Following Judah's Lion

God Loves Jews

God Loves Palestinians

Many people in the west support the nation of Israel for many different reasons. Jewish people have a course an ethnic alliance; conservative people feel a democratic kinship; some people have a hatred for Muslims; and many evangelicals have been taught that we should support Israel because God does. Everyone should be sympathetic to a nation whose enemies exhibits such blatant hatred toward them and whose citizen’s have been the target of terrorism. But this support goes beyond sympathy or fairness. There is a movement to support Israel which has many dangerous and spiritually compromising components. And there seems to be a willing ignorance to the plight of the Palestinians if not an outright hatred, or at least an observable ambivalence.

But that is par for the course for the world. Choosing sides is an art form for the world of the fallen. But one of the most insidious aspects of misguided loyalties and national affections is the compromise it brings into the church. All sorts of people are aggressively pro-Israel including Mormons, Roman Catholics, Jews, and a host of more secularly inclined people. But this alliance continues to have a profound impact upon the church, and it has seriously diluted the way sinners view the followers of Jesus.

The church has two callings and only two calling. The first is to follow and obey the Lord Jesus. The second is to preach the gospel to every creature. The New Testament has never instructed us to support the Jews or Israel or any other nation or people for that matter. That is not to say that there are some obvious hints to an end times event which in some way brings redemption to the living Jews at that time, albeit through their faith in the Lord Jesus. That will be one mighty miracle and it will glorify the Risen Christ!

There are many ways to make evangelistic inroads with unbelievers and learning about people’s thoughts and ways is one of them. Of course helping with social injustice can be seen as a tool for evangelism, just as feeding and helping the poor. But championing causes other than the gospel are serious distractions and by definition are competitors to the gospel message.

Pastors like John Hagee are touring with men like Glenn Beck, a Mormon, to voice support for the nation of Israel. In fact, men like Hagee are so enamored with Israel that he teaches salvation through the law for the Jews. No Jesus is necessary for their eternal redemption. But Paul did not take sides with the Greeks over the totalitarian Romans, or even the Jews over the Romans. In fact, here Paul refers to persecution by the Jews:

II Cor.11:24-26 - Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one.
25 Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep;
26 In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;

Rom.3:28-30 - Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
29 Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also:
30 Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith.

Rom.9:23-24 - And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,
24 Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?

Paul made no distinction between lost Gentiles and lost Jews. All sinners were in need of Christ. And more importantly for this discussion, Paul never showed any favoritism toward the nation called Israel. It is a common mistake to equate Israel the nation with Israel the Jewish people. And that mistake also carries into how many view their own nation with America probably being the most blatant among them.

There are many nuances and many distinctives and many subtle differences among the group called sinners, but when distilled down to its lowest and most foundational definition there only saved sinners and lost sinners. And when we as followers of the Lord Jesus show deference to any one group, especially one that is generally defined by a secular nation, we grossly misrepresent the gospel and the very heart of God.

God loves the world, and God loves the Jews. In fact, God has used the Jewish people in many wonderful ways to orchestrate His redemptive work. God chose the Jewish people to bring in the law and the sacrificial system which ultimately pictured to Lamb of God. God gave the law to Moses and God birthed His Son through a daughter of Judah. It is a thrilling picture into how God can use stubborn and many times disobedient sinners to accomplish His will - just like He can use us.

But those Jews are gone, and even though there are obvious hints of God regarding the covenant with Abraham in the future by turning the hearts of His chosen people, the Jewish nation today is a secular nation just like America. They may observe religious rituals and even speak in Hebrew, but as God Himself observed,

“There lips draw nigh unto Me but their hearts are far from Me.”

That sounds like America, does it not? Does it sound like something else as well? Sadly, it sounds like the western church. We have found all sorts of ways to cover ourselves with religious garments and causes that make us look like mouthpieces for God, but our lives bear witness against us. And supporting the nation of Israel is one of those causes that makes us feel godly. And in many causes we combine Old Testament verses with New Testament verses and we create a wonderful theology that suites us just fine but is a bizarre and tortured method of Biblical understanding.

God’s ultimate end time scenario will be carried out perfectly by Him. By the way, that is one area that we as “Arminians” must admit is left solely up to a sovereign God. Our will is not free in that arena. We are all prisoners of divine eschatology. Our calling is to ready ourselves for His coming. But should we pray for and love the Jewish people? Yes! But should we pray for and love the Palestinians? Yes! But should we pray for and love the Islamic people? Yes! But should we get involved in nationalistic skirmishes and border disputes? No! And should we make judgments about divine favor upon particular people and nations? No!

There are only one group of people who have been bestowed upon with divine favor, and they are those who have been born again from above through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And that favor has nothing to do with any nation or any ethnicity or for that matter anything to do with us at all. That favor is granted us through and for the sake of God’s dear Son. Halleluiah! Worthy is the Lamb! Our focus is Christ, our message is Christ, our passion is Christ, and our very lives are Christ. Let us not get distracted by the things of this world, regardless of how noble and religious they may seem.