should love the Jewish people.
Not because they are more worthy than anyone else.
Not because every action of the modern State of Israel is above criticism.
But because through Israel, God has chosen to display His faithfulness to the entire world.
🌿 Chosen to Display God's Glory
From the very beginning, God chose one man.
Abraham.
From Abraham came one family.
From that family came one nation.
Through that nation came the Scriptures...
the prophets...
the apostles...
and ultimately...
the Messiah.
Jesus Himself declared:
"Salvation is from the Jews." (John 4:22)
Paul adds:
"They have been entrusted with the very words of God." (Romans 3:2)
And again:
"Theirs is the adoption... the covenants... the promises... the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah." (Romans 9:4-5)
Christianity did not begin apart from Israel.
It blossomed from promises God made long before any Gentile believer ever existed.
🌿 We Were Grafted Into Their Story
Romans 11 contains one of Paul's richest illustrations.
God's covenant people are pictured as an olive tree.
Some natural branches were broken off because of unbelief.
Wild olive branches, believing Gentiles, were graciously grafted in.
Then comes one of the strongest warnings in the New Testament:
"Do not consider yourself to be superior to those other branches... Remember: it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you." (Romans 11:18)
Think about that.
We are not the root.
We are not the tree.
Everything we possess spiritually has come through God's redemptive work in and through Israel's Messiah.
Humility is the only proper response.
🌿 God Has Not Changed His Mind
Paul asks the question that still echoes today.
"Did God reject His people?"
His answer is immediate.
"By no means!" (Romans 11:1)
Why?
Because...
"God's gifts and his call are irrevocable." (Romans 11:29)
Jeremiah says Israel will cease to be a nation only when the sun, moon, and stars disappear. (Jeremiah 31:35-37)
As Arnold Fruchtenbaum has often observed, Israel's future restoration is ultimately about God's reputation. If God could abandon His unconditional covenants with Israel, what confidence could any believer have that He will keep His promises to us?
The faithfulness of God is on trial.
And God never fails.
🌿 From Genesis to Revelation
The Bible tells one magnificent story.
In Genesis, God calls Abraham and promises to bless all nations through his offspring. (Genesis 12:1-3)
In the Gospels, Yeshua, Israel's Messiah, is born in Bethlehem, fulfills the Law and the Prophets, and accomplishes redemption through His death and resurrection.
In Acts and the Epistles, believing Gentiles are graciously grafted into God's redemptive program, sharing in Israel's spiritual blessings while being warned never to boast over the natural branches. (Romans 11:17-18)
In the Millennial Kingdom, the King reigns from Jerusalem. The Law goes forth from Zion. The nations stream to worship Him. Israel is restored, the covenants are fulfilled, and the promises spoken by the prophets blossom before the eyes of the world. (Isaiah 2:2-4; Zechariah 8:23; Zechariah 14:9,16)
And in the New Jerusalem, eternity itself bears witness to God's faithfulness.
Its twelve gates bear the names of the twelve tribes of Israel.
Its twelve foundations bear the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. (Revelation 21:12-14)
The Bible begins with Abraham.
It ends with the tribes of Israel still written on the gates of eternity.
That is not an accident.
It is God's signature across history.
🌿 The Coming Kingdom Is Wonderfully Jewish
The prophets never envisioned a kingdom detached from Israel.
They foresaw Messiah reigning from David's throne in Jerusalem.
Isaiah writes:
"The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." (Isaiah 2:2-4)
Zechariah declares:
"The Lord will be king over the whole earth." (Zechariah 14:9)
The nations will travel annually to Jerusalem to worship the King and celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. (Zechariah 14:16)
Isaiah says:
"Many peoples will come and say, 'Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord...'" (Isaiah 2:3)
Zechariah adds:
"Ten men from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew... saying, 'Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you.'" (Zechariah 8:23)
Even the geography of the Kingdom proclaims God's covenant faithfulness.
🌿 What This Means for Christians
The New Testament never calls believers to idolize Israel.
But neither does it permit arrogance toward her.
Paul writes:
"For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews' spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings." (Romans 15:27)
What have we received?
📖 The Scriptures.
👑 The patriarchs.
🕊️ The prophets.
✝️ The Messiah.
⛪ The apostles.
🌍 The gospel that has reached every nation.
Paul says these blessings should produce gratitude.
So let us reject every form of antisemitism.
Let us pray for the peace of Jerusalem. (Psalm 122:6)
Let us lovingly proclaim Yeshua to Jew and Gentile alike, for there is salvation in no one else. (Acts 4:12)
Let us honor the Jewish roots of our faith.
And let us rejoice that every promise God has made will stand forever.
Charles Spurgeon anticipated Israel's future restoration because he believed it would magnify the faithfulness of God before the watching world.
Because if God could forget His unconditional promises to Israel...
What confidence could any of us have that He will remember His promises to us?
Thankfully, our God is not a covenant breaker.
He is the covenant-keeping God.
The safest place for a Christian heart is to love what God loves, to rejoice in what God has promised, and to rest in the certainty that every word He has spoken will come to pass.
That is glorious news for Israel.
And it is glorious news for the Church.
Because the God who remembers Israel is the God who remembers every promise He has made.
