Following Messiah supports the people and nation of Israel in our prayers and, when possible, in our giving. We do so in obedience to the teachings of the Scripture, and because of our love for the Jewish people.
For those who may not be aware of what the Scriptures teach, the following are some of the biblical reasons why we, as believers, should support the Jewish people and the nation of Israel.
- Genesis 12:3 says, “And I will bless those that bless you [Abraham] and curse him that curses you; and in you shall the nations of the earth be blessed.” Point: God has promised to bless the person or nation that blesses the Jewish people, the Chosen People. History has proven beyond reasonable doubt that the nations that have blessed the Jewish people have had the blessing of God, and the nations that have cursed the Jewish people have experienced the curse of God.
- In Ephesians 2, Paul writes that as Gentiles (non-Jews) prior to our faith in the Messiah, we were “separated from Christ [Messiah], excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world” (2:12). However, now that we are in the Messiah Yeshua (Jesus), we have the Messiah in our life, we have been engrafted into the commonwealth of Israel (see also Romans 11:13-24), and we are no longer strangers to the covenants of promise, and we now have hope and God in our lives. Since we have through the Messiah received so much and are now part of Israel’s commonwealth, we should support the people, the nation and the commonwealth that God has engrafted us into and made a part of our lives as believers.
- The Apostle Paul recorded in Romans 15:27, “For if the Gentiles [non-Jews] have shared in their [the Jewish people’s] spiritual things, they are indebted to minister to them also in material things.” Consequently, as believers, we are to bless the Jewish people for what they have given to us. In much the same way, we see this same idea being practiced globally during the Millennium, when Messiah Yeshua (Jesus) shall rule over Israel and all the other the nations of the earth from Jerusalem, when all the nations of the earth shall bring their silver and gold to Jerusalem in honor of the Lord (see, for example, Isaiah 60).
- The original Messianic Kingdom Movement had its beginnings during the time period of the 2nd Temple period of Early Talmudic Judaism, and as a result, there are many things that were an intricate part of Judaism that continued to be held onto by believers and has become an intricate part of both Messianic Judaism and Christianity. A young Galilean Jewish rabbi, by the name of Yeshua bar Yosef (Jesus/Joshua son of Joseph), said to a Samaritan woman, “Salvation is of the Jews!” (John 4:22) Consider just some of the things the Jewish people have given to Messianic Judaism, Christianity, and the world:
- The sacred Scriptures
- The Patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob)
- Moses, Joshua
- The Judges (such as Gideon, Deborah, Samson, etc.)
- The Kings of Israel and Judah (Saul, David, Solomon, Hezekiah, Josiah, etc.)
- The Major and Minor Prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, etc.)
- Mary, Joseph, Yeshua (Jesus), James, Jude
- The Apostles, Mary Magdalene, James, Jude, Paul, Timothy, etc.
- The belief in the Fatherhood of God
- The belief in the afterlife
- Water baptism (which derives from the Jewish mikvah)
- Communion (derives from two items within the Passover meal: the 3rd cup, the cup of redemption, and the afikomen (the unleavened bread)
- The Spring Feasts (Passover, First Fruits, and Passover)
- The study and teaching of the Scriptures during the service.
- It is not possible to legitimately say, “I am a Messianic believer,” “I am a Christian,” or even “I am a believer in the Messiah Yeshua (Jesus),” and not love the Jewish people. The Bible teaches that love is not what you say, but what you do (I John 3:18). “A bell is not a bell until you ring it, a song is not a song until you sing it, and love is not love until you share it.”
- While there may be some Christians who may try to deny the connection between Yeshua (Jesus) of Nazareth and the Jews of the world, Yeshua (Jesus) never denied His Jewishness.
- Yeshua (Jesus) was born of a Jewish maiden, Mir’yam (Mary)).
- Yeshua (Jesus) was raised in an Orthodox Jewish home.
- Yeshua (Jesus) was circumcised (Heb. b’rit milah) on the 8th day in keeping with God’s commandments and with Jewish tradition.
- Mir’yam (Mary) provided the necessary sin offering at the time specified by God in the commandments (Heb. mitzvoth).
