God declares His special love for His people Israel through the prophet Jeremiah: “I have loved you with an everlasting love” (
First, although God did choose the Jewish people to represent Him to the nations as “a kingdom of priests” (
Second, all Jewish people have not rejected Jesus as the Messiah. Just as the apostle Paul was a Jewish person who believed (Rom. 11:1), “so too, at the present time, there is a remnant [of believing Jews] chosen by grace” (Rom. 11:5). Third, for Jewish people to experience salvation and eternal life, we followers of Jesus must lovingly present the good news to our Jewish friends. Paul wrote that one of God’s purposes in saving Gentiles was “to make Israel envious” (Rom. 11:11).
Finally, the Bible teaches that there will come a day, just before the return of Jesus, that virtually all Jewish people alive at that time will turn in faith to Jesus as their Messiah and Redeemer. Then they will look with faith on the pierced one (Zech. 12:10) and “all Israel will be saved” (Rom. 11:26). Until then, we need to be like the apostle Paul who said his “heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved” (Rom. 10:1). If we love the Jewish people we need to pray for their salvation, present the good news to our Jewish friends, and provide support for those ministries that bring
Dr. Michael Rydelnik is a professor of Jewish Studies at Moody Bible Institute and the host of Moody Radio’s Open Line with Michael Rydelnik.
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