God has an eternal, covenantal commitment to the Jewish people. The church is called to love and bless ethnic Israel and to pray for and proclaim salvation to the Jewish people.
God’s everlasting Covenant with Israel
God made an everlasting covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and all their descendants:
1. That He would be their God
2. That the land of Canaan would be their everlasting possession
(Genesis 17:7-8 & 19, 1 Chronicles 16:15-18)
The New Testament affirms the special place that the Jewish people continue to hold with God, and that the promises will not be taken away from them – for the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable – even though they have experienced a partial hardening and largely rejected the Messiah. (Romans 11)
Even when the Jewish people have at times been banished from the promised land, God promised to bring them back. (Deuteronomy 30:4-5)
The Church has not replaced Israel but is grafted into God’s promises through Jesus. (Romans 11:17)
The Future of Israel
The Bible shows us that:
- God will restore the Jewish people to the promised land and rebuild Jerusalem. (Isaiah 43:6-7, Amos 9:11-12, 14-15, Ezekial 39:25-29) The modern state of Israel is part of biblical prophecy, but not the final fulfilment.
- Jewish people will finally turn to Christ and be saved. (Romans 11:25-27, Zechariah 12:8-10) Both the Old and New Testaments anticipate a time when the Holy Spirit regenerates Israel.
- Christ will return and reign from Jerusalem (Zechariah 14:4, Revelation 21: 12-14)
- The fullness of covenantal blessings for the ethnic Israel is received through Jesus the Messiah (Revelation 5:5)
- The walls of New Jerusalem will have twelve gates which will bear the names of the 12 tribes of Israel, and 12 foundations, which will bear the names of the 12 Apostles of Christ. The city of God will be filled with all those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life, both Jew and Gentile. (Revelation 21:12-14,26-27)
The Church’s Role
- LOVE – God loves the Jewish people with an everlasting love, and He loves us unconditionally. We should love whom God loves; we should love the Jewish people. (Jeremiah 31:3,
John 3:16, 1 John 4:7-21) - SEEK AND PROCLAIM SALVATION – All believers should look for, pray for, and proclaim the salvation of Jewish people. (Jeremiah 31:7-8, Isaiah 54:8, Romans 11:11-13,15)
- SUPPORT – We should support the Jewish right to the promised land as part of God’s covenant (1 Chronicles 16:15-18) We do not assume the modern state of Israel is justified in everything that it does, and we do not support anything that contravenes the Word of God.
- STAND – We should stand against and fight ignorance and anti-Semitism, remembering the atrocities committed against Jews even under the guise of Christianity. God’s chosen people are the “apple of His eye”. (Zechariah 2:8)
- BLESS – Since we have been spiritually blessed through ethnic Israel, we should seek to bless them practically. (Romans 15:26-27, Numbers 24:9)
“Behold, the Lord has proclaimed to the ends of the earth, Say to the daughter of Zion,
“Lo, your salvation comes; Behold His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him”
Isaiah 62:11