Israel is a special nation that was created by God Himself. The Lord said of Israel, “I am the LORD, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King” (Isa 43:15). This makes Israel unique among all the nations of the world! He even calls Israel, “My glory” (Isa 46:13). And God loves Israel, declaring, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness” (Jer 31:3). God is eternal, and His love is eternal, which means it never fades for His people, Israel. To possess the love of God is to love that which He loves. One cannot claim to have God’s love, and simultaneously hate Israel, His chosen people. There is no place for anti-Semitism in the heart of anyone, especially the Christian! According to Lewis S. Chafer, “When the Christian loves with a divine compassion he will acknowledge what God loves. Therefore, he too must love Israel.”[1]
To love the people of Israel is not a blanket endorsement of all their beliefs and behaviors. God, who loves Israel and chose them to be His people (Deut 7:6-8), also called them to be holy (Ex 19:5-6; Lev 11:45), and to live righteously (Deut 6:24-25). Under the Mosaic Law, God blessings and curses for them were conditioned on their obedience or disobedience (Deut 11:26-28; 28:1-68). For much of Israel’s history, we know they failed to walk with God, sometimes rejecting His love for them and walking in the ways of the world (see 2 Ch 36:15-16; Jer 7:25-26; 25:4-7). The national rejection and crucifixion of Jesus (Matt 27:22-23; Acts 2:22-23; 4:27-28), Israel’s promised Messiah (Deut 18:15; Isa 7:14; 9:6-7; 53; 61:1; Matt 1:1, 17; Luke 1:31-33), is their greatest historical failure.[2] Did Israel act alone in crucifying Jesus, their Messiah? No! God foretold Israel’s Messiah would suffer and die (Psa 22:11-18; Isa 53); and, according to His sovereignty, He used wicked men, both Jews and Gentiles, to accomplish His will (Acts 22:22-23; 4:27-28). Lewis Sperry Chafer wrote:
If it be inquired, as constantly it is, who put Christ to death? It may be pointed out that He was offered by the Father (Psa 22:15; John 3:16; Rom 3:25), of His own free will (John 10:17; Heb 7:27; 9:14; 10:12), by the Spirit (Heb 9:14), and by men—Herod, Pilate, the Gentiles, and Israel (Acts 2:23; 4:27). To this may be added that part of His death was contributed by Satan (cf. Gen 3:15).[3]
God, who loves Israel with an everlasting love, continues to keep His Word to them. Israel has a future hope because of the promises and covenants God made through the patriarchs and prophets (Gen 12:1-3; 15:18; 17:8; Deut 30:1-10; 2 Sam 7:16; Psa 89:33-37; Jer 31:31-33). Though unbelieving Israel is currently under divine discipline (Matt 23:37-39), God’s covenants and promises are still in effect (Rom 9:1-5), and will remain in force until Jesus returns and is accepted as their Messiah.
Furthermore, it is wrong to think the church has replaced Israel, for “God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew” (Rom 11:2), even though there is a “partial hardening” among them until Messiah returns (Rom 11:25-27). Until then, unbelieving Israel is under spiritual darkness and divine judgment. The apostle Paul—a biological Jew himself—revealed that God’s promises and covenants are still valid for Israel, and wished all would come to faith in Christ. Paul said:
I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart [for unbelieving Israelites]. For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh [to whom Paul is related biologically], who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises, whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh [i.e. Messiah], who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen. (Rom 9:1-5)
Today, Jews and Gentiles alike become partakers of the church, the body of Christ (Eph 1:22-23; cf. 1 Cor 10:32), when they believe in Jesus as their Savior (Gal 3:26-28). These believe the gospel message, that “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor 15:3-4). Christians are looking forward to the rapture of the church, in which He will catch us away (ἁρπάζω harpazo – to seize, catch up, snatch away) to heaven (1 Th 4:13-17). Until God resumes His prophetic plans for Israel, Christian are called to love them, pray for them, and share the gospel of grace that they may turn to Jesus as the Messiah and be saved (Rom 1:16; 1 Cor 1:18-24; 15:3-4).
Dr. Steven R. Cook
Related Articles:
- The Gospel Explained
- The Sovereignty of God
- The Faithfulness of the Lord
- A Brief Analysis of Israel in History and Prophesy
- Yahweh’s Holy War in the Old Testament
- Righteousness Exalts a Nation
- Saul – The King who Failed
- David – A Better King
- King David – The Good and the Bad
- What is the Church?
- The New Covenant and the Lord’s Supper
- The Law of Moses and the Law of Christ
- The Old and New Priesthood
[1] Lewis S. Chafer, “Israel” in Systematic Theology, Vol. 7 (Grand Rapids, MI., Kregel Publications, 1993), 206.
[2] Even Jesus, at the time He was pronouncing judgment upon the nation because of their rejection of Him, still had great affection for them, saying, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling” (Matt 23:37). There is great tenderness in the heart of Jesus for His people.
[3] Lewis S. Chafer, “Christology” in Systematic Theology, Vol. 7 (Grand Rapids, MI., Kregel Publications, 1993), 80.
Israel is a people not a land
Israel is a people chosen by God. A special people in all the earth. The world is blessed because of the Jews, for it is through them that we have the sacred Scriptures, and Jesus, our blessed Savior.
Today, the people of Israel inhabit a portion of the land God promised them. As always, the land of Israel belongs to God, as the Lord states, “the land is Mine; you are but aliens and sojourners with Me” (Lev 25:23). But God chose to give the land to His people, Israel. In Genesis, were told the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land” (Gen 12:7). This was the land of Canaan. When God made a covenant with Abram, He said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates” (Gen 15:18; cf. Ex 6:8; Deut 34:4). Later, God promised Abraham they would have the land “for an everlasting possession” (Gen 17:8).
Throughout their history, God removed Israel from the land as an act of divine discipline, because they failed to walk with Him in obedience. God promised this, saying, “because you did not obey the Lord your God…you will be torn away from the land which you are entering to possess, and the Lord will scatter you among all the peoples, from one end of the earth to the other” (Deut 28:62-64). This happened once in 586 BC, and again in AD 70. For the most part, Israelites continue to be scattered throughout the world (1 Pet 1:1; Jam 1:1). However, in May, 1948, by an act of God’s sovereignty, the people of Israel came to possess a portion of the land of Israel; the land God promised them. This seems to be some stage-setting for upcoming prophetic events.
Though Israel is under divine discipline (Matt 23:37-39), they are still greatly loved by the Lord, and “from the standpoint of God’s choice, they are beloved for the sake of the fathers” (Rom 11:28). God has a rich plan for His people, Israel, and when Messiah returns at His second coming, they will possess all the land God promised to them.