A Christian friend came to see me recently, knowing that I am a Messianic Jew. But one part of his email dampened my hope for the comfort his note might provide. Her spiritual mentors, she wrote, declared that the war between Israel and Hamas was God’s judgment for Israel’s waywardness.
I responded vehemently, “If Christians don’t support Israel, well, they can just return the Jewish Messiah who is mourning his people right now.” »
If I had taken a moment to calm down, I would have said that Christians should refrain from pretending to know the theological significance of Hamas’s brutal massacre of Israelis on October 7. “None of us has a complete view of the celestial kingdom. » I should have said “or a perfect discernment on the spiritual nature of the attacks or the conflict which followed them”. I could also have added that we must all remember that Yeshua (Jesus) came to save, not to judge: “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (John 3:17).
My friend’s mentors are not the only Christians to suggest that the tragedies in Israel are the result of divine judgment. Many Christians believe that this type of attack follows a biblical pattern of Israel’s sin followed by God’s punishment for that disobedience. And they often forget what completes this model: Israel’s repentance and God’s restoration.
Some Christians look beyond current events to proclaim that the modern State of Israel as a whole is unjust, and deny any future biblical relevance to that country. “God’s plan in Christ is not the restoration of a kingdom in the Middle East, of a political nation,” said New Testament professor Gary M. Burge, authorAnd Anti-Zionist Christianin a recent interview. “God’s plan in the New Testament is the restoration of all his creation. » Burge’s theology ends up erasing the initial promise of land made to the Jewish people by universalizing it.
Burge is not alone arguing that the Abrahamic covenant – which includes God granting land to the Jewish people (Genesis 12:1-3) – is conditional and requires Jewish loyalty to God. “Covenant loyalty is an essential element of receiving the gift of the land,” he said. And for Burge, today’s Jews in Israel, whom he considers to be mostly non-religious, are not faithful to this covenant. “A secular state makes religious claims about an Old Testament promise,” Burge adds, “and that Old Testament promise requires a religious life. » Burge claims that “75%” of Israelis are not religious. He argues that this version of Israel cannot be committed to Abraham’s covenant.
But Burge’s Christian categories of “faithful” and “infidel” do not correspond to the categories of secular and religious in Israel. In reality, there is a spectrum of beliefs in God and religious traditions within “secular” Israeli society that may not be evident by what people wear or whether they attend synagogue – and that is without mentioning Burge’s presumption in his judgment of the character of an entire people. spirituality. Additionally, recent statistics in the Jewish Virtual Library indicate that only 44 percent of adult Israelis identify as secular.
Although Messianic Jews believe in an ultimate restoration of all creation, this does not negate God’s promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, including that of the land of Israel, which we view as unconditional (Gen. 12, 15; Acts 7). :4-5; Hebrews 11:9) and eternal (Ps. 105). The Jewish people were exiled numerous times, as described in the Hebrew Scriptures, due to various sins against God. But God always brings them back to that same land because, as the apostle Paul declares, “the gifts of God and his calling are irrevocable” (Rom. 11:29).
I am deeply moved – and I hope Christians like Burge will be too – by the biblical scene where God ratified his covenant with Abraham concerning the land he would give to him and his descendants: “When the When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a lighted torch appeared and passed between the pieces” (Genesis 15:17-21).
God alone went through the animal parts to confirm the covenant. And God remains committed throughout history to the promises of this Abrahamic covenant, and superimposes other covenants such as the Mosaic and Davidic covenants on top of the first. Israel’s failure to fulfill its obligations under the Mosaic covenant does not nullify God’s faithfulness in His first contract with Israel through Abraham. Grace and repentance are an integral part of all of God’s covenants with Israel.
For me, as for most Messianic Jews, the Jewish people continue to be God’s chosen people, bound by the promises of the everlasting covenant. The call for pagan nations to join with the Jews in worshiping the God of Israel does not cancel these promises to the Jewish people (Rom. 11:11-12, 25-26), nor does it give non-Jews the right to assess the situation in Israel. relationship with God. The Jewish apostle Paul actually condemns all Gentile Christian pride toward the Jewish people in his letter to the Romans (11:18-20). It is, however, acceptable for Jews to have internal arguments, as we did in Yeshua’s day; and Christians should leave it to us to evaluate Jewish behavior and our own faithfulness to our covenants.
