ISRAEL - A LIGHT UNTO THE NATIONS

For far too long the Jews have been accused of being Christ killers. Christendom, too, cannot escape the charge of anti-Semitism. The term Christian anti-Semitism is an oxymoron. Our Saviour is Jewish, and our Bible is Jewish. But from the pen of Martin Luther, the great Protestant reformer, such hatred and vitriol was spewed out against the Jews that it should shock us. Let me provide an example. In 1543 Luther produced in his work, On the Jews and Their Lies in which he advised Christians of the following:


And he further exhorted Christians to follow these practices:


This advice was taken seriously and applied most effectively by Hitler. It seemed Hitler took a leaf from the pages of Luther's writings. He applied the aphorism, Christ killer, most viciously against the Jewish people. No wonder much of Christendom was silent when the Holocaust occurred. Germany, the country of Luther's birth and the birthplace of the Protestant reformation, and the entire Christian church should hang our heads in shame and repentance as we remember the Holocaust.

One has to wonder what Bible Luther read and how he could so blatantly curse the Jews. Were not God's blessing upon Abraham's descendants, and His promise to bless those who bless the Jews and to curse those who curse the Jews (Genesis 12:3) clear enough for Luther? Yet even today the Church simply ignores the raving and ranting of this Christian anti-Semite and has placed him on a pedestal and given him a place of honour in Christian history.

Many years ago while still a student at a conservative seminary I questioned Luther's Christian faith because of his violent anti-Semitism. The response I received was a shrug and the quip, 'but that is the nature of grace!' The serious student of the Bible should know better. Clearly Luther's understanding of the scriptures was faulty. Did he not read of God's promise to Abraham and his descendants to bless them and bless those that bless them, and conversely to curse those who curse them, and ultimately that the blessing of God would flow through Israel to the world? (Genesis 12:3) Did he not read Roman chapters 9-11, where Paul writes of his love for his Jewish brothers plus offers a warning to the Gentile believers in the following verses?


To whom did God entrust the Word - the Law (Torah), the Prophets (N'vim), and the Writings (K'tuvim) till the coming of Christ? Was it not also to the Jews that God ordained that the Passover feast be kept? The Jews kept the Passover (Pesach) feast for nearly one thousand five hundred years until that day almost two thousand years ago when they offered the perfect Passover Lamb, Yeshua, who took away the sin of the world.

Who else but the Jews could have sacrificed Jesus as the Passover lamb? It certainly could not have been the Gentiles (Goyim), because we have no such law or feast. In doing so the Jews fulfilled the long awaited promise of God to redeem all mankind through the shed blood of His Son. No, the Jews did not kill Christ; they sacrificed the Passover Lamb in fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy. In doing so they ushered in God's plan of redemption for all of mankind. The Jews were chosen for this task even though they were not aware that Christ's sacrifice was the atonement for their sin and the sins of the Gentiles as well. What if the Jews had not sacrificed Jesus? We would all still be lost in our sin!

All the Passover feasts that were celebrated before Jesus were merely rehearsals, and all subsequent feasts have been in memoriam. This includes the familiar communion that takes place today in all churches. Those of us who are Gentile Christians are debtors to the chosen people - the Jews - for bringing this to pass. The chosen people have been selected by God to be the light to the nations just as Christ was the ultimate light. The Church now shares in this task because we have had that light brought to us by the chosen people and a Jewish Messiah, Yeshua HaMashiach.

Israel - Arise, Shine, For Thy Light Is Come


Israel is the main theme of the Old Testament. The Old Testament (Tanakh) was the Bible read by the Jews, Jesus (Yeshua), the apostles, and the early church. It was only much later after the church was born at Pentecost in the first century A.D. that the letters of the early church were collated and became the New Testament canon. Yet it is ironic, nay disappointing, that many Christians ignore the lessons we can learn from and about Israel in the Old Testament.

