‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God’ (Deuteronomy 8:3).
by Charles Gardner.
The Judeo-Christian faith loves to celebrate birthdays and feasts. It’s an ideal way to recall God’s goodness over the years. And the Church’s Ministry among Jewish people (CMJ), for whom I have volunteered since retiring from the secular newspaper industry, has just this week turned 217!
Among our founders in 1809 was the world-changing politician William Wilberforce. As I’ve said before, the church is the conscience of the nation, and it was William’s faith in Christ that stirred him to so much action, including mission to the Jews.
And with the help of star evangelical preachers of the 19th century like Charles Spurgeon and Bishop J C Ryle, the governments of the day came to adopt a biblical understanding of God’s future plan for the Jewish people – specifically relating to their return from exile.
Henry Grattan Guinness, of the famous brewery family and one of that century’s most anointed evangelists, even managed to influence future Prime Minister Arthur Balfour with a book published in the 1880s in which he correctly prophesied 1917 as the end of Turkish Muslim rule in Palestine, as it was then known.
The glorious upshot of all this was the Balfour Declaration promising to make a way for Jewish repatriation. But of course, this has led to serious conflict, which should serve to underline its importance.
The problem with much of today’s church (in the UK at least) is that they are being influenced by worldly values rather than Christ’s. As former MP Nick Fletcher put it on the BBC’s Sunday Morning programme, the Church of England’s current problems are the result of moving away from clear Scriptural principles.
For it was a grasp of God’s unchanging word that led these 19th century heroes to see that the Jews were destined to return to their land – and their LORD! Spurgeon spelled this out most emphatically in an 1864 sermon, making it clear that the Valley of Dry Bones prophecy of Ezekiel 37, in its context, referred to Jewish restoration in the last days.
How could he have known about the coming rise of Zionism and the miraculous rebirth of the nation in 1948 without a Holy Spirit revelation of God’s word?
But Satan is determined to prevent both Jewish return and Jesus’ return, the latter being dependent on the former. Addressing the priestly caste of Jerusalem after tearing them off a strip, Jesus said: “You will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord’.” (Matthew 23:39)
I’ve just enjoyed the enormous privilege of helping my wife teach Passover to primary school children, noting the link with what Christians believe. Pray that, in time, they will have no difficulty with understanding how Jesus became the Passover Lamb sacrificed for our sins and freeing us from the slavery of the world.
Preaching the gospel, even to Gentiles, without the back-story of Jewish redemption led by Moses makes no sense, in my opinion. For our identity with Judaism is total; there’s no part of Christianity that isn’t a fulfilment of the Hebraic scriptures. Which means that if we fail to stand with the Jews when they are being plundered and persecuted once again, we betray our Lord himself who is, after all, their Messiah.
The root of much antisemitism today is a wrong understanding of the gospel. Mark Harewood, co-pastor of a thriving evangelical church in Doncaster, says of antisemitism: “It’s an area where the church has got it badly wrong.”
Some of the Church Fathers referred to the Jews as ‘Christ-killers’, he said, and even reformer Martin Luther held some pretty antisemitic views, describing the synagogue as a ‘den of devils’. And Mark added that some of Luther’s statements were widely used in the Nazi propaganda that led to the Holocaust while large sections of the German church remained silent.
Romans chapter 11, Mark said, “shapes how we as Christians relate to Jewish people” – that, far from being rejected by God, they have a great future in his plans, and there are already an estimated one million Messianic Jews (believers in Jesus) across the globe today.
He further added: “The most loving thing we can do for the Jewish people is to share Jesus their Messiah with them.” And he encouraged his congregation to support mission to the Jews, specifically mentioning Jews for Jesus and CMJ1.
Yes, there’s a quiet revival in the UK, and I praise God for it. But we need to turn the volume up. As a card-carrying charismatic myself, I am very saddened to hear of some charismatic churches who seem most reluctant to address the issue of our Jewish roots and generally standing with the Jewish people now in fear of walking our streets. And they claim to be filled with the Holy Spirit who guides us into all the truth (John 16:13)!
Yes, there are risks in taking such a stand – of upsetting Muslims and the woke Left, possibly even causing division within congregations. But as I’ve often said before, if you love Jesus, you will love his people, the Jews. And in any case, Jesus calls us to take up our cross – to be prepared to die for his sake, in other words, as Dietrich Bonhoeffer bravely did when he stood up to Hitler.
“Whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me,” Jesus said. (Matthew 10:38) Brothers and sisters, let us be found worthy of Jesus!
1Other such groups include the International Mission to Jewish People (formerly Christian Witness to Israel), Messianic Testimony, Maoz Israel, Chosen People Ministries, Prayer for Israel and Christian Friends of Israel.