Sadly, I have recently seen Christians become offended and verbally attack Jews.
Nor am I talking about those who try to obscure Hamas’s atrocities with the IDF’s response. Dr. Michael Brown explained in a Facebook post:
While Israel is responding to terrorists who committed what many Jews consider a second Holocaust, Ben Shapiro shares beliefs typical of Jews who do not believe in Jesus as the Messiah. I saw it being criticized in the X timeline. I believe he is not a prophet.
The woman, who criticized Shapiro for not agreeing with Christian doctrine, described herself in her bio as a “Christian activist.” Is this hostility what Jews want grieving Christians to experience?
what is this @Ben Shapiro I think of Jesus Christ.
He calls him a criminal who was killed by the Romans for his “nuisance.” pic.twitter.com/qXZJJRIi5w
— Morgan Ariel (@itsmorganariel) October 13, 2023
And someone posted this video of Israeli Jews spitting on the ground in front of a Christian carrying a large cross. They are posting this to stir up Christian hostility towards Jews.
For those who believe that Jews are friends of Christians, Jews think of Christians as follows:They spit on pilgrims in the streets of Jerusalem pic.twitter.com/1gnyNjpf1L
— Ahmed Ibrahim (@YAAhmedkato) October 7, 2023
Paul was well aware of Jewish hostility to the gospel, but he loved them
The apostle Paul faced severe persecution from the Jews for preaching the gospel. For example, in Acts 14, the Jews came to Lystra to oppose Paul and persuaded the Lystra people to throw stones at Paul until they thought he was dead.
19 However, Jews from Antioch and Iconium came and, after persuading the crowd, stoned Paul dead and dragged him out of the city. 20 But when his disciples gathered around him, he got up and went into the city, and the next day he and Barnabas went to Derbe.
However, after this event, Paul says of the Jews in Romans 11:28:
They are hostile to you when it comes to good news.But when it comes to being chosen, they are loved because of their father
they are loved. Another translation says they are “beloved.” Paul was well aware of the Jewish hostility toward the gospel, and although he himself was a Jew and had been a persecutor who killed the believers of Jesus before Jesus came, he recognized this hostility and said that the Jews He still says that he is loved because of his lineage and because he was chosen before God.
Do you think Paul would be worried if Jews spat on the ground in front of him? Do you think he would harbor hostility toward his unbelieving Jewish brothers? After they stoned him and left him for dead, he called them his beloved.
“Affiliation with Satan” on Social Media
Christian Bible teacher Joel Richardson recently addressed this negative attitude of Christians toward Jews.
You know people on social media right now are saying, “Israel, they are the enemies of the cross.” They don’t support Christianity. ” Or you know, they point to videos of some Orthodox Jews spitting on Christians on the ground and things like that. Look, we are called to love our enemies, but yes, not all of them are supporters of the gospel. But…sometimes choosing a team isn’t the problem. “Oh, I’m a Christian. You’re a Jew. You’re a Muslim.” …This is a human issue. …And now it’s very important for Jews to feel supported by the Christian community. It’s a critical time, and unfortunately, many in the Christian community are ideologically aligned with Satan in their social media posts.
“This is an important moment for us to stand with Israel and let Israel know that she is supported, seen and loved,” Richardson added.
god’s heart
During this dark time for Jews around the world, let us grieve with them and love them as God loves them. Paul said in Romans 9:3 that if the Jews were to be saved, he would give up his own salvation. And remember, they tried to kill him! Are there any of us today who love Jews as much?
In a recent sermon he preached entitled “Sharing God’s Heart for Israel,” Dr. Michael Brown said that God prayed for the salvation of the Jews as if he prayed for his own children not to die. He said he was asked to do so. God’s sorrow for the Jews. Paul modeled God’s heart for his fellow Jews.
all Israel will be saved
This is the hope Paul writes about in Romans 11.
twenty five For, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to remain ignorant of this mystery. lest you should think wisely in your own eyes that there is a partial hardening in Israel until the full arrival of the Gentiles. 26 Then all Israel will be saved, as it is written:
“A deliverer will come out of Zion.
He must turn away ungodliness from Jacob.
27 And this is my covenant with them,
when I take away their sins; ”28 They are hostile to you when it comes to good news. But when it comes to being chosen, they are loved because of their fathers… 29 Because God’s gifts and callings cannot be revoked.
I believe that when Jesus returns, all of Israel will be saved. I believe that those who are alive at that time will see the Messiah, know that He has come to fulfill all the prophetic promises they have been waiting for, and they will believe and be forgiven. But no one knows how many lives will be lost by then. And no one knows how many people will turn to Jesus by then.
Be a lover of Jews. Let us pray for them and with them, cry out, and trust God for their salvation.
Aliya Kuykendall is a staff writer and proofreader. stream. You can follow Aliya on X @AliyaKuykendall and please follow stream @Streamdotorg.