Israel has a special place in God's plan for the redemption of the world. Like her Messiah, Israel too, was called to be a light unto the nations (meaning, to the Gentiles). That was her calling and her destiny, to be God's prophet to the nations, but that was also her failure. Just like her Messiah, Israel will have a coming resurrection when she will arise and achieve the purpose for which God made her. Israel is special because there is no god like the God of Israel. Israel is pre-eminent among the nations. Israel is God's firstborn son (Exodus 4:22). Though Israel appears to have fallen short of God's objective, she will arise to her calling at the appropriate time in the near future. God does not make mistakes. Despite her failures, God's plan will stand.


Israel is the key to understanding the entire Bible, not just the Old Testament. Jesus is mentioned over five hundred times in the Bible, whereas Israel, by comparison, is mentioned over two thousand five hundred times. We ignore the study of Israel to our detriment. To understand the Christian faith we must understand that Christ, the Messiah, is the common thread that binds the Church and Israel together. Both Israel and the Church were created by the Almighty God to bring His salvation to the ends of the earth through the Messiah.

It is my intention to explore and reveal the vital connection between Christ, Israel, and the Church, and in so doing to make a small but hopefully important contribution to the edification of the body of Christ, and to bring a greater love among Christians for Jewish people in general and Israel in particular.

My desire is twofold:

First, that the believer in reading this will understand our Jewish roots and the role of Israel in God's plan, and second, that in coming to see the tie that binds us together, the reader will develop a true love for the Jewish people and Israel, and will be inspired and motivated to begin praying for the Jewish people and Israel that they may come to know Jesus (Yeshua) as their Messiah, and thus speed the day of His return.

It is no shame to be called a Christian Zionist or a "Jew-lover". It is an honour. God is a Zionist. He established the land of Canaan for His chosen people and called them both, the land and the people, Israel. Through the Jewish people God gave us the Bible, the prophets, the apostles, and our Saviour, Jesus. If we love God and yet love not Israel, His elect, maybe our love is lacking. We must love what God loves, and He loves His chosen, Israel, warts and all. Is that not also how He loves us?

As Christians we have a debt to the Jews. As I look at the Church today I am aware that much has been written to counter the anti-Semitic view of some past church leaders. But as I view the Church from the twenty-first century perspective, I can say that though the charge of anti-Semitism may not apply to most churches, many can still be validly accused of indifference, if not ignorance, on the subject of Israel.

As I wrote this book I was continually reminded of the words of the prophet Isaiah, where he wrote that God has posted watchmen over Israel, for Zion's sake,


God's love for Israel is limitless. I believe God has posted those of us within the Church with a strong love for Israel to be watchmen. Our task and challenge as watchmen is to bring the gospel back to the Jews so that they too may realize that in Jesus (Yeshua) is salvation. This book, I hope, will be an important contribution toward this cause.

Just as there may be anti-Semitism and indifference in the Church toward the Jews and Israel, the reverse is equally true. There is a strong antipathy and animosity from the orthodox Jewish community against Christianity in general, and Messianic Judaism, in particular. The hostility is based in part on the history of the Church's anti-Semitism (such as Luther and some early Church fathers) and the view that for a Jew to accept Yeshua is tantamount to a loss of Jewish identity. One very powerful voice in this respect is found in Rabbi Tovia Singer. (More information about Rabbi Singer can be found on these websites: https://www.outreachjudaism.org, and https://www.israelnationalradio.com).

Orthodox Judaism sees the Messianic Jews, particularly organizations such as Jews for Jesus, as traitors to the cause of Israel. Orthodox rabbis have accused the missionary work of the Church in reaching out to Jews for Jesus as worse than the Holocaust. They have reasoned that whereas the Holocaust was a physical destruction of the Jewish people, proselytising them is akin to sowing their spiritual destruction.

However, the truth is that Jesus (Yeshua) unites us; He does not divide. We are one people in Christ our Lord. Just as the Old Testament (Tanakh) is about Israel, the New Testament (B'rit Hadashah) is about the Church, and both are united, along with the Church, by the centrality of Jesus (Yeshua). Whether the symbol is the Menorah or the Cross, Christ the Messiah is the central figure in both. He binds both Israel and the Church together. I pray that you will walk along with me on this journey as we discover the tie that binds both the Church and Israel to our Lord Jesus. That tie is Pentecost, our common heritage.