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May 21, 2024
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As we are reading the third chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, it is worth noting that apostle Shimon (Peter) addresses the men of Israel, who were at the very square where the fate of Yeshua seemed to be decided, and at the instigation of their spiritual leaders they shouted: “Crucify Him! Let Barabbas go." As incredible as it is, the apostle, turned to them, and directly declared to them by the Holy Spirit that it is they who shouted “Crucify ''. Nevertheless, they remain the sons of the prophets, the covenant, and the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It's mind-boggling! It is important for every believer of the New Covenant to know, no matter what denomination or confession they belong to.
Also, another apostle, Paul, is talking about the exact same thing in the famous 11th chapter of the letter to the Romans. He directly states,
“Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election, they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. ” (Romans 11:28).
They are not simply Jews who did not believe, but the ones who oppose the good news, oppose the apostles, oppose other disciples, and resist the Holy Spirit. This is an even stronger argument than the one that apostle Peter makes when addressing those Jews who were enemies of the Gospel. Not only do they remain part of God’s chosen people, like some “fallen-away remnant” of Israel. No! Through it all, they remain children of the unchangeable covenant of the God of Israel with His Jewish people. It is God’s covenant that no one can destroy, including the Jews themselves!
The Holy Spirit went further through the apostle Paul. He argued that from God’s perspective, it is not so, as if He looked at the unbelieving Jews and simply, reluctantly, gritting his teeth with disgust, turned away, threw up his hands and said: “Well, angels, what should I do? I have bound myself with my word and there is nothing that I can do. One way or another, they must be formally considered part of the chosen people.” No! In such an amazing and stunning way, in a way that defies ordinary human logic, they remain His beloved. God continues to love them. This is not the same kind of love with which God loves all humanity. Of course, God loves everyone, all people, even to a certain extent some evildoers. He loves every person from every nation, from every tribe; otherwise, He would not have created them. God did not create anyone so that they would perish. He created each person out of the depths of His great love. This is not some kind of universal love of the God of Israel for these Jews who have already tried his patience. No. This is the love with which He loves every Jew for the sake of their forefathers - for the sake of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, for the sake of His oath that He made to each of them, for the sake of the great promises, for the sake of the great prophecies, for the sake of His eternal written Word! No one, not even Jews themselves, can cancel this love.
It is vital that we, now and then, remind ourselves and each other of this love. We should remind and tell about this love to those who still consider it some kind of fantasy, some inexplicable, confusing story of great love, which causes bewilderment among many Christians. By the way, not only among Christians. I read the works of some talented Jews, and some rabbis. Even for them this strange and inexplicable love of God for their nation also caused and continues to cause sincere surprise.
Why is it important for us to realize this? For the same reason that we previously examined the main goals associated with the first coming, the incarnation of the Son of God, Messiah Yeshua, His birth, His ministry on earth, and His martyrdom on Calvary (see “Goals of the coming of Messiah according to the New Testament"), as well as with His resurrection from death and ascension into heavenly glory (see "The First Purpose of Yeshua's Resurrection and Ascension"). Ultimately, if we want to be one with God, the God of Israel, and all people, we need to align with His purposes. His goals must become our goals.
Of course, we can pursue our own even quite pious goals, very religious goals that do not contradict the Word of God, and goals that are in the Word of God. For example, the salvation of all mankind is a wonderful goal, a terrific goal. However, when we consider God’s goal if we do not acknowledge those aspects that God himself indicates in Scripture about the clarifications, special directions, and focus of His goal, then our goal will blur and dissipate. We will do a good job, but only partially. We will never achieve the fullness of God; neither in our perception of God's Word, our perception of God's plans, or our understanding of His specific will for our lives.
The historical church for many centuries really suffered from this partiality and could not, in its overwhelming majority, see, realize, and accept the fullness of God's purposes and the accuracy of God's plans. This is impossible without first understanding that all these wonderful goals relate to Israel and to the Jewish people. Not only God’s goals and plans but also His heart burning with love.
But when we read Romans, chapter 11, verse 28, and many other Scriptures, the Ruach HaKodesh shows us the other side. God is not just a great, all-powerful King. God is not just a super organizer. God is a living, feeling being. God's heart burns with certain emotions. One of which is a special, specific love for the Jewish people, which includes all of Israel, the entire house of Jacob, and not just the spiritual remnant.
We spoke about the goal that God the Father set for the Son which was to reign and unite the entire house of Jacob, all Jewish people, under His authority. Why? The reason is clear. Because God, who loves all people, loves the entire Jewish nation in a very special way, without reserve.
And then we can contemplate: Why is this so prominent? Why is this love so emphasized not only in many books of the Tanakh but also in the New Testament? It is even referenced in many of its epistles that discuss missions to different nations, that the gospel, salvation through Israel has spread beyond Israel and even now is capturing people regardless of national origin.
Why is it that in an epistle like Romans, which many theologians called the quintessence of the New Testament, why does it speak so strongly of this special love God has for the Jewish people, even despite the behavior and condition of that eternally chosen people?
