By Gustav Krös
The Body of Christ finds itself more and more in a position where each believer needs to make hard decisions concerning their faith and their interpretation of Scripture. The dawn of the internet and social media has given everybody a platform to give their opinion on just about anything, and the outflow thereof is that everyone is now expected to have an opinion. The days are gone where believers can simply plead ignorance on a matter and quote their church or pastor’s stance on a matter in an attempt to avoid a debate.
This is certainly positive in the sense that it pushes Christians to examine the Scriptures for themselves in order to better understand what they believe, and why they believe it. Paul’s heed to Timothy in 2 Tim. 4:2 to be prepared in season and out of season is thus becoming more relevant to more and more believers. Some of the topics that Christians have been challenged on more and more include abortion and the LGBTQ+ movement. But the most current issue that believers need to make a decision on, is what they believe about the land of Israel and the Jewish people.
How we understand Scripture concerning Israel provides the foundation from where we interpret the current events in the land. Christians need to examine the prophecies concerning the return of the Jews to the land of Israel, and they need to decide what they believe about these Scriptures. It is a very common theme throughout the prophetic books of the Bible with Deuteronomy 30:4-5, Isaiah 11:11-12, Jeremiah 30-31 and Ezekiel 36:22-24 being some of the better-known ones.
Have these prophecies already been fulfilled and thus have no relevance on the current events in Israel? Or is the current return of the Jews not the return that the Bible speaks about? Or has the Church replaced Israel in these scriptures, and thus do these scriptures have no application to the physical people of Jewish decent, but are now applicable to every person calling themselves a Christian? Or is the rebirth of the nation of Israel that we saw in 1948 the fulfilment of God’s Word?
No matter where you end up concerning these Scriptures and questions, we still need to confess that God is sovereign over all the nations, as Daniel 4:17 says, the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes and sets over them the lowliest of people. Thus the rebirth of the nation of Israel certainly did not happen by accident and also did not catch God off guard. The fact remains that in the Bible we read that the nation of Israel will be reborn and after 2000 years it actually happened. This is not something that should be disputed by the Body of Christ, it’s actually something that should be celebrated.
What a marvellous testimony to uphold before the nations. Our God said He was going to do this, and look, He has done it! Our God is the real God. The God that remains trustworthy and faithful. What better way is there to explain His love and faithfulness to a lost world then physically showing them how He displays His love to His lost sheep of Israel. Even though they have gone astray, did not recognise Him as their Messiah and crucified Him; He remains faithful to His covenant with them.
That is what Christians preach to the lost, but unfortunately when Jesus displays this in a physical manner towards the Jews, many do not recognise it.
On another point, the return of the Jews to the land of Israel fits perfectly into End Time prophecies due to the key role this piece of land plays within the End Times. Joel 3:1-2 states “In those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, 2 I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat.[b] There I will put them on trial for what they did to my inheritance, my people Israel, because they scattered my people among the nations and divided up my land. Similarly, Zechariah 14:2-3 states, I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it; the city will be captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped. Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be taken from the city. 3 Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights on a day of battle.
In light of the current situation in the world regarding Israel, we can see that we are moving closer and closer to these Scriptures also coming to fulfilment. The current court case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against Israel just emphasis the world’s opposition to Israel, but what many people fail to see, is the spiritual battle behind this movement. Psalm 83:1-5 summarizes it perfectly in stating; O God, do not remain silent; do not turn a deaf ear, do not stand aloof, O God. 2 See how your enemies growl, how your foes rear their heads. 3 With cunning they conspire against your people; they plot against those you cherish. 4 “Come,” they say, “let us destroy them as a nation, so that Israel’s name is remembered no more.” 5 With one mind they plot together; they form an alliance against you—.
It makes it so clear that the world’s opposition to Israel is rooted in their opposition to God; the God of Israel, as He is called so often in the Bible. But ultimately it does not matter what the court of the world decides, Jesus is the one that will come and deliver the final judgement, as it is referenced in the scriptures above. We as believers need to decide however, when that day comes, are we going to be found with the nations, against whom Jesus is coming to fight, or will we be found standing with Him in defence of Israel.
Does my decision to stand with the nation of Israel make me anti-Palestinian? No, most certainly not. I can believe in the existence of the nation of Israel, as it is ordained by God, and still love Palestinians, just as much as I love any other person. The world however will label me as being Pro-Israel, a Zionist and anti-Palestinian due to my stance on this matter. But ultimately, I need to decide, who I fear more, the God of Israel, or the world, and if the world persecutes me for that stance, then it is simply contributing to the fulfilling of scripture as well (Matt 24:9).
