Right now, understandably and necessarily, our attention is being directed to Israel with everything that is going on over in the Middle East with their fight against the Palestinian terrorist group known as Hamas. The things this group have been doing is horrendous and too vile for me to even mention. This whole conflict leaves Christians here in the US with a bunch of questions. How do we understand all of this in light of the Bible? Are we witnessing the unfolding of biblical prophecy at this very moment? What relationship does the Israel of today have with the Israel which was once known as being God's people? Are they still considered God's people? And what can and should we do for then at this time?
First,
I think that we need to be careful not to get too excited and not be quick to jump
to any conclusions that this serves as any direct fulfillment of biblical
prophecy. Jesus said that "you are going to hear of wars and rumors of
wars. See that you are not alarmed, for those things must take place, but that is
not yet the end" (Matthew 24:6). Such are just the beginnings of birth
pains, not the birth of the end itself (v. 8). "Wars and rumors of
wars" have been a reality in our world since our Lord uttered those words.
And those prophecies of what is to come were never given to us so that we could
map out everything which will lead to our Lord's return or to find out where we
are in that timetable but to encourage us that all of history is marching
according to God's plan to that moment when the Lord will return to defeat His
enemies, reward His saints, and consummate His eternal kingdom. That Jesus will
win in the end, right all wrongs, and bring us back to the bliss of the garden
where we will have close unhindered fellowship with Him. We are not to be
sitting around with all of our charts seeking to lay it all out with our eyes
on the skies but be busy serving Him doing what He has commanded as we eagerly
await His soon coming. Furthermore, what may appear to be connected to a specific
biblical prophecy at this moment may not five or ten years from now. There has
been so many things pointed to throughout history that people were once so sure
had to be the playing out of this or that particular passage in Scripture which
turned out not to be. In fact, no one would even dare claim such today about it.
When
it comes to Israel and its relationship as God's people, Paul states in Romans
9:6 that "they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel." He
means that not every physical Israelite can be counted as being a part of the
Israel which is considered to be God's people. Having Jewish blood and being
able to trace your linage back to Abraham does not automatically make one a
part of His people and a recipient of the blessings and privileges of the promise
He gave to Abraham. Paul goes on to demonstrate this by pointing out that both Ishmael
and Isaac can claim to have Abraham as their father. However, only Isaac is
considered to be part of His people and not Ishmael (vv. 7-9). The same is seen
with the twins, Esau and Jacob. God graciously chose Jacob to be a part of His
people while leaving Esau outside of it. And it wasn't because of anything they
had done or one being more righteous than the other since God made the choice
before they had born to do anything to be judged on. It was simply because of
God's choice to show mercy (vv. 11-13).
Earlier
in the letter, Paul says that the true Jew is the one who is not one outwardly
marked by being physically circumcised by the hand of man but who is one
inwardly marked by a "circumcision of the heart" brought about by the
Holy Spirit (Romans 2:28-29). This "circumcision of the heart" refers
to being "born again" with the result of being made a new creation in
Christ (John 3:3, 5; Galatians 6:15). In the first three chapters of Romans,
Paul labors to argue that both Gentiles and Jews alike are sinners in need of
God's saving grace revealed in Jesus. In chapter 1, he focuses on the sins the
Gentiles are handing over to on account of their exchanging the worship of God
with the worship of idols. Then in chapter 2, how the Jews are no better with
their own violations of God's law. This leads to his conclusion that "there
is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God"
(Romans 3:22-23). Both Jews and Gentiles are in the same boat and need rescued
with the only possible Rescuer being the Lord Jesus Christ. God has always had
a remnant within the nation of Israel of those who truly belonged to Him. But
it became clear in their unbelief that many of those a part of the nation did not
belong and thus were outside of His people. They were only outwardly a Jew but
not inwardly one. And therefore were no different than an unbelieving Gentile.
Galatians
3:28-29 tells us "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave
nor free man, there is no male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, heirs according to
promise." It is those who believe who can count themselves a true
descendant of Abraham. Not those of physical descent or with his blood. The believing
Gentile then is more of a descendant of Abraham than the Jewish unbeliever. God's
people consists ONLY of repentant believing Jews and Gentiles. The only Jews
today part of the nation of Israel who can rightfully claim to be included in
the number of God's people are those who, by God's grace, have repented of
their sins and come to Christ in faith for forgiveness of those sins.
There
is a dangerous teaching out there today that says we do not need to evangelize the
Jews. Even that we shouldn't bother with such. The thought being that they are
already all God's chosen people so it is not necessary to. A number of years
back, I saw an interview that Pat Robertson had with Michael Eisner, then CEO
of the Walt Disney Company. Eisner asked Robertson if he would go to hell
because he rejected Jesus to be his Messiah and Savior. Talk about the perfect
gospel opportunity! But Pat blew it! Instead of telling Eisner of how Jesus
died and rose again for the sins of those who repent and trust in Him, he
showed him Romans 11:26 in the Bible that "all Israel will be saved" following
the fullness of the Gentiles being brought into the church and told him that he
was okay then. Basically, that he had nothing to worry about. While I don't
deny that verse and understand it to indicate that a revival will occur among
the Jewish people at Christ's return, it clearly can't be saying that all Jews
are fine in their current state and will go to heaven regardless of their faith
in Jesus. Because there is no salvation without repentance and faith in Christ.
No name under heaven by which men must be saved other than Jesus Christ (Acts
4:12). No salvation found outside of Him. Paul's very practice and prayers went
against this mindset. When he went into an area, he first preached in the
synagogues to share the gospel with the Jews (Acts 13:14, 14:1, 17:1-2, 17:10, 17:16-17, 18:4, 18:19, 19:8,
28:17) and prayed with a strong desire for their salvation
(Romans 10:1). He magnified his ministry to the Gentiles in hopes that the Jews
would be moved by jealousy seeing believing Gentiles possess what was
originally given to their forefathers and extended to those Gentiles by grace
(Romans 11:13-14).
So,
in light of all of this, what should we do for Israel in regards to this
current war with Hamas? The best thing we can do is pray. Certainly to pray for
an end to the violence and for justice to be brought about upon the
perpetrators of this conflict. But even more so we need to pray for the
salvation of the unbelieving Jews as a far worse fate awaits them than what
they are experiencing now if they continue to refuse to repent and turn to
Christ in saving faith. They will undergo an eternity of God's wrath without
His grace and mercy. For that matter, we should pray for the unbelieving Palestinians
as well. Our greatest concern must always be people's souls and where they will
spend eternity. Let's be sure that such a concern is reflected in our ongoing
prayers regarding this present conflict.
Love
in Christ,
Pastor
Lee