This questions have been sent out in Germany as an help for a discussion:
Do I need necessarily, as a follower of Jesus to be a friend of Israel? What happened if I would not relate to it and not respond to this obligation?
— It is not necessary to be a ‘friend’ of Israel as a believer in Jesus, but since Israel is still God’s chosen people for His purposes ON THIS EARTH, then it is VERY beneficial to LOVE Israel/ the Israeli and Jewish people and land for the sake of Christ and the character of God our Father and of His Son.
How much has a friend of Israel to say yes to everything the state of Israel is doing, in spite of personal and political failures. Where are the borders and when is it unbearable?
— If one is a friend, it is not necessary to accept everything the State of Israel is doing. But a real friend will speak the truth in love, with humility, wanting that the friend will benefit from doing what is right and good in God’s eyes.
Are the Jewish people really our brothers from a teleological point?
–Since I am a Jew who believes in Jesus as the Messiah, then, yes, they are my brothers ‘in the flesh’ from a teleological point. For those not naturally Jewish,
they are not your brothers in THAT sense, but they are still your fellow human beings made in the image of God and for whom Jesus died and asked forgiveness for their sins. Beyond that, the Jewish people have a destiny AS Israel (the full remnant that will make up the ALL Israel that will be saved through the great tribulation). But NOW, there is a BETTER destiny already for any Jew/Israeli who repents and believes the gospel ‘today’.
Why did God choose Israel?
–God chose Israel to glorify His name, and to claim for Himself the Earth and all that is in it by the redemption and ramson Jesus paid and accomplished on the cross. Israel is His example to the world of His dealings with humanity and nations, whom He will judge righteously.
How much is God expecting a positive prejudiced attitude related to Israel?
— Although it may not be the basis for salvation, it is always good to have a similar attitude as God towards anything!
What happened to the Arabs? Can you be their friend if you are also a friend of Israel?
— Of course you can be a friend to the Arabs if you are a friend of Israel! Can a Christian be a friend to both a Jew and to a German? Can Christians care for God’s purposes both towards Israel and the Jewish people and also His purposes for the Arab countries and their people? Again, a real friend of the Arabs will speak the truth in love, with humility, wanting that the friend (the Arabs, especially the Arab Christian believers) will benefit from doing what is right and good in God’s eyes.
Overcoming from shame. When did we forgive enough? Did we go to far? Did give up our honor and our self-esteem already?
— There is no dishonor in forgiving or in asking for forgiveness for sins done against one another. Once that has been done by a person, he does not have to keep doing it, at least not from the same person for the same sin. If I, as a Jew, have accepted and received God’s forgiveness for me for my and my people’s sin with respect to the crucifixion of Jesus, I do not have to ask God for that anymore, and I am free to speak of His grace and mercy in order to bless others. If a German believer has acknowledged his and his people’s sin against the Lord and His people for the Holocaust, he is freed to humbly and confidently speak of God’s wonderful grace and mercy. If he meets a Jewish person who is struggling over the Holocaust and Germany/Germans, the born-again German can humble himself to acknowledge his and his people’s sin; no other explanation at that time may be sufficient; we must let the Holy Spirit bring conviction.
The people of God in our land obviously on a brooder scale still did not come to a fitting attitude, if it comes to the Jewish people. What did the Israel ministries wrong? What would be a balance between a positive and a critical attitude towards Israel and to Israel Fanaticism?
— The balance is found in the cross. Gentile Christians are called by God to provoke Israel to jealousy, while also showing mercy.
Which stand do we take from the New Testament position of faith towards Jewish tradition?
— There is much in Jewish tradition which can be appreciated, without having to observe it for oneself. It is best to let the Bible determine proper Jewish tradition from which gentile believers can understand better their being brought into the commonwealth of Israel. New Testament traditions are based on the fulfillment of Old Testament preparation for the time the Messiah has come. A Gentile Christian can always better communicate the gospel to a Jewish person if the gentile knows the foundations and roots of the purposes of God.