God wants new covenant believers from different nations, even though the gospel is now proclaimed everywhere and to everyone, to remember His special plan and special feeling for the Jews, and for new covenant believers to open their hearts to this amazing feeling. They should not only see their goals clearly; they should not just adjust their plans according to God's plan, not just incorporate into their thinking in a certain way, some substructure of a certain interest towards Israel, but they should open their hearts to God’s love, they should open their hearts to God’s pain, which is inseparable from this love.
As for the apostle Paul… many do not understand, at all, what he did. In particular, there are representatives of the Jewish people, who do not comprehend the great spiritual feat accomplished by Rabbi Shaul. Many of them consider him to be a sort of apostate from true Judaism - it is this apostle, who in a special way, sang this love for Israel. And this love is combined with a tangible pain for Israel and a heartfelt compassion for Israel. It is a pain and compassion for every Jew.
Speaking of this, we remember the ninth chapter of the book of Romans, where the apostle writes, “I tell the truth in Christ...” He claims that what he is going to say next, what he wants to share, is not just some outburst of his emotions which originate not just from his heart, but from inside the heart of the Messiah, who lives in him.
“I speak the truth in Messiah, I do not lie, my conscience bears witness to me in the Holy Spirit, that there is great sorrow for me and unceasing torment in my heart: I myself would like to be excommunicated from Messiah for my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh, that is, the Israelites.. ." (Romans 9:1-4)
It was this pain of God’s paternal heart, the pain of a loving Father, Who never ceased to love the children who rejected Him, this incomparable compassion that this great apostle let into his heart. It’s interesting that not only did he not defend himself, but knowing something that the Lord wanted to share with him, understanding how much this would intensify his trials, how painful it would be for him, nevertheless, he opened his heart wide and was filled with this painful experience. He understood that in this way, it would always be like this when he went to his brothers first, not to just formally confront them, not to proclaim some religious formulas, and not to just read passages from the Tanakh. Instead, he would be part of a river of God's fiery love that continues to burn in the heart of Heavenly Father towards all Jews. This is an example for all of us. More than once the apostle Paul said, “Be imitators of me, as I am of the Messiah” (1 Corinthians 4:16). And here he imitated not only the Messiah, he imitated the Father of the Messiah.
This is a call to us, so that we too become part of this revelation of love for Israel. So that we, remembering the goals and plans of God, not only limit ourselves to a formal agreement with the idea that, “Since it’s written like this, then we have no choice. Well, let it be to the Jews first, although, honestly, it is illogical and even unfair; but let it be so, we will bless them.” It can even be said that many believers in different countries, to whom the Word of God was revealed, decided at first, “Okay, let's bless Israel, let's pray for Israel now and then.” They seemed to breathe a sigh of relief as if they were paying off the debt. But this is not just about religious duty. We are not just talking about some kind of regular prayers, we are not even talking about sincere blessings, and not even just about serving Israel. We are talking about whether our hearts will connect with the heart of God or the idea that, “He's out there somewhere. We believe in Him and, in general, we believe His Word. But we are at this point, here, and what can we do? Let’s, at least, say the right words and try to do more or less the right things.”
No, He wants us to be united in our hearts. Without this, in a way, we will never understand God’s love towards ourselves. The huge failure for many centuries in the perception of the Father’s love for believers, for the children of God (not to mention all people), was because the historical church closed her heart to this inexplicable love. First, she began to close her heart, then she began to close the Word of God - first from the general mass of believers, then from ministers, and then even from the spiritual leaders of the historical church, they began to close themselves off from God’s Word, from the obvious meaning of Scripture, from the first to the last book. Israel was pushed to some distant margin because the Church had become separated from God's purposes, separated from God's plans, but especially had closed itself off from God's love for Israel.
The understanding of this personal love, this amazing love, the understanding of God’s faithfulness in loving His children began to fade rapidly. Then, at a certain stage, the main message of the Church (not exclusively the only one, but the main one) for a long period became, “You are going to hell. Repent, you damned ones. Weep and wail." Yes, these are specific passages of Scripture that are truly important; but it has become practically the only message the Church had to its children.
In the Middle Ages, even studies were conducted to determine how many church members from one generation or another were saved from hell and are now in heaven. When I read the results of these studies, I was shocked. I couldn't imagine anything like this. They concluded that in one specific generation of all the generations of European Christians, only three people were saved. In one other generation - five. So, it was believed that 99.99% of all good Christians went to hell. This is not some kind of parody; Christian theologians themselves came to such conclusions.
Of course, it is not just that they closed themselves off from the truth of the good news to Israel and about Israel. But this was the beginning of the fading of the power of God, the living, active power of the Word of God, and the very same love.
By the grace of God, we live in a time when all this is being restored. It has not yet been restored completely, but it is in the process of being restored. We are part of this restoration. I am incredibly grateful to God that we find ourselves at such a time and are participating in such an amazing movement on such a scale and in such strength and freedom that did not exist for about 17-18 centuries.
Boris Grisenko,
Senior Rabbi of KJMC
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