Christians are drawn into the community of Israel. This giving should lead to gratitude and love for the Jewish people – not criticism in our times of distress. Paul reminds non-Jews of this shared citizenship: “Remember that at that time you were separated from the Messiah, excluded from citizenship in Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, without hope and without God in the world” (Eph. 2:12). Remembering this should shape the way Christians talk about Israel today.
Gentile Christians should also remember that God is working through them to arouse jealousy among the Jewish people who have not yet recognized Yeshua as the Messiah (Rom. 11:11), so that they too can be drawn to Him. . The Christian judgment on the current suffering of Israelis is not only presumptuous, but it will also distance the Jewish people from their own Messiah.
So how can pagan Christians truly comfort Israel today? Messianic Jews hope that churches and Christian leaders pray fervently for Israel, speak about Israel from their pulpits, and learn the history of this sacred geographic location where the Jewish Messiah lived, died, resurrected, ascended, and will ultimately return at the end of humanity. days (Zech. 14:4).
As Messianic Jewish theologian Mark Kinzer argues in his book Jerusalem crucified, Jerusalem resurrected-and in a debate in 2020 with theologian NT Wright – this land has enduring significance as the center of a redeemed world. The strategy of Paul’s ministry was one of continued return to Jerusalem, Kinzer argues, so the book of Acts ending in Rome is a cliffhanger that still awaits resolution: a final return to Jerusalem, the future city of the second coming of the Messiah.
For me, the entire context of the Christian faith stems from the Jewish world in first century Israel. Israel retains its importance in the present, even with its imperfect politics, and Christian hope will culminate in Israel with the return of the Messiah. Jesus can never be separated from the Jewish community that he continues to love in his country (and in the diaspora).
It is crucial that Christians vocally confirm the history of the ancient Israelites’ possession of this land and understand that the promises made to the Jewish patriarchs and matriarchs have not been exceeded. It is also the responsibility of Jesus’ followers to maintain this connection between Israel and its God by condemning the brutal crimes committed against Israelis and the rise of global anti-Semitism.
Messianic Jews also hope that Christians can recognize that all Jews (including Messianics) are currently grieving. The heinous killings of 1,200 Israelis – plus thousands injured and 240 people taken hostage in southern Israel on that Sabbath nearly two months ago – still seem like fresh wounds in our hearts. It’s like every innocent baby, sister, brother, mother, father, and grandparent is part of our immediate family. We still experience a combination of shock, deep sadness, anger, desire for revenge, horror and helplessness, all molded into a single compressed emotion.
In Jewish tradition, we mourn for seven days when a family member dies. It’s called Shiva, meaning “seven” in Hebrew – the period after burial when Jews sit on unusual low chairs while we mourn our deceased loved ones. As Messianic Jews, we are not yet ready to rise from these chairs, and we do not know when our mourning will end, in part because those attacked are still being identified and buried.
There is a time for mourning, as the Book of Ecclesiastes (3:4) wisely notes, so please do not ask us to move on and do not judge us for not being spiritual because of our incessant tears. As we continue our lament, we will find times to pray to God and praise Him for all His promises to Israel and for drawing the nations to Himself through the Jewish Messiah.
As a Messianic Jew, I am grateful to Gentile Christians who courageously take a stand on behalf of Israel. During one of my regular walks in my neighborhood, I saw a sign in the yard in the colors of the blue and white Israeli flag that read: “I stand with Israel.” The people who live there are not Jewish, and this symbol helped to momentarily allay my growing fears about anti-Semitism.
My neighbor’s action contrasted with my own thoughts about whether to remove my mezuza of the doorpost of my house. The next day, I left a thank you note in their mailbox.
Right after the first attacks on Israel, I was invited to attend an evening prayer meeting for Israel at a local church. I jumped at the opportunity to share my thoughts and engage in prayer with Christians. Some Christians at the meeting decided to bring white roses, a symbol of resistance to the Nazis during World War II, to the local Jewish community center to show their support. Among other plans, they would also continue to pray for hostages taken by Hamas and for the safety of Jews around the world.
That night I witnessed and cherished this small group of Christians. They had offered comfort, not judgment.
Deborah Pardo-Kaplan is a religion journalist living in Austin, Texas.