Which Jewish feasts are practically important to us and should also be celebrated? Do we have a theological foundation for it?
–If the Lord’s Supper is more properly and fully understood, it can be used to demonstrate the reality of the feasts which YHVH God gave to the Jewish people. There is no requirement at this time for Christians to specially observe those feasts, but there are times when they can be very enlightening to better appreciate and explain God’s plan of redemption, not only for Israel, but also for the Church, the nations, and this present creation.
How do we relate to the danger that the openness to Jewish tradition and Judaism is under minding us and is grapping for an Old Testament orientated legalism? For example: honoring, celebrating and keeping the Sabbath and so indirectly questioning the foundational experience New Testament task, that with God we have entered already in the Sabbath rest.
— It can be countered by knowing what the Lord has accomplished and brought us into as believers in Jesus. But, as always, it is always helpful to know WHY it is so, which helps maintain a humble attitude towards those who do not understand.
Which consequences has the dark German history related to the Holocaust and other atrocities towards the Jews over the centuries for our relationship as Germans and German believers to Israel? Is there a special relationship to Israel to our country? Is there an over accidentally similarity of character from both people which brought us together to a predestinated and special relationship? So that there is in spied of the past a special commitment to be a blessing?
–I think I have touched upon this in one of the questions above. I do think that the ‘character’ of both the German and the Jew is similar, and we have both done great and terrible things, which either has honored or dishonored our God and Father and the Lord Jesus Christ as stewards of so much He has given to each of our people.
Do the Jewish people have their own way for forgiveness? How does it work and can we accepted it?
–Jewish people may THINK they have their own way of forgiveness, but God has only HIS way for all of us.
Why did the Jewish people suffer over so many centuries? Are there answers in the quality of the New Testament? Do we have to know this or is it aloud to ask questions?
–Jewish people have suffered so much so that gentiles could come to God through the Messiah and receive salvation: the forgiveness of sin, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and the free gift of eternal life. We have also suffered much because of our sins against God and against His Son, which has caused us to sin against many people. We have also suffered much because the devil hates YHVH God who chose the Jews for His glory, and through whom Messiah has come. We suffer much because Satan wants to deceive even the elect, if possible, regarding God’s faithfulness to His covenantal promises to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and to their descendants.
How should we react in the spirit if we want to help Jewish people to cope and salve their past?
–With humility and love and the true gospel.
Is there an over acceleration and misuse of the holocaust experience as unique experience of suffering which mankind as such never experienced and so the Jewish people are aloud to take a special place among all man and can take an incontestable and untouchable special role in their pain and in a superiority to live out God given situation as an victim. Do we not also recognize especially among the messianic Jewish believers, as they take the suffering of the Holocaust and put it next to the Golgotha experience of Jesus Christ? Do we have a task in a hidden way in love and in intercession to release our brethren from this self-redemption?
–There can be a misuse of the Holocaust experience by believers. Unbelieving Jews have no other main point of reference, so the Holocaust remains very much a defining element in the Jewish soul. Believing Jews, if they have learned the depths of God’s forgiveness for our sins against Him, especially in our rejecting and rebelling against our Savior and Lord, should be able to bless Germans by showing mercy for their part in the Holocaust, especially to one who has asked for forgiveness and demonstrated fruits of repentance. In HUMAN terms, the Holocaust is Biblically associated with the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, but HIS willing whole-burnt offering (holocaust in Greek; here is an example of knowing something about the Old Testament sacrifices, which Jesus fulfilled on the cross) achieves so much more for eternity than the unwilling sacrifice of six million ordinary human beings who were marked out for destruction because of who they were and represented. The rebirth of the State of Israel–in part of the very land which God promised to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and to their descendants for an everlasting possession–is also a remarkable picture of the resurrection of the Lord from among the dead; yet His resurrection offers justification and eternal salvation to anyone who believes with all their heart. So for those Christians who can enter into the wonder and the hope which Israel’s restoration promises, each one who does can better understand the love of God and His righteousness — not for individuals only, but also for nations.