Tag Archives: Pray for Israel

Pray for Israel, God’s Chosen People

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Israel is God’s covenant nation, uniquely chosen out of all the peoples of the earth to serve His redemptive purposes in history. This divine selection was not based on national merit or numerical strength but solely on God’s sovereign love and fidelity to the promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Deut 7:6-9). The Abrahamic covenant—unconditional and everlasting (Gen 17:7)—established Israel as the vehicle through which God would bless the world. Though Israel’s national history has been marked by cycles of rebellion and judgment, God’s covenantal commitment to them has never been nullified. Even in their present condition of unbelief, they remain “beloved for the sake of the fathers” (Rom 11:28).

Romans 11 is a theologically rich affirmation of Israel’s future. Paul warns the Gentile believers not to become arrogant, for Israel’s partial hardening is neither total nor final (Rom 11:25). A future national conversion awaits, when “all Israel will be saved” (Rom 11:26)—a statement best understood as referring to a future generation of ethnic Israelites who will turn to Christ at His second coming. This redemptive climax will fulfill Isaiah’s prophecy that “The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob” (Rom 11:26; cf. Isa 59:20-21). God is not done with Israel. Their rejection is temporary; their restoration is certain.

God’s love for Israel is not fickle or reactive. The Lord told Israel, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore, I have drawn you with lovingkindness” (Jer 31:3). This divine affection transcends the nation’s failures and persists through the ages. Israel’s unbelief cannot undo God’s unilateral promises. Paul makes this crystal clear, saying, “for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” (Rom 11:29). The word ametamelētos (ἀμεταμέλητος) used here denotes a decision not subject to regret or reversal. God does not rescind His covenants; His Word is settled (Psa 119:89). God cannot lie (Num 23:19; Heb 6:18). The Abrahamic, Davidic, and New Covenants remain intact, awaiting full fulfillment in God’s prophetic timetable.

Israel’s current unbelief, while tragic, is part of a divine mystery that allows for the ingathering of the Gentiles (Rom 11:11-15). Yet this does not render the Church a “new Israel” or spiritual replacement. That theological misstep—replacement theology—must be categorically rejected. The Church and Israel remain distinct in Scripture. The Church is the body of Christ, a mystery not revealed in the Old Testament (Eph 3:1-6), while Israel is the nation with whom God made historical and prophetic covenants. To confuse or conflate the two is to violate the integrity of biblical teaching.

In light of God’s enduring plan for Israel, Christians are not to harbor disdain or indifference but compassion and intercession. The psalmist exhorts, “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: ‘May they prosper who love you’” (Psa 122:6). This is not a call to sentimentalism but a theological mandate rooted in God’s redemptive agenda. We are to emulate Moses, who—though grieved by Israel’s sin at Sinai—interceded for them with boldness and reverence (Ex 32:11-14). God relented, not because Israel was deserving, but because He is faithful to His covenant and responsive to the prayer of the righteous.

Today, many Jews live in secular unbelief, and the modern state of Israel, while providentially preserved, is not yet the spiritual remnant foreseen in Romans 11. But the existence of national Israel is a staging ground for God’s eschatological purposes. He will regather them not only to the land but to Himself. The current partial blindness will be removed, and a national revival will occur when they look upon Him whom they pierced (Zech 12:10). Until then, we wait with hope and pray with urgency, knowing that the God who chose Israel will restore Israel.

Let us not forget: God’s faithfulness to Israel is the visible proof of His integrity to all mankind. If He can abandon the nation He swore to uphold, then no promise is secure. But He cannot lie (Heb 6:18; Tit 1:2), and He will not change (Mal 3:6). Israel’s story is not over. The covenant nation remains beloved. And the final chapters, already written in prophecy, will unfold just as God decreed. For the believer who understands this, praying for Israel is not optional—it is obedient alignment with the heart of God and the arc of redemptive history.

Steven R. Cook, D.Min., M.Div., B.Sc.

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God Loves Israel

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Israel FlagIsrael 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

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[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.