Not one day goes by anymore without Israel or the Jewish people being mentioned somewhere in the media. Today, it is becoming incredibly difficult to determine who the friends of Israel are, if any are left. From replacement theology to B.D.S (Boycott, Divestments and Sanctions) or from anti-Semitism to Christian Palestianism, the world is increasingly turning its back on Israel and the Jewish people.
The reason why I think that it is critical to identify Israel’s friends, is because there is a biblical mandate found in the book of Genesis (12:3) where God makes a covenant with Abraham:
I will bless him who blesses you and I will curse them who curse you.
This simple agreement that God made with the Jewish people through Abraham, includes the rest of the world as either those who bless or those who curse. There are only two choices there, and only one is worth making.
Identifying Israel’s foes is not always a difficult task, like for instance in the case of anti-Semitic acts perpetrated by KKK or neo-nazi fringe groups.
Just a couple of days ago in a Brooklyn neighborhood, several cars were torched swastikas were spray painted on public benches along with anti-Semitic messages written on the sidewalks and KKK painted on the side of a van. It all took place the day before the 73rd Anniversary of Krystallnacht. “The Night of Broken Glass” happened on November 10, 1938, when simultaneous violent attacks on Jewish businesses, Synagogues and properties occurred all over Germany.
Krystallnacht was a new phase in anti-Semitism and it helped it reach a point of no return believed by most historians to be the official starting point of the Holocaust.
Hate crimes like the one in Brooklyn happen regularly in the U.S. and even at a faster pace in Europe.
For instance, and again they fall under the “easy-to-identify” category, posters were plastered all over Paris starting on November 5, depicting the hand of an Israeli soldier stabbing a Palestinian child to death using a knife shaped like the map of Israel. Muslim hatred for Israel has become such an accepted “fact of life” that most of the civilized world has become desensitized to any display of anti-Israel or anti-Jewish sentiment. Yet it is on the increase.
Neo-Nazis and Islamists are expected foes of Israel and the Jewish people, but what about the Christian Church? Don’t Christians owe their Bible to the Jewish people? Isn’t Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah, a Jew in His humanity? Shouldn’t the Christians be supportive of the “People of the Book”?
United Methodists have recently passed Resolution No 11-16 Aligning United Methodist Church Investments with Resolutions on Israel/Palestine. In that resolution, the Board of the United Methodist Denomination voted in favor of divesting money from Israel because of what they call the “Occupation of Palestinian territories”. Other denominations have followed and more will undoubtedly join.
A simple but honest study of history will suffice to prove that the Palestinian people were invented in the mid-sixties to promote Yasser Arafat’s agenda of Israel’s takeover and the destruction of all Jews. The agenda still goes on and has now been accepted by the uneducated masses, as it is greatly facilitated by the liberal media. A large portion of western civilization is in cognitive dissonance when it comes to Israel’s right to exist AND right to the land, and unfortunately, it includes a vast majority of “Christians”. What a shame for a follower of the Jewish Messiah and His message of hope to want nothing to do with the original messengers.
Other Christians believe that the Church has replaced Israel in God’s plan. The Jewish people had their chance but they rejected Jesus so God rejected them. This theology of replacement is being taught all across America and worldwide by too many pastors and theologians. But the Bible teaches the opposite (see Romans 9-11). Israel is very much in God’s plan, and as a matter of fact it is in the center of God’s plan for all of mankind.
Then there are some Christians who under the guise of “loving Israel” will refrain from sharing the Gospel with anybody Jewish. “So much has been done against the Jewish people in the name of ‘Christ’ that today, we need to just love them” they say. I believe that hugging and loving a Jewish person while refraining from sharing the Gospel with them is the worst form of anti-Semitism that exists.
So, with such a gallery of foes, can we still find any friends for Israel? Who are those who choose to bless Israel?
The question we must first ask ourselves is: “what does it mean to be a real friend?”
A friend loves unconditionally,
A friend gives sacrificially and
A friend supports unequivocally
There are still some evangelical Christians who love and support Israel. When it comes to giving, financial support is good, but the most important gift is the one that never stops giving, and that is the gift of eternal life through the Gospel. Bible believing followers of the Jewish Messiah cannot call themselves Christians and hate Israel, because by doing so they also hate the God of Israel (Psalm 83:1-5).
There are still Christians who want to bless the Jewish people. I was led to my Jewish Messiah by such a person 28 years ago.
If we love Israel, we must support her with all of our heart and soul, against the evergrowing faction of foes such as neo-Nazis, Islamists, liberals and even many Christians. To be sure, I do not mean that we must accept every move that the Israeli government makes without any criticism, but biblically, the Jewish people ARE STILL the chosen people of God.
We are soon to enter into a presidential election year. Never in the history of the United-States has a government been so anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian. The ice is getting thinner (and this is not in reference to global warming). America is still a blessed land of opportunity, but we should tread very lightly. If our country turns its back on Israel, don’t act surprised if God turns its back on our country.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May they prosper who love you.”
(Psalm 122:6)
Leftists hate Israel and the Jewish people.
Bible believing followers of the Jewish Messiah cannot call themselves Christians and hate Israel, because by doing so they also hate the God of Israel
Absolutely.
I dont GET it.
I have lost more online “Christian” ‘friends’ who tell me to ‘convert all the way over to Christianity’.
WHAT?
I have no friends being Messianic.
Except the Jews, now.
🙁
It seems to me that many of those that reject Israel also reject Liberty. The Leftist Methodist want a Welfare State. The Left in general calls for more state control. The Occupy crowd wants less freedom for the rich and more control for the state (You could say OWS = Opt for Welfare State. The Nazis seek Fascism which is another call for State Control (which means it is NOT a Right Wing movement). And, of course, the Muslims want Sharia law. All want more control, less liberty for all.