Larry Tomczak: 2 Fundamentals on Israel for Non-Dummies
While it’s true almost 70% of Americans side with Israel at this moment, the savages who invaded Israel are master manipulators who’ll soon post images of a dead Palestinian child to engender sympathy, portray the Muslims as “victims” and turn the tide of support against what progressives call “Fascist Israel.”
Currently, engaging with people on Israel’s war with Hamas usually brings the three reactions below. We must be informed!
‘Disgusting’
“Israel has every right to defend itself as their very survival as a nation is at stake! The barbaric killing by these crazed terrorists is appalling; I can’t even look at the ghastly images.” It’s not the same as our 9/11, but with their 9 million population (7 million Jews, 2 million Arabs) it’s equivalent to almost 40,000 Americans killed.
General Eisenhower’s remarks while liberating death camps where 6 million Jews were exterminated: “Take pictures and show people or they won’t believe it!”
‘Deserve It’
“There’s blame on both sides! The way these Jews treat those Palestinians in Gaza is inexcusable. On campuses and in countries there are protests and calls for ‘Days of Resistance’ against Jews colonizing!”
‘Don’t Understand’
Hence this commentary. It’s to help growing numbers who refuse to stay silent and be dummies at this critical time. “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem” (Ps.122:6a). God told Abraham 3,000 years ago, “I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse” (Gen. 12:3, NASB).
My Brilliant Boss
Upon graduation from college, I worked at the AFL-CIO Headquarters, where my boss was Jewish. The week before leaving, I gave him a testimony book by a converted Marxist Jew. He loved it.
“Mr. P., what holds you back from receiving Yeshua as your Messiah?”
“Larry, if you had an old Chevy and I had an old Ford, I wouldn’t want what you had, but if you had a new Chevy and I had an old Ford, I’d certainly want yours,” he said. “If I saw a difference in the way Christians live, I’d want what you have. Honestly, I’ve never seen any real difference.”
I stood up and shook his hand, saying, “Thank you. I’m going to spend my life trying to change that.” Years later Messianic Jew Sid Roth met him and sent him his testimonial book!
With the current Middle East powder keg exploding, we must seize the opportunity to share the gospel with “the Jew first” (Rom. 1:16b). We’ll be effective if we understand fundamentals about Israel so we’ll pray fervently, speak courageously and share sensitively.
4 Fundamentals
1. Special People: Israel is the name for the nation descended from Abraham and appears (along with “Israelite”) 2,579 times in the Bible (“Christian” occurs three times). God says they’re the “apple of His eye” (Zech. 2:8c).
Jesus declared that “salvation is from the Jews” (John 4:22b). He was a Jew, He’s still a Jew and when we see Him face to face in His glorified body, He’ll remain a Jew! He is eternally identified with the Jews and in heaven (Rev. 5:5); no one can open the seal except Jesus, the “Lion of the tribe of Judah (“Jew” comes from “Judah” and is the root of “Jerusalem”). If there were no Jews there would be no Bible, no patriarchs and no salvation. All of us owe an incredible debt of gratitude to the Jews.
Scripture says we Gentiles were “grafted in” (Rom.11:19, 23) while the Jewish people suffered persecution and genocide. Sadly, some of it was done in the name of Christianity.
Martin Luther wrote and spoke hatefully about Jews, and his best friends begged him to stop his anti-Jewish raving. Popes and notable “fathers of the faith” (Augustine, Chrysostom, Tertullian and Origen) yielded to “Judenhass” (Jew hate). Hitler was a baptized Catholic who launched a “Final Solution” to get rid of all Jews.
Is it any wonder why Jews at times have not trusted Christians with our history of antisemitism? It’s painful to ponder.
There are numbers of Messianic congregations in Israel and America, but most Jews are secular, needing the gospel. We now have our opportunity as we share truth showing we truly care.
2. Sacred Land: Over 3,000 years ago God made an everlasting covenant with Abraham and set apart the land of Israel “to you and to your descendants after you … as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God” (Gen. 17:8b). Psalm 105:7–10 reiterates Israel as the Jews’ inheritance.
God warned that a curse could come among Israelites if they failed to uphold this inheritance, especially its capital, Jerusalem, “The City of David.” “If I forget you, Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill. May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth” (Ps. 137:5-6a).
In A.D. 70 when the Romans leveled Jerusalem, destroyed the temple and scattered the Jews from their homeland, they changed its name to Palestine (“Land of the Philistines”) as an insult.
“Zionism” is a beautiful name describing the heartfelt passion for Jewish people to return to their God-given homeland. When Muslims in India wanted a state, there was a political process that carved out the territory of Pakistan. When Israel wanted a state, it was, and still remains an incendiary controversy. In Part 2 of this commentary, you’ll discover why!
In the late 1800s a divinely inspired initiative for Jews to return to their homeland enabled them to carve a city, Tel Aviv, out of the desert. And then, as predicted in Scripture (Isa.11:11-12), the Jews began to return to possess their beloved land in stages and through opposition (Jer. 30:3) until the reestablishment of the Jewish people in their own land was solidified by a United Nations Resolution led by the United States in 1948. (On the 25th anniversary of Israel’s statehood, my wife and I were there, celebrating in the streets!)
Along the way, God’s warning that He would judge nations for partitioning the land (Joel 3:1-2) came to pass as Britain in the 1920s unfairly designated a specified area and gave portions to Trans-Jordan (Arabs). Subsequently, the British empire fell apart!
Here’s the Deal: Amid the current tragedy, God is giving us a wonderful opportunity. Remember He told us when we witness what we’re seeing now to “lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near (Luke 21:28b).
Stay with me as I give you the remaining two fundamentals in the next post. {eoa}
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