- Yosef (Joseph) and Mir’yam (Mary) redeemed Yeshua (Jesus) in keeping with
God’s commandments. - Yeshua (Jesus) kept the Torah (“Law”) of Mosheh (Moses). He began His ministry at the appropriate age, He wore the tzitzit (“fringes”) that God commanded all Jewish men to wear, He kept all the biblical feasts, He was a regular attendee and reader at the synagogue each Sabbath, and He kept kashrut (the dietary laws).
- Yeshua (Jesus) quoted the Torah (“Law”) of Mosheh (Moses) when He was being tempted and tested in the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights.
- On the night of Yeshu’a’s (Jesus’) arrest, He did not go any further than what was allowed by the Torah (“Law”) without violating the Sabbath commandments and Jewish tradition.
- Yeshua (Jesus) died on the cross with the inscription over His head, “King of the Jews!”
- Yeshua (Jesus) died at the exact time as the slaying of the Passover Lamb in the Temple, even reciting the same words of liturgy spoken by the High Priest as he killed the lamb on the altar.
- Yeshua (Jesus) arose bodily from the dead on the Feast of First Fruits in fulfillment of the commandments in the Torah (“Law”).
- Yeshua (Jesus) ascended to the right hand of the Father on the 40th day of the counting of the omer, in fulfillment of the Psalm read on that particular day, according to Jewish liturgy and tradition.
- Part of the last recorded words of Yeshua (Jesus) in Scripture, at the end of the book of Revelation, includes a statement alluding to His Jewish ancestry and His promised throne in Jerusalem:
I, Jesus [Heb. Yeshua], have sent My angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. (Revelation 22:16)
- The Jewish people were the family and friends of Yeshua (Jesus); they were the people that He passionately loved. Yeshua (Jesus) said,
Verily, I say unto you, inasmuch as you have done unto one of the least of these My brothers [the Jewish people], you have done it unto Me.” (Matthew 25:40)
According to the prophet Zechariah, when Yeshua (Jesus) returns and people see the wounds in His hands, and when people ask Him about it, the prophet says He will respond, “Those with which I was wounded in the house of My friends” 13:6). The word translated “friends” is the Hebrew word ‘ahav (lit. “love”).
- Finally, the Scriptures teach us to “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, they shall prosper that love you” (Psalm 122:6).
Blessing Israel, A Basic Principle of Blessing and Prosperity
The Scriptural principle of prosperity, of being blessed by God, is tied to us blessing Israel and the city of Jerusalem. Why did the Messiah go to the house of Cornelius and heal his servant, which was ready to die? What logic did the Jewish elders use with Yeshua (Jesus) to convince Him to come to the house of a gentile (a non-Jew) and perform a miracle? The logic they used is recorded in Luke 7:5, “For he loves our nation, and has built us a synagogue.” The message? This gentile (non-Jew) deserves the blessing of God because he loves our nation and has done something practical to bless the Jewish people.
Why did God the Father select the house of Cornelius (Acts 10) to be the first gentile (or non-Jewish) house in Israel to receive the gospel? The answer is given repeatedly in Acts 10:
Acts 10:4, “…your [Cornelius’] prayers and your alms are come up for a memorial before God.”
Acts 10:22, “a devout man [Cornelius], and one that feared God [lit., “a God-fearer”] with all his house, which give much alms to the people and prayed to God always.” Who were the people to whom Cornelius gave these alms? They were the Jews.
Acts 10:31, “…and your [Cornelius’] alms are had in remembrance in the sight of God.”
The point is made three times in the same chapter. A godly gentile (non-Jew) who expressed his unconditional love for the Jewish people in a practical manner was Divinely selected by Heaven to be the first gentile (non-Jew) to receive the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
These combined Scriptures verify the BLESSING AND PROSPERITY (Genesis 12:3 and Psalm 122:6), HEALING (Luke 17:5), and the OUTPOURING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT came first to gentiles (non-Jews) that blessed the Jewish people and the Jewish nation of Israel in a practical manner.
We support Israel because all other nations were created by an act of man; whereas, God gave Israel to Abraham and his seed through Isaac and Jacob with an everlasting covenant (Genesis 12:1-3; Genesis 13:14-18; Genesis 15; Genesis 17:4-8; Genesis 22:15-18; and Psalm 89:28-37).
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